← Frauenfeld Marathon·2 nights

St Gallen: The Abbey District

Two nights in a compact pedestrian old town beside a UNESCO abbey district, with a baroque library and a local sausage that is eaten without mustard.

Duration2 nights
TransitSBB train, around an hour, usually with a change at Wil
DepartsFrauenfeld station

After the Frauenfeld Marathon: St Gallen

The Route: Frauenfeld → Wil → St Gallen → Zürich Airport Logistics: A train via Wil, which the marathon course also passes through, then a train from St Gallen to the airport. Marathon Month: November Duration: 2 nights

Frauenfeld ──(~30 mins train)──> Wil ──(~20 mins train)──> St Gallen
                                                               │
Zürich Airport (ZRH) ◄──(~1 hr fast train, check sbb.ch)───────┘

Der Frauenfelder turns around at Wil, a town the race reaches at about the half-way point, and the train to St Gallen goes through it. The organiser describes a roughly 30-minute rail trip between Frauenfeld and Wil, and a fast train covers the rest of the way to St Gallen in about 20 minutes. Check the combined journey and fares at sbb.ch.

November in St Gallen: the city sits at about 670 metres on a ridge above the Steinach valley and is cooler and cloudier than Zürich. Fog and low cloud are common. There is a fair chance of the first snow. The old town is small and mostly pedestrianised, which makes it manageable on stiff legs in wet weather, as long as you keep out of the steeper side streets.

Nights One and Two: St Gallen

The Abbey District, or Stiftsbezirk, was inscribed by UNESCO in 1983. The abbey library, a baroque hall built in the 1760s, holds a collection of medieval manuscripts that includes works from the monastery's earlier centuries. The cathedral beside it is free to enter. The abbey district is flat and paved, with a large open square, so it makes a good first walk. Check stiftsbezirk.ch for opening days and ticket prices, since the library has restricted hours and some winter closures.

The old town runs in a short grid around the Marktgasse and Spisergasse. Many of the buildings have oriel windows (Erker) carved or painted in the late medieval and baroque periods. The pavement is cobbled in places, so wear shoes with some give. For an indoor afternoon, the Textile Museum recalls the city's embroidery industry, and the Kunstmuseum sits in the Stadtpark. Check opening days, as many Swiss museums close on Mondays.

For a bed, the Hotel Walhalla is near the station, and the Einstein St. Gallen is a larger hotel closer to the old town. Compare rates and cancellation terms directly. For dinner, the local speciality is the St Galler Bratwurst, a veal sausage traditionally eaten with a bread roll and no mustard. Ask for it in a traditional restaurant in the old town.

Getting to Zürich Airport (ZRH)

Direct trains run from St Gallen to Zürich Airport in roughly an hour. Check sbb.ch for the timetable and fare, and leave a margin of at least an hour for a morning flight.