Blogs from Liechtenstein, Europe - page 2

This is one blog of an intended occasional series, reflecting on travels to the Micro-States of Europe (Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco, Malta etc). Our entry point to Vaduz in Liechtenstein was Zurich. This is a city so eye wateringly expensive that on arrival, you can feel your wallet curling itself into a protective ball like a hedgehog. After the single overnight stay in the centre of of the city, it was on to our destination for the weekend; Liechtenstein. This double-landlocked, 62 square kilometres sized, pissant principality receives only around 37,000 tourists a year. One of its few claims to fame is that it leads the world in false teeth manufacturing (around 20% of global sales). Due to the absence of an airport, country does take some getting to for a disinterested casual tourist. The train ... read more

Another day, another scenic rail journey - were it not for the sheer cost of all this, it would be pleasant to allow this lifestyle to run on forever. The tiny nation of Liechtenstein is one of the world's 2 double-landlocked countries (the other being Uzbekistan), and is easily reachable by train from Zurich, by making one's way to the Swiss border town of Sargans. The scenery en route to Sargans comes into its own, and makes for the kind of vistas which one would stereotypically associate with the Swiss countryside. First port of call in Liechtenstein was the nation's one and only ski resort of Malbun, which required two buses to reach, and the latter half of the journey involved an ever-winding, ever-climbing route which peaked when the resort town had been reached. The mountainous ... read more

Hello my fellow travellers! This day has really been packed to the brim! We started the day with a steady breakfast together with Brigitt and the other couch-surfer, Tim from England. Today we also met Sam, he's a nice American who is living with Brigitt and Jürg for 2 months while studying. First thing on our schedule today was to go to Liechtenstein, first you take a bus to Schaan where you can then switch to Vaduz or to Feldkirch which is in Austria. When we learned about this and that our Swisspass is valid there as well we decided to go there after Vaduz! Reaching Vaduz takes roughly 20 minutes from Buchs and said and done we started our journey there. The weather at first was quite bad with heavy rains so Brigitt and Tim ... read more

5º dia - Suíça / Liechtenstein / Alemanha Entrando no onibus, a proxima parada era ainda na Suíça em um lugar chamado Mr Sternshorn, neste lugar você vai até o topo da montanha primeiro de trem e depois de teleferico. Neste teleferico, você pode ir dentro fechado, ou vc pode subir as escadas e ir em cima... o que eu preferi.. Tomando aquele ar gelado dos Alpes... Encantador! Amei! Uma das melhores coisas da viagem. A visão que se tem de lá é fora do comum... Tirei muita foto. Após algum tepinho era realmente a hora de descer e mudar de país. Próxima parada: Vaduz, simpática cidade de Liechtenstein... paramos somente para almoar, mas como a cidade é minuscula, deu para ver tudo. Almocei, comprei e entrei no ônibus para a próxima parada: Munique. Munique, como ... read more

Today started off with a drive to the country of Liechtenstein. At approximately only 20 kilometers in length, it's not too much ground to cover! We started off with a visit to the castle in Vaduz, where the royal family lives, followed up by a visit to an old Catholic church. After a very nutritious lunch at McDonalds (where Donna had a salsa bacon chicken sandwich, who knew?), we walked around a shopping district for a little while, got our Liechtenstein magnet, and headed back for Switzerland. Next stop, Appenzel. The scenery on the drive was amazing, like nothing we've ever seen. Appenzel is the Swiss equivalent of the American Ozarks, and although we didn't see any hillbillies, the mix of houses and other buildings was unique. Were planning to take in a few more sights, ... read more