Barry & Anne Griffin detour through little and landlocked Liechtenstein
I wonder on how many occasions travellers (including ourselves) have passed by the country of Liechtenstein without even giving it a second thought.
I have to admit it was only whilst reading an article on rare passport stamps that we noticed Liechtenstein on the list. We were driving our home from the UK to Italy soon and wanted a change from our usual route through France. Being one of the smallest countries in the world at only about four miles wide and 15 miles long, we started looking into its history and what it had to offer tourists.
Not only is this tiny state landlocked, but it’s also one of just two doubly landlocked countries in the world. Being surrounded only by landlocked countries, it requires the crossing of at least two national borders to reach a coastline.
Another notable fact is that Liechtenstein’s national anthem uses the same melody as the British anthem, God save the King. In 1984 it was also the last country in Europe to give women the right to vote.
It has a population of just 39,000 people and yet it is one of the richest countries in the world, despite not even having its own airport. The more we studied Liechtenstein, the more we wanted to stop by. Once we’d read it was the second-least visited country in Europe our minds were made up. We were going.
Our research of Liechtenstein often mentioned it was an expensive place to visit, due to the principality being so small. However, thanks to being able to take our own accommodation, fuel and food, apart from the odd meal in the capital, Vaduz, getting our passports stamped at its tourism office and visiting the mountain resort of Malbun, we figured out we would remain relatively unscathed.
We arrived via Austria. The breathtaking alpine views and mountain castles surrounded us, including the unmissable twelfth century Vaduz Castle, which is built into the hillside 120m above the city.
Although not open to the public, on 15 August every year, Prince Hans-Adam II and his son, Prince Alois, invite every resident of Liechtenstein for a beer in the castle gardens followed by a party and fireworks in the town centre. They sound like great guys who know how to party.
Unfortunately, it was October so we missed out on the celebrations but, as a consolation, we met the friendly, helpful locals, explored Vaduz centre (free two-hour parking) and collected our passport s
