Sargans Travel Guide

Vineyard Way Sargans-Mels
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Connoisseurs know that very special wines are produced in the region of the Heidiland. Would you like to know where the grapes for them grow and how these fine wines are created?
Along the Vineyard Way that leads from Sargans to Mels, you learn in an amusing fashion quite a bit about wines But you need to understand german). The way is 2.5. kilometres long and leads through the vineyards and across a meadow. The start is at the Splee Chapel in Sargans, the finish at the Mels-Heiligkreuz vineyard. Of course one can start at Mels and finish at Sargans if one wishes.

On the way you learn a good deal about grapes and wine. The following themes are dealt with:
-the history of viniculture in Mels and Sargans
-the vine-stock position
-the grape-vine
-the vineyard as a biotope
-the vine in winter
-the vine in spring
-the vine in summer
-the vine in autumn
-specialities from the Blauburgunder grape
-the preparation of wine
-wine processing and bottling
-the varieties of wine in Mels and Sargans

If you can't read the sign posts, you can at least enjoy the great views along the path.

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Specialy during carneval season a hot spot.
Many special events during the year, eg. Football champion ships, etc.

During our visit to Switzerland in July 2008, after leaving Zurich we wanted to pop into Liechtenstein for a few hours. As there are no train stations in this tiny country, we needed to catch a bus from Switzerland. We opted to catch a bus from Sargans as this was on route from Zurich to Chur (where we were spending our next night).

When you arrive in Sargans you will find that it is just a small station, and it is very easy to find the correct bus stop, as it is right next to the station buildings.

There was a bus waiting there when we arrived and after a short wait we were off. We didn't have to buy tickets as the bus trip was covered by our Swiss Pass, but you can buy a ticket on the bus, and the cost is just a few francs.

We were unsure when to get off the bus, as it was travelling further than our destination of Vaduz (it continued on to Buchs), so I asked the driver if he could let us know and he yelled out to us when we had reached the main stop in Vaduz.

Many regions in Switzerland celebrate carneval.
Also the area around Sargans knows Carneval as historic event many centuries old.
The Carneval time depends on the calender, but usually it's beginning of February.
Visit the parade or one of the parties in the restaurants or townhall.

The Climbing Garden at the Schollberg offers routes with different difficulty levels .

You climb around old fortress holes and get a special insight into the military instalations there.

Caution: it can be crowded on weekends

Equipment: Normal climbers stuff

Favorite thing: When we arrived by train to Sargans we had our suitcases with us, but had no desire to take them with us to Vaduz (in Liechtenstein), as we were only visiting there for a few hours before returning to Sargans.

To make life easier there are luggage lockers at Sargans station. I had actually researched this in advance of our trip but was still relieved to see them and determine they were in working order (bad experiences with lockers in Italy have made me nervous!).

Fondest memory: We were also happy to discover that one of the larger lockers was able to fit our three suitcases comfortably, so the locker was only CHF 6 in total for the three of us.