After Mark and I made plans to go on a ten-day vacation with my cousin, Griet, and her husband, Wim, we needed to pick a place. The four of us briefly considered Eastern Poland plus part of the Czech Republic (too much driving) and Denmark (too expensive), destinations within the 900km radius we set as a maximum distance. Together we’d already been to northern France and the Netherlands during long weekends, so we settled on the Black Forest in Germany for one week and Liechtenstein for two days. Adding all the driving, we’d be gone for eleven days and ten nights.
Why Liechtenstein? It sounded mysterious, I’d never been there, neither had anyone I know, it can be visited in a short time, and it wasn’t too far away from the Black Forest.
Because Liechtenstein is very expensive (as is Switzerland), we opted to stay nearby in Austria for three nights and use a roomy, well-equipped, but hot apartment in Koblach as a base. Not that we were home a lot! Most visitors peruse this tiny country in one day, but we managed to keep ourselves entertained for two full days; enough if you don’t plan any hikes in the Alps.
(As always, click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Liechtenstein is a German-speaking, 25km-long principality (ruled by a prince) between Austria and Switzerland, officially called Principality of Liechtenstein ((Fürstentum Liechtenstein). Hence the letters FL on license plates.
The country is double-landlocked, which means that its neighboring countries are also landlocked. There are only two of those in the world: Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan. It has around 40,000 inhabitants and consists of just over 160 square kilometers (62 square miles). It is Europe’s fourth-smallest country and one of the few nations in the world without debt.
While Liechtenstein is not a part of the European Union, it has a close (financial) relationship with Switzerland, which explains the local currency being the Swiss franc. Credit cards are widely accepted. To save money, we brought sandwich lunches on those two days in the country.
On day one, we skimmed along Switzerland’s eastern edge, crossed the border, and focused on the bottom half of Liechtenstein. We started at its southern tip, in Balzers, where we climbed a hill and visited the deserted Gutenberg Castle. The inside was not accessible but we still enjoyed the looks of this typical castle and its views over the mellow city.
