 Altstätten is situated between the town of St. Margrethen and the town of Buchs/SG, near to the border of Austria, at the foot of the Alpstein-Mountains.In Altstätten has the start of the rack-and-pinion railway line of the Appenzeller Trams to Gais.An electric tramway served the town from 1897 until 1973, operated by the "Rheintaler Vekehrsbetriebe", which also operated trolleybuses from 1940 to 1977, on a route to Berneck.