Liechtenstein, Small Country, Big Adventures
Liechtenstein is the kind of country you can drive across before your coffee goes cold. It is just 25 kilometers long, wedged between Switzerland and Austria, with no airport and no army, and a prince who still lives in the castle above the capital. Most travelers give it an hour on the way to somewhere else. That is a mistake. Few places pack castles, Alpine culture and some of the most thrilling hiking in Europe into such a small space, and almost nobody else is there to share them with you.
What to Expect
Fly into Zurich, take the train to Sargans or Buchs on the Swiss side of the Rhine, and a local bus carries you into the country in minutes. There are no border checks, and the Swiss franc is the currency. The capital, Vaduz, makes an easy base, and buses climb from the Rhine Valley up to the mountain villages and trailheads. Two or three days is the right amount. Spend one in the valley, one in the mountains, and if the weather gives you a clear morning, save it for the Fürstensteig. Come between June and early October, when the high trails are open and the castle grounds are at their best.
Burg Gutenberg rises from a rocky hill in Balzers, at the country's southern tip, and people were drawn to this spot long before anyone built a castle on it. Archaeologists found Iron Age bronze figures of warriors and animals here, the remains of a pre-Christian sanctuary. Later came a medieval church and cemetery, both leveled when the fortress went up around the thirteenth century. The Habsburgs held it for more than 500 years, and after 1750 it was left to crumble and was mined for stone. Then in 1905 Egon Rheinberger, an architect and sculptor from Vaduz, bought the ruin and rebuilt it as a romantic vision of what a castle ought to look like. That is the Gutenberg you see today. Walk up on foot, as everyone must. The outer courtyard is open all year. From May through October the chapel and rose garden open on Sundays, and you can book a guided tour of the interior at least two weeks ahead.
The Walser Museum in Triesenberg tells the story of the mountain people who made this village. In the thirteenth century, farmers and herders from the Valais in Switzerland crossed the Alps and settled high on these slopes, and their descendants still speak a dialect all their own. The museum, founded in 1961, traces their life of farming, logging and livestock, with a 25-minute multimedia show on the village past and present and striking sculptures carved from twisted roots and branches. Ask about a guided visit to the Walser House nearby. It is around 400 years old and furnished as it was in the nineteenth century, a rare glimpse of how simply and solidly mountain families lived.
The Fürstensteig is the country's most famous hike, and it earns its reputation in the first kilometer. Opened in 1898, partly with funds from Prince Johann II, the path is cut straight into the cliff face of the Alpspitz, a narrow ledge secured with cables, with the Rhine Valley dropping away beneath your boots. It begins at Gaflei, about 1,400 meters up, and the classic route carries on along the ridges to the Drei Schwestern, the Three Sisters. According to local legend, these peaks were once three girls who skipped church to pick berries and were turned to stone. The highest point, the Kuegrat at 2,123 meters, looks out over the Swiss and Austrian Alps and all the way to Lake Constance. This is a route for sure-footed hikers with a head for heights, and the full traverse takes most of a day. If the exposed sections give you pause, an easier trail bypasses them without costing you the views.
Where to Eat and Drink
Order Käsknöpfle, the national dish: small dumplings smothered in strong local cheese and crispy fried onions, traditionally served with applesauce on the side. It is exactly what you want after a day in the mountains. In Vaduz, the Prince's own winery pours wines from vineyards right below the castle. Take a glass on a terrace as the evening light slides down the valley.
If Liechtenstein is the start of a longer Alpine journey, and it should be, I'd love to help you shape it. Schedule a consultation with me and let's build the trip around the pace you actually want to travel at.
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