Liechtenstein is popular with time-poor travellers, but it rewards those who linger
- Even by Hong Kong standards, the European nation is diminutive, measuring just 24.6km by 12.4km
- The compact capital, Vaduz, wears its attractions on its sleeve, while ski resort Malbun springs to life in winter
And there’s no denying that the town – if that’s not too grand a term for the few streets that are home to 5,500 of the nation’s 38,000 population – is short on attractions. Walk the 400 metres of the main thoroughfare, Städtle, and you’ll pass most of them: the 19th century St Florin Cathedral; the home of composer Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901); the old and new government buildings; the national museum; the Post Office and Postmuseum (which are more important than you might imagine in stamp-crazy Lichtenstein); two art museums – the Hilti Art Foundation and the Kunstmuseum; the Läderach Chocolatier; the Rathaus (town hall); and the aforementioned tourist office, beside which currently stands the prominent number “300” in white, because this year the country is celebrating its 300th anniversary.
Take another hour or two and there’ll be time to stroll up to Vaduz Castle, the country’s one true man-made landmark but which, being the official residence of the reigning prince, Hans-Adam II, is not open to the public. If you stay for the evening, you have your pick of the microstate’s two Michelin-starred restaurants, Maree and Torkel, which are 500 metres apart. The latter stands amid a compact vineyard belonging to the Cellars of the Prince of Liechtenstein, so the accompanying wines won’t have come far.
From the town hall it’s just a 10-minute walk to the eastern bank the “young Rhine”, as it’s known here, the river being close to its source, so wide but shallow; the Rheinpark Stadion, home to the national football team; and Vaduz’s other man-made landmark, a covered 100-year-old bridge across the Rhine that is half in Switzerland; the national border lies in the middle of the river.
Along Lettstrasse, the road to the Rhine, is a sign advising motorists that a school is “57 metres” ahead. Clearly, every metre counts when your country measures just 24.6km by 12.4km, and two-thirds of its 160 square kilometres is mountainous and uninhabitable.