Sareis, the chairlift and terrace 2,000 metres above Malbun

If I had to sum up Liechtenstein’s mountains in a single ride, it would be this one. The Sareis chairlift leaves from the middle of Malbun and in a few minutes sets you down at about 2,000 metres, on a ridge where you can see mountains in three countries at once. Here are the times, the prices, what’s at the top and the warning I wouldn’t ignore this autumn.

A chairlift with more than sixty years behind it

The story starts in the early sixties. Malbun’s first T-bar, up the Hochegg, opened in 1962, and as an alternative the Malbunbahn company launched the chairlift to the Sareiserjoch and its restaurant on 15 December 1963, according to the history published by Bergbahnen Malbun. Today it’s a four-seater and, in summer, the only lift turning in the valley. In winter it’s part of the ski area, along with Täli and Hochegg.

The name comes from the alp behind the ridge. The Historisches Lexikon explains that Sareis is a Triesenberg alp of 273 hectares, between 1,525 and 2,365 metres, looking into the Austrian Gamperdona valley, and that the name comes from the Romansh «serra», a narrow pass. Locals simply call it «behind the ridge». When the border was redrawn in 1960, part of the alp ended up in Austria.

Summer 2026 times and fares

The summer season runs from 13 June to 18 October 2026. On weekdays the chairlift turns from 8:30 to 17:00, and at weekends and on public holidays from 8:00 to 17:00. A single up is CHF 11 and an adult return CHF 17. Children pay CHF 8.40 return and seniors CHF 14, while dogs and bikes ride free. If it’s your birthday, you go up for nothing. Taking a dog around the rest of the country is covered in Liechtenstein with a dog. The ticket office takes euros but gives change in francs, and cards are fine too.

To save money, look at the ALL INCLUSIVE Erlebnispass. At CHF 25 a day it includes the return trip up Sareis and all the buses, so if you’re also doing a museum in Vaduz it pays for itself. I explain it in my guide to the adventure pass.

Is the Sareis chairlift running right now?

Here’s the warning. On 26 and 27 September 2026 the Bergbahnen Malbun homepage announced a replacement service and closed lifts, with no further detail, and on 29 September it showed the chairlift open again until 18 October. That’s why I’d check the bergbahnen.li homepage on the day. If the chair isn’t running, it’s an hour’s walk up from the Malbun, Jöraboda stop, past the Peace Chapel, as the tourist board describes. The operator also warns it stops the lift in strong wind or very bad weather.

What’s at the top

The restaurant terrace is why plenty of people ride up with no plans to walk at all. For the 2026 season the guesthouse is run on an interim basis by the Verein der Kulturfreunde, with simple self-service food from 8:30 to 17:00 and concerts and parties under the banner K-BUM goes Sareis. On Thursdays there’s a pensioners’ lunch of Käsknöpfle or noodles with goulash, which Bergbahnen Malbun bundles with the chairlift for CHF 33 for the over-60s. There’s also the Genuss-Sesselbahn, a package with a board of bread, cured meat and cheese and as many rides as you like, for CHF 42 or 48 depending on the drink.

And there are beds. The guesthouse will put you up with breakfast for CHF 50 a head, one of the few places in the country where you can sleep at 2,000 metres without it being a club hut. The other options are on my page about mountain huts.

Walks that start at Sareis

This is where the good part begins. The Princess Gina Trail traces the ridge to the 2,359 m Augstenberg, descends to the Pfälzerhütte and then looping back to Malbun. It’s the first day of the three-day hut-to-hut Route 66 the tourist board sells. For something gentler, the Malbun loop of the Liechtenstein Trail heads down past the Turna alp and back up towards the Pradamee alp, 7 km in about two hours, mostly downhill.

If you’re not a walker, I’d still go up. Leaning over the ridge and seeing the Nenzinger Himmel on the far side, already in Vorarlberg, is what makes you realise that this tiny country has proper mountains.