Liechtenstein Things to Do Tips by Pieter11

The first memorable moment in Liechtenstein is the moment you cross the bridge between Switzerland and the country. Because Liechtenstein is bordered by high and rough Alps at the Austrian side, crossing the Rhine river at the Swiss side is the easiest way to enter the country.

There are 4 bridges over the river that go into Liechtenstein, of which I crossed two. Both these bridges were not spectacular at all, except for the little remarkable things in the middle of them. As soon as you are halfway these bridges you officially enter the "Fürstentum Liechtenstein". A simple road sign and a bronze sign on the fence of the bridge incidate this.

For the rest, there is nothing that indicates that you are entering a different country: there is no customs control between Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

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The first village I crossed during my stay in Liechtenstein is the biggest "city" in the country, and no, it is not the capital. This biggest -let's make it- village is Schaan. It has about 6.000 inhabitants which is slightly more than the capital Vaduz.

Schaan is one of the oldest settlements in the country, with the oldest parts dating from the Roman period. It was first mentioned on maps around 850 A.D.

But compared to Vaduz, Schaan doesn't have a lot of interesting sights remaining. Today it is mainly the country's business and industial centre. The complete area between the village and the Rhine is full with factories and companies, and besides this you can also find a lot of other facilities here like the National Theatre and a lot of sport facilities.

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Address: Schaan, Liechtenstein
Directions: Directly north from Vaduz, almost attached to each other.

Not the biggest "city" of the country Liechtenstein, but it is the capital: Vaduz. It is situated perfecty in the centre of Lower Liechtenstein; the Western part of the country with flat land. Vaduz has a number of inhabitants of about 5.000 people! Very, very small, but still that is 1/7 of the total of the country.

The capital has a long history, that probably started in the 5th century. In this period the first settlements were built in the valley of Liechtenstein. Later, the construction of the Vaduz Castle was started: around the 12th century. In this period Vaduz was first mentioned on maps and in texts as "Faduze".

When the town was first written as "Vaduz" in the 14th century, it already became a small village. Large parts of this village can still be seen in "Mittendorf", the beautiful old part of Vaduz in the north. In this stage it was a farmer's area, mostly famous for its good wines, that are still made on the slopes of Vaduz.

In the nowdays centre of the capital you don't see anything of this farmers village anymore. The Vaduz of the 21st century is a Vaduz full of shops, enterprises and most of all: banks. On every corner of the street you can find a bank in Vaduz.

And besides this the town also has several museums and a very nice pedestrian area called Städtle, with many shops, restaurants and bars: the place to be at night.

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Address: Vaduz, Liechtenstein

High above the capital of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, you cannot miss the most famous building of the country. The Vaduz Castle is built at the most amazing position you can possibly place a castle like this: at the edge of a steep hill.

The Vaduz Castle started as a fortress in the Medievals. Later, in the 16th and 17th century it was enlargened until its current shape. The castle always has been situated at a very strategic point, looking out over the flat land on which Vaduz is situated, and all the way into Switzerland at the other side of the Rhein river.

The oldest part of the castle is the part at the back, facing the mountains. These walls (of about 4 metres thick !!!) are estimated to be built in the 12th century. The part that is facing the capital is somewhat younger: it was built between 1613 and 1640.

In 1712 the castle became property of the Royal family of Liechtenstein. First is was used as a governments building, but after a huge renovation in the beginning of the 20th century, the Royal family made it into their residence. Since 1938 it has been the permanent home of the family, who from here, must have a great view over their citizens "down there".

Unfortunately the Vaduz Castle is not open for visitors. It is easily visible from down in Vaduz, but it is also possible to follow the Castle Trail that goes all the way up the mountain, and passes very close to the building. From there you must have a much better view.

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Address: Vaduz, Liechtenstein

One of the most remarkable buildings in the centre of Vaduz is the Governments Building that you can find at the end of Städtle and directly north from the church.

The building was built between 1903 and 1905 and was designed in a Baroque style by the princely architect Gustav von Neumann. The building has an impressive front facade with a colourful roof, fresco's and an artistic balcony. The locals call the building the "Large Building".

