Since Luxembourg was a gorgeous, worthwhile place to visit, I figured Liechtenstein would be too. Ha, not so much. Unless Liechtenstein happens to be conveniently located on your driving route (which it was for us between Austria and Switzerland), this principality is definitely not worth traveling a long way for. Even Vaduz, the capital and primary tourist attraction of Liechtenstein, was rather tame. Now, in addition to all the tourists on day trips from Switzerland, we can say, “Yes, we’ve been to Liechtenstein!”
As Liechtenstein is only slightly larger than Manhattan, it was no surprise that we ended up crossing the border 6 times to enter and leave Vaduz. We entered Liechtenstein from Austria, drove across the principality into Switzerland, then crossed back into Liechtenstein to Vaduz, parked, exited and returned to Liechtenstein on foot, and then exited for the final time to Switzerland. Where else in the world does the most convenient travel method involve crossing a border multiple times in a day?
Fortunately, the “city” of Vaduz doesn’t mind motorhomes. Free overnight parking with water, dump, and bathrooms can be found just outside the city center. During business hours the fee is only 50¢ per hour. Wish there could be more of these in European cities!
Just down the street from the parking lot is the old bridge over the Rhine River. Completed in 1901, the Alte Rheinbrucke is the only remaining wooden bridge connecting Liechtenstein with Switzerland. Tourists didn’t seem to know of this site since we were practically the only tourists there when we visited. It was definitely amusing to check out and worth it for the photo above.
In town there is the government building and district. Meh.
Because there are no airports in Liechtenstein and all its borders are open, there isn’t exactly a “true” passport stamp for the country, except for the €3 passport stamp that can be found at the tourist office. Both of us actually once faced the problem with running out of passport pages so we didn’t see the need to waste €3 on a stupid stamp. I guess that’s one method of nickel-and-diming tourists.
There are no shortage of souvenir shops throughout the pedestrian tourist street, all filled with tourists and well stocked with clock collections.
And finally, the Vaduz Castle, home of the royal family, and naturally closed to the public. Cute, but there are definitely cooler castles in Europe!
There were also several museums in Vaduz, but museums aren’t really are thing.
We only needed a couple hours to wander throughout Vaduz. Now we have bragging rights: We’ve been to Liechtenstein!