Llamas trekking in Liechtenstein
Day 1: Flew from Gatwick to Zurich on an early morning Easyjet flight which took off and landed early. Immigration was a breeze and the Swiss are so helpful.
Made our way to the train station, which is in airport, bought 2nd return tickets approx. cost £88.00 per person.
You take the feeder train from Zurich Airport to Zurich HB these trains run every 15 minutes in peak times, from there you catch the train to Sargans and then a bus from Sargans to Vaduz which does connect with the arrival and departure trains. Total journey time is approx. 1hr 45mins. The train journey was spectacular from Zurich to Sargans passing through small towns on the lakes, watching families enjoy the water sports and making the most of the July sun. Transfer at Sargans was very easy, hop off the train and join the number 11 bus which takes you to Vaduz, again this was a pretty journey as you leave Switzerland and enter Liechtenstein. The bus stopped about a 2-minute walk from our hotel Residence Vaduz.
The 4* hotel is situated on a pedestrian street with lots of shops, bars, and restaurants and most of all the best ice cream parlour I have ever visited. After check-in we were shown to our room, it was bright, airy has 2 twin beds with a large bathroom, great views of the street below and Vaduz Castle. The only issue with the room was the lack of air conditioning it was in the high 80’s, there was a fan in the room but nothing like air conditioning!
We had lunch at Restaurant Amarone, very nice however 1 pizza and 2 glasses of wine was over £35.00 per person, it’s very expensive everywhere. We walked around the main street – Stadtle, there are also ATM’s should you need to draw out money.
Day 2: There is a city train which takes you around the city and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, you can’t get right to the top to see the castle as it has renovations hopefully that will change soon. There are a lot of traditional houses down back streets so after the train journey we did a lot of exploring on foot. I was also surprised how many vineyards there were as they produce a good deal of wines although I don’t think they are exported. That night we had dinner at Engel Ratskeller Restaurant which had great views of the manmade beach in the middle of the town. This was a lovely Thai restaurant and not bad price wise Pad Thai and Beer approx. £25.00
Day 3: After a hearty breakfast at the Hotel, we caught the Number 11 bus from Vaduz Post to Gamprin Grossabunt where we visited the open water swimming pool which is actually a man-made lake. They have great facilities for changing, showering as well as a café. Lots of sunbathing areas all on the grass. It wasn’t that busy when we arrived but later after lunch it was really busy and the best part of all it was free! Would 100% recommend this!
Day 4: This was our last day and we had booked to trek with Llamas in Malbun it was an early start as we had to be there by 9am. It is a 30-minute bus journey and very picturesque as you are climbing high up into the mountains. Malbun is a pretty village and is the only resort for skiing in Liechtenstein. It is located at 1,600 metres (5,249 feet) above sea level in the Alps, on a road to Steg and Vaduz, and less than two kilometres from the Austrian border. After being introduced to the Llamas we started our trek which took just over 2 hours and was amazing, the Llamas are lovely animals and my one was very gentle and knew when to slow down. It was approx. £30.00 to do this and well worth the money for the unique experience. After we finished, we went back into the village and had lunch at the Hotel Turna which is a typical Alpine hotel with an amazing restaurant at very reasonable prices, 2 courses and 2 glasses of excellent wine approx. £45.00 per person. I absolutely loved this day such great memories were made. After the bus back to Vaduz we left for Zurich Airport encountering the same beautiful scenery when we made the reverse journey. Back to Zurich Airport and our easyJet flight to Gatwick was delayed by 1hr not getting us in until after midnight.
Highlights: Llama trekking, village of Malbun and swimming at Grossabunt, train journey from Zurich to Sargans Low points: No air conditioning in hotel and cost of eating and drinking Suitable: For singles, couples, and families