For its time the building was extremely modern: it was the first building with central heating, electric lightning and modern sanitary facilities. It was restored between 1984 and 1994 and it became a national monument in 1992. It has the parliaments room at the first floor where the parliament of only 25 members have their meetings.

Too bad, to my opinion, they are building a modern building right in front of this Governments Building. This is an enlargement of the government and it takes away a lot of the view of this nice building.

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Address: Städtle/Äulestrasse, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Next to the Governments Building, right in front of the round-about at the Äulestrasse in Vaduz, you will see the biggest church of Liechtenstein: the Parish Church of Vaduz. The church was built between 1868 and 1873 where it took the place of the medieval chapel that stood on the some position. It was designed by the Austrian architect Friedrich von Schmidt and officially opened at the 5th of October 1873.

The interior of the church was renovated between 1965 and 1966 and the exterior was done ten years later. Outside the church you see some modern statues of Christian scenes, in between some colourful flowers and steps up to the main entrance, left and right of these statues.

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Address: Äulestrasse, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

In the centre of Vaduz you cannot miss a big, square, black building. This huge cube is the Museum of Fine Arts, or Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein as it is officially called. The museum has a –to my opinion- great housing: it is one big monolithic structure made of black marble and a lot of glass. This has been the home of the museum since the summer of 2000. It is situated between Städtle and the mainroad Äulestrasse, right behind the central busstation of the city.

The most important part of the collection of the museum is the Liechtenstein State Art Collection that was founded in 1968. It contains all forms of art from the beginning of the 20th century until today. And in the museum you can also find a big part of the Princely art-collection. The Prince of Liechtenstein is a fanatic art-lover and has a huge collection of artworks. The pieces that are exposed here are continuously changed so you will always see a different part of this collection.

The museum also has a café and a bookshop and is opened from Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:00 to 17:00 and on Thursday until 20:00.

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Address: Äulestrasse, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein of one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world, with a personal fortune of about € 3 billion! And since he is a huge art lover, he has an enormous collection of artworks in his private collection. Some of it is exposed in Vienna, some of it in the Kunstmuseum in Vaduz, and luckily some of it is also displayed in the streets of the capital.

You'll see several artistic fountains and other art pieces in the streets around the main shopping street of the capital too, but as soon as you enter this pedestrian area called Städtle you will see it everywhere: a nice painting on the pavement of the streets, some huge, colourful teddy bears, and even a huge bronze statue by the famous Spanish artist Botero.

The Kunstmuseum of Liechtenstein borders Städtle by the way, and it is also very easy to look into its windows for an extra dose of art.

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Address: Städtle, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

The most beautiful part of Vaduz, to my opinion, is the area called Mitteldorf. This is the part where the capital originated in the 14th century, and the area still looks like those days.

At soon as you enter the Hintergasse (the street that leads to Mitteldorf) you enter a complete different town than the one with concrete buildings, banks and modern art. Here you see cobblestone streets and alleys, vineyards, old buildings and low walls made of granite stones.

The atmosphere in this area is very nice and peaceful: hardly any cars come here and companies and stores are nowhere to be found here. This combined with the beautiful blossoms and flowers that are everywhere around here makes it a brilliant little village on its own.

The biggest attraction in Mitteldorf of course it the famous Red House, but there are much more monumental buildings here, and of course the vineyards are very nice to enter too.

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Address: Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Directions: Enter Hintergasse, go up and you'll enter Mitteldorf

One of the oldest buildings -an historical monument- of Liechtenstein, and definitely one of the nicest, is the Red House in the area of Mitteldorf. It is said to be built early in the 16th century, named "Vaistlihof" in those days. The oldest part of the building is the part that gives the house is name: a building with red walls and a very caracteristic stairs-facade at the westside of the house.

Later a tower was added to the building too. This tower is called "Torkel" as is built of rough granite rocks topped with a wooden towerroom and a octogonal roof.

The Red House is a nice building (although it is closed for public) but it wouldn't be half as great as it is now if it wasn't for the fantastic environment it is situated in: cobblestone streets leading towards it, vineyards beneath it and spectacular Alps right behind it.

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Address: Prince Franz Josef Street, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Directions: Follow the mainstreet towards Schaan and turn right into the Hintergasse. Follow the road up, and you'll end up with the vineyards at your righthand side and the building right in front of you.