Nikolausfahrt — Wälderbähnle (Bregenzerwaldbahn)

The Bregenzerwaldbahn-Museumsbahn, known as the Wälderbähnle, runs a museum railway from Bezau station in the Bregenzerwald, in Vorarlberg. The operator counts the Nikolausfahrten among the absolute highlights of its year and says that for many families the Saint Nicholas celebration on the Wälderbähnle is a fixed point of Advent.

The trip starts at the festively decorated Bezau station and heads toward Schwarzenberg through, if the weather allows, a snowy winter landscape. Halfway the locomotive stops, Saint Nicholas appears from the forest and boards the children's train; poems are recited and songs sung in a hurry before the train reaches Schwarzenberg station. There a small snack or a drink can be bought while the locomotive runs round to the other end of the train, and Saint Nicholas, sitting in his carriage, takes time for every child for a meeting and a photograph before the museum train returns to Bezau.

A round trip from Bezau to Schwarzenberg and back that takes about one hour and a quarter according to the operator: Saint Nicholas joins the train halfway, children recite poems and sing, and at Schwarzenberg he meets each child in his carriage for a photograph. The carriages are heated. The operator suggests a mulled wine or a children's punch at Bezau station before the trip.

Departs from Bezau station (Bahnhof 147, 6870 Bezau). The operator recommends arriving about 30 minutes before the chosen departure, early enough to find parking without stress and to take a seat in the reserved carriage. Tickets show the date, departure time and an assigned carriage; no fixed seats are assigned. A service fee is added in the web shop and at sales points. Tickets are sold on laendleTICKET, on oeticket and at the Vorarlberg Raiffeisenbanken and Sparkassen. Wheelchair users can join on two of the days, with limited places: the operator asks them to call +43 664 466 23 30.