Liechtenstein
Sücka
Some of Liechtenstein's first tourists climbed here for the whey; the dairyman still pours it.
Alp Sücka is a working cow pasture on a shelf above Steg at about 1,400 metres, its dairy, mountain inn and old Kurhaus sharing one ridge line in Liechtenstein's high valley. The name has been on record since 1509, and by the 1870s the alp's buildings were taking in guests for whey and mountain-air cures.
The alp stayed in manorial hands until 1887 and now belongs to the municipality of Triesenberg, which restored its buildings and the old Kurhaus. In season, roughly late May to early September, this is a live farm rather than a display: time it right and you can watch the milking or the cheesemaking, see the cattle driven between fences, and taste the fresh whey the Triesenberg dialect calls Bulder. The Berggasthaus alongside is independently run and known for its own fondue. In winter the same slope becomes a one-kilometre prepared toboggan run: a walk up from Steg, then a sledge ride back down from the inn's front door.
Solo
Walk up from Steg, put your head into the dairy at milking time and drink a glass of Bulder; a working alp asks nothing of a lone visitor except good timing.
Friends
In winter a group can walk up together, share the inn's fondue and race the one-kilometre toboggan run back down to the car park at Steg.
Couple
A fondue for two at a mountain inn first recorded five centuries ago is a quiet kind of occasion; in summer the pasture and its cowbells do the rest.
- The name Alp Sücka has been on record since 1509, and the pasture still runs a full summer season of milking and cheesemaking.
- Visitors who time it right can watch the dairy at work and taste fresh whey, called Bulder in the Triesenberg dialect.
- By the 1870s the alp buildings took in guests for whey cures, making Sücka one of Liechtenstein's first tourist stops.
- In winter a one-kilometre prepared toboggan run drops from the Berggasthaus Sücka to the car parks at Steg.
Sücka-Fondue is the named house speciality at the Berggasthaus, melted for walkers in summer and sledgers in winter at 1,400 metres.
In the alp season, taste Bulder at the dairy, fresh whey drawn from the day's cheesemaking, and stay for a chat with the dairyman.
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