← LGT Alpin Marathon Liechtenstein·2 nights

St. Gallen and Appenzell: An Abbey Library and a Car-Scarce Village

A UNESCO World Heritage abbey library in St. Gallen paired with the car-scarce, brightly painted village streets of Appenzell, reached via a short narrow-gauge rail connection.

Duration2 nights
TransitAround 1 to 1.5 hours by bus and train via Buchs SG
DepartsVaduz

After the LGT Alpin Marathon: St. Gallen and Appenzell

The Route: Vaduz → Buchs SG → St. Gallen → Appenzell Logistics: Bus from Vaduz to Buchs SG (around 15-20 minutes), then direct train from Buchs SG to St. Gallen (around 50 minutes, departing every 30 minutes), then a short narrow-gauge Appenzellerbahnen connection on to Appenzell itself. Total journey time around 1 to 1.5 hours. Marathon Month: June Duration: 2 nights

Vaduz ──(bus, ~15-20min)──> Buchs SG ──(train, ~50min)──> St. Gallen ──(narrow-gauge rail)──> Appenzell
                                                                                                      │
                        Vaduz ◄─────────────────────(reverse route)──────────────────────────────────┘

St. Gallen and Appenzell make a natural pairing: a UNESCO World Heritage abbey town connected by a short scenic rail hop to one of Switzerland's most distinctive villages, both reachable from Liechtenstein without a car. Two nights allows a proper look at both without rushing the connection between them.

Night One: The Abbey District of St. Gallen

The Abbey of St. Gall's Baroque cathedral and, above all, its abbey library, one of the oldest and most significant monastic libraries in the world, holding medieval manuscripts in a lavishly decorated Rococo hall, anchor a UNESCO World Heritage site at the centre of the city. Visitors to the library must wear the felt slippers provided at the entrance to protect the historic wooden floor, a specific, memorable detail of the visit itself.

Where to stay: Hotels cluster around St. Gallen's old town and abbey district, putting a visitor within walking distance of the cathedral and library. Check current rates and availability before booking, since specific properties were not independently verified in this research pass.

Where to eat: St. Gallen's old town holds a dense concentration of restaurants and cafés, including several serving the city's own bratwurst variant, traditionally eaten without mustard, a specific local point of pride worth trying.

Day Two: Appenzell

A short narrow-gauge rail connection from St. Gallen leads to Appenzell, a village where cars are still a rarity on the main streets, its houses painted in bright, decorative facades characteristic of the region. The village is the centre of a canton that only granted women the right to vote in local matters in 1990, among the last in Switzerland to do so, a specific and relatively recent historical detail tied directly to the place.

Appenzell's cheese dairies and the regional Appenzeller cheese, made under a recipe kept partly secret, are a genuine local specialty worth seeking out over the generic Swiss cheese familiar elsewhere.

Getting Home

Getting back to Liechtenstein: Return via the same route in reverse, narrow-gauge rail back to St. Gallen, direct train to Buchs SG, then bus into Liechtenstein. Check current timetables before travelling.