Things to do in Liechtenstein, from the Rhine to 2,000 metres

Liechtenstein has a reputation as a country you can see in an hour, and that’s only true if you never leave the main street in Vaduz. I’ve ranked it differently, with scores, thinking about what you won’t find in the countries on either side. The mountains come out on top, and the Städtle museums, which is what almost every visitor sees, follow close behind.

How I scored a 160 km² country

My rule is simple. Things that exist only here move up, such as a prince’s winery open for tastings or a rock path paid for by the ruling family, and anything too similar to what you’d find in Switzerland or the Vorarlberg moves down. Effort counts as well. A free spot five minutes from a bus stop can beat a more famous one that swallows half your day.

Anything missing from the list is missing because you can’t visit it. Vaduz Castle only works from the outside, and the princely crypt beside the cathedral opens on a single day a year, 1 November. If you want the plan hour by hour, it’s in a one-day Liechtenstein itinerary, and with an extra night, two days in Liechtenstein adds the mountains. And if you’re still working out how many days the country deserves, my Liechtenstein travel guide gives you the basics at a glance.

The valley, or how to fill a morning in Vaduz

The Städtle is the pedestrianised heart of Vaduz, opened as a walking zone in 2004, lined with sculpture by international artists that the tourist board calls an open-air gallery. Nearly everything you pay for in the country is clustered around it. The Kunstmuseum and the Hilti Art Foundation share a CHF 15 ticket, the LandesMuseum covers the country’s history and natural world, and the Treasure Chamber shows off Fabergé eggs and rock brought back from the Moon.

Forced to choose just one, I’d go for the Kunstmuseum. I find it the most substantial, and it’s free on Wednesdays. To compare hours, Monday closures and prices across the lot, see my page on Liechtenstein’s museums. Afterwards I’d walk up to the Mitteldorf, the old quarter among the vines, on the way to the Prince’s winery.

Is it worth heading up into the mountains?

For me it’s the whole point of the trip. Half the country is mountain, and from the Rhine valley you’d never guess. Bus 21 leaves Vaduz every hour and drops you in Malbun 30 minutes later, a valley of chalets at about 1,600 metres. In summer the Sareis chairlift climbs to a terrace at 2,000 metres, and in winter that same valley becomes the national ski resort.

The best-known path is the Fürstensteig, which starts at Gaflei in the municipality of Triesenberg. It crosses secured rocky sections, and I’d only suggest it to people who’ve walked that kind of ground before. For everyone else, Gaflei has a viewing tower over Vaduz, and the Walser village of Triesenberg has a small, honest museum about its settlers from the Valais.

Castles to look at and castles to walk into

Vaduz Castle is the postcard, but it’s a family home. You admire it from the Städtle below or from the footpath that runs past it. The one you can actually step into is Gutenberg in Balzers, a fortress from around 1200 rebuilt in the early 20th century on a hill covered in vines. Guided tours are by appointment and last about 75 minutes, and the outer courtyard is open all year.

Up north sit the two Schellenberg ruins, and between Vaduz and Schaan there’s Schalun, tucked into the forest at 862 metres. If old stones are your thing, I’ve gathered them all on the castles of Liechtenstein.

The north that hardly anyone visits

The Unterland, the five northern municipalities, gets left out of most trips, and I think that’s a mistake if you have a car or a spare day. It has the church hill at Bendern, where the people swore allegiance to the Prince in 1699, the Schellenberg ruins and the Ruggeller Riet, a protected fen that fills with Siberian irises in May. It isn’t dramatic like the mountains. It’s peaceful, and that’s how I’d sell it.

The free stuff, and what I’d happily pay for

Without spending anything you get the Städtle and its sculpture, the Postage Stamp Museum with every stamp since 1912, the Kunstraum Engländerbau in the afternoon and the covered wooden bridge over the Rhine, which you can walk across into Switzerland. On Wednesdays, the Kunstmuseum as well.

Where I’d gladly spend is the Hofkellerei tasting, CHF 19 for about 90 minutes, and the Sareis chairlift if it’s running when you go. And if you’re stacking several things into one day, do the maths on the ALL INCLUSIVE pass, CHF 25 with buses, museums and the Sareis lift included, because it usually comes out ahead. I break it down on the Liechtenstein adventure pass.