Liechtenstein
Malbun
A golden eagle flies beside you on the trail above Liechtenstein's only ski village.
Malbun fills the head of a mountain valley at 1,600 metres, a cluster of hotels where Liechtenstein's road runs out. In winter the village goes traffic-free and 23 kilometres of pistes rise from the doorsteps; in summer the same slopes carry walkers up towards the Rätikon ridge.
The ski area keeps family scale: three chairlifts, one of them with heated seats and bubble covers, and a double lift climb to 2,000 metres, with the Malbi Park nursery area in the middle of the village. Summer sends the Sareis chairlift up to a sun-terrace mountain restaurant and opens the Panorama Trail's first stage, three hours from the village to the Pfälzerhütte on the Austrian border. The valley's strangest residents live at the Galina falconry, whose displays put eagles, falcons and eagle-owls into the mountain sky, and whose booked Eagle Experience walks go out with a golden eagle flying free above the group. Between lifts and raptors, families work through alpine minigolf, a swing trail and llama and alpaca trekking.
Family
Malbi Park teaches children to ski in the village centre in winter; in summer the falconry displays, swing trail, alpine minigolf and llama trekking fill the days between cable rides.
Solo
A solo skier can learn the whole lift system in a morning; in summer the Panorama Trail leaves the village for the Pfälzerhütte, three hours of climbing with a staffed hut at the top.
Couple
Ride the Sareis chairlift to the terrace at 2,000 metres for lunch, then walk the ridge path back down as the valley falls into afternoon shadow.
Friends
A group can ski the compact area together without a meeting plan, or use Malbun as the shared start of a hut-to-hut traverse across the Liechtenstein Alps.
- Three chairlifts and a double lift serve 23 kilometres of pistes, with the Malbi Park children's area right in the village centre.
- At the Galina falconry above the village, golden eagles fly free beside visitors on mountain walks.
- The Sareis chairlift rises to ridge paths and a mountain restaurant at 2,000 metres.
- Malbun opens the Liechtenstein Panorama Trail: stage one climbs 6.1 kilometres from the village to the Pfälzerhütte.
Käsknöpfle arrive the traditional way in Malbun's restaurants: hand-scraped cheese dumplings under roasted onions, apple sauce alongside.
Ride the Sareis chairlift to the Bergrestaurant at 2,000 metres, where slow-food cooking is served on a sun terrace above the whole valley.
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