Where Liechtenstein is, on the map and on the ground

To find Liechtenstein on a map of Europe, head for the corner where Switzerland meets Austria, in the Alps, and squint. It’s a narrow strip on the right bank of the Rhine, with mountains stacked behind it. Here I place it among its neighbours, give you the distances that matter for getting there and show a plan of the whole country, marking every place I write about in the guide.

Where is Liechtenstein?

In central Europe, right inside the Alpine arc, in the valley of the Rhine. The river flows from south to north and leaves Liechtenstein on its right, eastern bank, with Switzerland opposite. According to the Office of Statistics, the country’s extreme coordinates run from 47° 02’ 58’’ north at the southern tip to 47° 16’ 14’’ at the northern one, and from 9° 28’ 18’’ east to 9° 38’ 08’’.

In more useful terms, Liechtenstein lies south-east of Lake Constance, east of Zurich and west of Innsbruck. For me, though, the practical reference is closer to home. Feldkirch, in Austria, is pressed against its northern border, while Sargans and Buchs, in Switzerland, face it across the river.

Its neighbours, stretch by stretch

Liechtenstein borders only two countries. With Switzerland it shares 41.3 km, alongside the canton of St. Gallen to the west, following the Rhine, and Graubünden to the south, up in the mountains. With Austria it shares 36.6 km, all of it with Vorarlberg, to the north and east. It doesn’t touch Germany, whatever plenty of people assume. How much country fits inside those borders is in how big Liechtenstein is.

There’s been no customs border with Switzerland since 1924, so crossing the Rhine feels like crossing a street. Austria is a different matter, which I explain on Liechtenstein’s borders and customs. Why a country like this survives between two much larger neighbours is the subject of is Liechtenstein a country?.

How to read my plan of the country

The plan on this page covers the whole of Liechtenstein, with the Swiss bank of the Rhine and Feldkirch at its edge. I built it from OpenStreetMap, with forest, rock, built-up areas, roads, the railway line, the Malbun lifts and every peak above 1,900 metres, and each dot is a sight with its own page.

To read it, think in strips. In the west, beside the Rhine, is the valley floor with almost every village, from Balzers and Gutenberg Castle in the south through Triesen, Vaduz and Schaan. Above it rise the slopes of Triesenberg, home of the Walser. Beyond the ridge, to the east, is the Samina valley with Steg and Malbun, invisible from the valley floor. And to the north, set apart by the Riet wetlands, is the Unterland, with the Eschnerberg and its five villages. That line between the southern valley and the Unterland isn’t just geography, because it also divides the country’s two historic regions, which still vote as separate constituencies today. The full list with its figures is on the municipalities of Liechtenstein.

How far it is from everything

Liechtenstein has no airport. The nearest big one is Zurich, 115 km away, and by public transport it takes 1 h 40 min to 2 h, by train to Sargans and bus to Vaduz. There are two smaller ones, Altenrhein in Switzerland, 50 km away, and Friedrichshafen in Germany, 85 km away. Which to choose depending on where you fly from is covered in the nearest airport to Liechtenstein.

By car, the tourist board reckons on about 45 minutes from St. Gallen, around an hour from Zurich on the A3 and A13, two and a half hours from Innsbruck and about three from Munich. From the UK, I’d simply fly into Zurich and carry on overland, because the train and bus connection from the airport is straightforward and needs no car at all.

Where you actually cross in

By road there are two main ways in. From Switzerland, take the A13 motorway to exit 9, Sevelen/Vaduz, and cross the bridge over the Rhine. From Austria, the A14 to exit 41, Feldkirch-Frastanz, then through Schaanwald to Vaduz. By rail you won’t reach any mainline station in the country, so the usual move is to get off at Sargans, Buchs or Feldkirch and continue on the LIEmobil bus, which serves all three.