EUROPE & DC '23 • Day 22: Vaduz, Liechtenstein

MALBUN • HIKING

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THE HILLS ARE ALIVE...

The plan: drive from Vaduz to Malbun, take the lift up to the ridge of the mountain, then hike along the ridge to a spectacular peak. What happened: drove from Vaduz to Malbun on a beautiful mountain road, all the while rising above the valley that Vaduz resides in. When we get to Malbun, it;s fairly cold (5,300 feet elevation) and a little windy, and the lift is closed. Hmmm, what to do now. We really only have today for a walk in the alps, so ove to the information center. Malbun, is definitely a ski village in the winter time. Many ski lodge hotels and 3 lifts to the surrounding ridges. At the info center we get a map and a suggestion for some trails that would be open, but aren't up high with big views of Liechtenstein and Austria. So, we decide instead to walk the road/trail that can be used instead of the lift. It's not too much an elevation rise at 1,300 feet, only a third of a Glacier Poin hike in Yosemite. The views of the valley are really beautiful, and the wind is manageable. Go figure, by the time we get to the top, the lift is indeed running! So we can take it down when we return.

We brought a picnic lunch, mostly supplied by our hotel buffet breakfast that our new hiker friend facilitated. After our snack, we tried to then do some of the hike along the ridge, but is was so windy up there that we only made it part way. I would love to make this hike all the way some time. It looks incredible as it requires walking along a trail that slops off steeply, once side to Liechtenstein, and the other to Austria. I guess we have a reason to return.

Unfortunately we never got the name of our hotel staffer that was so helpful in finding us a good place to hike. When we initially asked her about where we might go, she lit up and was very excited to help us. She;s an avid hiker herself, originally from Germany, but moved to Vaduz where her sister lives as well, THey spend every weekend exploring these beautiful alps.

On the way back from Malbun, we stopped in Triesenberg for a coffee and pastry (and a beer). The Black Forest cake has been the best dessert of the trip so far. It was seriously delicous! And the views to boot!

The town is quite small, but has this weird sort of upscale shopping that almost seems out of place. But Liechtenstein is so small I guess if there was to be upscale shopping to would have be in a small town.