"My extremely short first stay in Switzerland" Top 5 Page for this destination Samnaun by Anjutka

Samnaun Travel Guide: 46 reviews and 118 photos

My extremely short first stay in Switzerland - Samnaun

Samnaun was the only chance for me to visit Switzerland in summer 2004. Normally it had not been possible because I held only a Schengen visa with multiple entries. It was good to visit most of Europe, from Iceland to Greece and from Finland to Portugal. Only Switzerland was off limits for me. It is strange, this country is together with Liechtenstein completely surrounded by "Schengen" countries and Switzerland has already negotiations to join the Schengen agreement, too. But since the road from Austria enters the duty free area of Samnaun without passing a Swiss customs checkpoint I could enter it. The Swiss checkpoint is some km further upstream at the river Inn in Martina. And the Austrians only checked whether I am authorized to enter the Schengen area when I came back from there. I did all this only because my friend Lothar, living less than one hour drive from there took this short sidetrip from the way over the Reschen pass in order to fill up the car with the cheaper duty free fuel there.

Last visit to Samnaun: Aug 2004
Intro Updated Mar 22, 2007
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Reviews (4)

Strict customs rules Warnings and Dangers (1)

The Austrian (EU) customs officers appear to be very friendly and easy going and do not check every car entering Austria... more travel advice

Most visitors come by car Transportation (1)

The in ancient times difficult access to this valley (an easy path for ox carriages only from Tirol) is the reason for... more travel advice

Restaurant - Cafe Hermelindis Restaurants (1)

I had an icecream here and Lothar an Irish Coffee. Both was OK. When Lothar was talking with the waitress it was in an... more travel advice

Duty free shops everywhere Shopping (1)

At least in the main village of the valley, in Samanun itself, every house seems to host a duty free shop. And not... more travel advice

Comments (3)

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Pavlik_NL Aug 13, 2010 at 1:49 PM

Stumbled over your pages through Samnaun, where I was as a child. You are doing a great job on VT ... wonderful pages! Greets from Arnhem, Paul
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globetrott Jun 15, 2008 at 9:50 PM

Was tut man nicht alles für ein bischen billigen Benzin heutzutage... ;~) DAS hatte ich schon 2007 geschrieben und HEUTE ist dieser Satz leider aktueller als je zuvor !
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lotharlerch Jun 22, 2005 at 5:51 AM

...but with your actual visa you can see all of Swiitzerland...