Ireland day 1578. Friday 23 January 2026- From Stuttgart

Today’s summary	Got up early, had breakfast and a swim, then checked out of the hotel. Three trains to Stuttgart airport for a 17:10 (CET) flight back to London. The journey was straightforward (although I allowed far too much time) though Stuttgart was unimpressive. Flight to Heathrow unremarkable and I was back in central London by soon after 19:00 (GMT).
Today’s weather	Cool clear and bright with plenty of sun though a little cloud too. No wind. Appx 4c. Windy and a couple of degrees warmer with light rain in London.

Today’s overview location (The green line shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

Well all good things must come to an end, I suppose, and I would definitely put my Germany trip into the category of (Very) Good Things. I’ve really enjoyed the mini-break, though I’m looking forward to catching up with Val again – she returns from Switzerland this evening, too, but just a couple of hours later into Heathrow.

I’m not sure why, but I woke up early this morning again. My room was a bit cold, so perhaps that’s got something to do with it. Anyway, the early start gave me time to get packed up for my departure, and also to deal with some admin related to Ireland. And of course I was at the head of the queue for breakfast, and still had plenty of time to go for a final swim afterwards, before the 11am checkout.

On ce I’d finished swimming and had checked out, I walked the short distance from the hotel to Bad Wildbad Bahnhof, and then bought my ticket to Pforzheim while I waited for the train to arrive. I think I have finally got the hang of the Deutsche Bahn app now – it’s relatively straightforward and your tickets (which aren’t too expensive) come as a QR code on your phone.

The train was on time at 11:09 and got me to Pforzheim with plenty of time to get the ticket for the next stage of my journey – to Stuttgart HBf. I caught a train a few moments later and whizzed along to Stuttgart in about half an hour. I was there by 12:30 and as I had time to spare, I thought I would have a bit of a look around the city. But the area round the station was extremely unenticing – huge tatty building works, graffiti and rubbish everywhere – and it didn’t invite me to linger. I’m sure there are nice parts of Stuttgart – they just aren’t near the station.

So rather than doing any serious exploring, I used the time to navigate my way to the S2 line platform (on the other side of the building site and not easy to find) and also to download the VVS app I needed to buy a ticket to the airport. Eventually I managed to get the ticket, find the right platform, and caught a train to the flughafen at about quarter to one. I was in the airport about half an hour later.

Like the railway station, Stuttgart airport is no great shakes and there is building work going on there too. It’s quite a small airport, too, which was a bit of a pity as I arrived a ridiculous three and a half hours before my flight and there wasn’t a lot there to keep me entertained. Eventually, the time passed and my flight left on time at 17:10 (CET). Although the air stewardess tried to turf me out of the extra legroom seat I’d paid for – and demanded to see my invoice – before she eventually relented and let me stay. Not very impressive, Eurowings!

Anyway, cabin crew issues to one side, Eurowings delivered me on time to Heathrow and I was through immigration and on the Elizabeth Line in next to no time. I was back in central London by only a few minutes after 19:00 (GMT) which was pretty painless. Val is midair between Zurich and Heathrow as I write this, and I’m looking forward to seeing her again.

Overall, it’s been an absolutely brilliant mini-break. Just what I needed, and I’m coming back refreshed and ready continue working on the move back to the UK from Malahide. We return to Dublin tomorrow, to pick up where we left off a week ago. It was also interesting to see how Germany was faring at the moment. It wasn’t just Stuttgart that was tatty – the whole country was feeling a bit down at heel. Actually, much of the world, like Germany, seems to be in a bit of a funk at the moment. Let’s hope we can collectively turn the corner soon.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Last view of Bad Wildbad and the River Enz	Dereliction all around as you come out of Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof

My shuttle train arriving at the Hbf to take me to the airport	I bought these last night as I thought they looked tasty and would come in handy for a snack lunch at the airport. They turned out to be a bit disappointing – rather like crispy bits of polystyrene sprinkled in seeds and completely tasteless

Bus transfer to the aircraft at Stuttgart – everyone loves a bus transfer, especially the business class customers who were given the privilege of boarding the bus first, so had to stand on the runway the longest	I promise this is the last picture of a train (actually of trains) until at least tomorrow. But this snapshot was especially interesting as you can just see the next train waiting in the tunnel at the end of the platform for the current train to depart. Two trains visible in one underground station at the same time is quite unusual

This is the view that confronts you as you stride out of Stuttgart Central Station in search of the S-Bahn station (it’s at the other side of the building site)