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Liechtenstein tips?

Anybody here visited Liechtenstein? On our 'Alpine Europe' trip later this year, we will spend a few days near Klosters in Switzerland, from where we could reach Liechtenstein in less than an hour. We will have a car.

It seems crazy not to visit while we're so close and what little impression I can get from Google Maps (Streetview not available) tells us it looks lovely.

We would spend just one day there, but it's such a tiny place we could do two laps of the whole country in that time! :-)

Suggestions?

Posted by
20085 posts

Blink and you'll miss it. Really, if it is not very much out of your way, like across the river while you're driving down the A-13, then sure, why not. Otherwise I would not burn an extra liter of fuel, or a precious vacation day to go there. It is pretty much indistinguishable from the surrounding countryside. But it is a part of Europe.

Posted by
7662 posts

We stopped there to have our passports stamped. It cost us 1 Swiss Franc.
It is a little interesting, but not worth going out of your way. There is a castle there, but you cannot go into the castle.

Posted by
1036 posts

We stopped in on our way to Chur, solely to "check it off our list." We were spectacularly underwhelmed. An industrial / commercial city, gridlocked with traffic. That was only 15 minutes off our route, but still a waste of time.

Posted by
37 posts

If you're someone who needs to go there to say you've been there, then do it. No, there aren't a tremendous number of sights to see. But Vaduz is a pleasant town to walk around. I had a casual couple of hours there strolling around, getting a coffee and a roll, and could not have been happier. I took the bus around instead of driving, and to me, the country looked very much like Switzerland did on the other side of the Rhine. Not a thing wrong with it, just not particularly remarkable. And if that's what you're looking to get out of it, plus to be one of the few travelers who can genuinely say they've been there, I think you're just fine.

Posted by
996 posts

I have been to Liechtenstein. I had my passport stamped there. I took a quick tour of Vaduz and ate lunch.

I'm not sure that there's anything else to do there (outside of the passport stamp & lunch), but I was happy to be able to say I've been there.

Posted by
228 posts

Thanks folks. I think we will jump across the border only if we're passing by and have some spare time.

That said, Leichtenstein is the home of my favourite turbomolecular vacuum pumps - something from my working past.

Yes, I can be that boring ;-)

Posted by
20085 posts

It is also the home of Hilti Tools. Their rotary hammer drills were so prevalent that we just called them Hiltis. As in "Anybody got a Hilti?"

Posted by
971 posts

Do they actually make those pumps and tools there or are the companies just registrered there because it is a tax haven?

Posted by
971 posts

Thats interesting, my perception of Liechtenstein(and the other Micro Nations) is that it survives as a tax haven, so it’s good to know they actually produce something. Not that it would be a reason for me to visit, even if it was a company in my field :-)