Princess Gina Way – Hiking Among Marmots

Have you ever heard of the Princess Gina Trail? With great weather, I found myself hiking abroad again. As if we don't have enough mountains here in Graubünden. A Facebook post by Palatinate Hut, which, namely, opened the summer season last weekend. Reason enough to pack the hiking boots and drive to Liechtenstein. More precisely to Malbun, where the 16th Liechtenstein Alpine Marathon took place on this beautiful Saturday. Great. Less crowded on the hiking trails. 🙂

Directions to Fürstin Gina Way

Since Malbun is a dead end and the Pfälzerhütte is practically „behind the mountains“ from there, you have two options to reach the hut. I chose the Fürstin Gina Weg. The route starts at the visitor parking lot. Malbun (1600 m). From there, you walk towards Saraiserhöhi (2000 m). You can shorten this 400 m difference in altitude with the Sarais chairlift. Of course, I didn't do that.

So, you walk straight through the village, past the vacation homes, and then climb up through the meadows to the connecting path between Saraiserhöhi and the Fürstin Gina Weg. At this time of year, the ascent here is particularly beautiful, by the way, as there are far more marmots here than hikers. With a bit of luck, you might also see someone from the Falconry Galina, who is currently presenting his falconry show to a group of „tourists.“ You can benefit from all of this virtually for free if you don't take the chairlift 🙂

Continuing upwards, we follow the Fürstin Gina Weg to the Augustenberg (2359 m). Since there were too many people at the summit cross, I took my break just below it, on a rocky ledge. From here, you have a great view of Malbun, but also across to Austria. Later, I cross the Liechtenstein-Austria border twice more.

The route now continues down to the Bettlerjoch and thus to the Pfälzerhütte (2108 m). Here I take my second break and enjoy the view with a delicious barley soup and a cup of coffee afterwards. Wonderful.

The weather has also gotten really good now. Only scattered clouds can still be seen in the sky. From here, you can make a climb to the Naafkopf (2570 m), the highest mountain in Liechtenstein. For me, however, it was further down the road to Alpe Gritsch (1940 m), in order to then make the ascent to Tälihöhi (2056 m). Now you have arrived in the Malbun ski area. Here, you make your way back down to the village comfortably on beautiful little hiking trails, accompanied by marmots. Incidentally, this hike isn't just enjoyable for animal lovers; the flora here is also particularly beautiful. Many different alpine plants are blooming in all sorts of colors.

Afterwards, I had a cup of coffee and watched live as the last marathon runner crossed the finish line. There was a big cheer because it was a German who comes from Kiel. 🙂 Someone clearly underestimated the mountain landscape.

All in all, a dreamy day with many experiences and impressions.

Princess Gina Way Details

• Directions: via Triesen, Triesenberg, Steg, Malbun
• Walking distance: 13.49 km
• Hiking time: 5:36 h
• Elevation gain: 1019 m
• Elevation loss: 1019 m
• Difficulty: Medium
• Requirements: Good hiking boots, good physical condition, sure-footed

Princess Gina Way Video

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Princess Gina Photo Trail