Liechtenstein Trail stage 5, from the Riet to the Austrian border

The last stage of the Liechtenstein Trail is both the longest and the quietest. The tourist board sums it up as peaceful paths to the finish, and that’s fair. It leaves Ruggell, crosses two stretches of wetland on the valley floor, climbs to the ruins at Schellenberg and finishes, with a certain sense of humour, at a customs post. After five days, ending at the Austrian border has a nice ring to it.

A long stage that rewards an early start

It’s 19.4 km and about 5 hours 25 minutes of walking by the tourist board’s figures, with 411 m up and 377 m down. The high point is 697 m and the low point, 429 m, is also the lowest on the entire route. The climbing is modest, but the distance isn’t, so I’d set off early and not dawdle over the morning stops.

The start is the Küefer-Martis-Huus in Ruggell, the village museum and cultural centre where the previous stage ended. If you’re staying in Vaduz, route 36 reaches Ruggell via Schaan and Bendern, and it’s worth catching one of the first buses so you’re not chasing the light in the afternoon.

With this many hours on your feet, I’d carry plenty of food and water. The tourist board warns that many restaurants on the route close on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, and on a stage this long you don’t want to depend on finding one open. There are drinking fountains along the way for refills.

What is the Ruggeller Riet?

First up is the Ruggeller Riet, a nature reserve on the valley plain that the tourist board calls a little treasure. It’s a landscape of wet meadows and ditches, utterly different from the hillside stages. It’s the part of the whole route I’d most want to walk early, before anyone’s about and with the light coming in low across the flats.

Schellenberg, ruins and a 500-year-old house

From the Riet the path climbs to Schellenberg, the village of wide views over the Unterland. This is where you’ll find the two Schellenberg castles, both in ruins. The Obere Burg is the popular one and only a short walk away, and it’s where I’d take the long break of the day, sandwich in hand and view in front.

Close by is the Schellenberg farmhouse museum, the Bäuerliches WohnMuseum, set in a 500-year-old timber house that shows how people built and lived in centuries past. Entry is free, but it opens rarely, on only a couple of Sunday afternoons each month during its April-to-October season. For the rest of 2026 that means Sundays 4 and 25 October. If your plans allow, I’d make the stage coincide with one of those days.

Smugglers, a historic path and birds

The second half changes character. The tourist board says the route follows old smugglers’ paths and the historic path known as the Seidenbaumpfad through the Maurer Riet, the Unterland’s other big wetland. Walking tracks once used by smugglers gives the day a storybook feel I didn’t expect in such a tidy country.

Once in Mauren territory you pass the Vogelparadies Birka, a spot with a playground and a wildlife pond that the tourist board describes as a popular outing, and the herb garden of medicinal and culinary plants beside the Weiherring. Both make a good excuse for a final pause before the last stretch.

The finish, at the Schaanwald customs post

The Liechtenstein Trail ends at the customs post in Schaanwald, on the border with Austria. There’s no arch or monument, just the border crossing, which strikes me as a fitting finale for a route that began by a boundary stone on the Swiss side. Five days earlier you were looking at Switzerland across the Rhine; now Austria is a few steps away, and in between you’ve walked through every municipality in the country. Take your photo at the border, then head for the bus.

From Schaanwald, LIEmobil route 13 heads for Vaduz via Eschen and Nendeln and, the other way, to Feldkirch in Austria. Pay by card or app on board. And don’t forget the last step, a trip to Vaduz’s tourist office, the Liechtenstein Center, which opens seven days a week, for your certificate. I cover the rest of the route in my guide to the Liechtenstein Trail.