Joke trail and adventure tour with the Appenzell railroads

Nadja, Marcel, Elias, Lynn and Eila / Insta Nadjaimmoos

Early in the morning we set off from Central Switzerland to Rorschach on Lake Constance on this glorious June morning. We parked our car near the harbor.

The rack railroad takes us from Rorschach harbor to Heiden in Appenzellerland in less than half an hour. This ride is really a great experience for young and old! In the summer months and when the weather is nice, the open observation cars are attached. The panorama and the view of Lake Constance are unique.

Arrived in Heiden, we start our hike, the Witzweg. Right at the station we see the first highlight, the "Witzchischtä". Quite a cool thing, as our kids thought.

The path first leads a bit through the village of Heiden, then a few steps and a short lattice bridge follow. After that, the joke trail follows always in a gentle up and down over scenic field paths and beautiful forest sections. Only in the village of Wolfhalden do you walk along the road for a short stretch before you soon enter the forest again.

The trail is very well signposted and (almost) impossible to miss thanks to the large joke boards. We had to laugh again and again about the funny jokes, which are written in the rustic Appenzell dialect. We discover a nice picnic and fire place in the forest with water and a small brook. One also finds several toilet huts on the route. About halfway along the Witzweg there is a snack cart with very nice operators.
Post buses run between Heiden, Wolfhalden and Walzenhausen. The hike can thus be shortened at will.

In Walzenhausen is for the time being the end station of the hike, but fortunately not yet the end station of the panoramic round trip. In just under 10 minutes, the rack railroad takes us down to Rheineck, where the last means of transport is already waiting for us. On the comfortable 1-hour boat ride back to Rorschach harbor, we can now really recover from the hike and enjoy the naturally beautiful scenery on the Old Rhine and Lake Constance.

There are various ways to experience this round trip. E.g. you could travel from Rheineck back to Rorschach harbor by train instead of by boat.

We will be back soon - thank you Appenzeller Bahnen for this great experience!