Liechtenstein: the country between two valleys

There's no obvious reason why Liechtenstein should work as a travel destination. Sixth smallest country in the world. One town of any real size. No airport, no coastline, no motorway exit that announces you've arrived. Most people who see it do so from a Swiss or Austrian train window. Mountains, a castle on a hill, gone.

Liechtenstein has been getting on with things quietly for three hundred years. A constitutional monarchy between Switzerland and Austria in the upper Rhine valley, governed by a royal family that still lives in the castle above the capital. The GDP per capita is among the highest in the world. The contemporary art collection rivals cities fifty times its size. The hotel and dining scene, for a country with 40.000 inhabitants, is more serious than it has any reason to be.

Vaduz, on foot

Vaduz isn't a city. Calling it a town feels generous. The Städtle, the pedestrian street through the centre, takes ten minutes end to end. The castle is visible from everywhere, closed to visitors, reachable on foot. The cathedral is modest. The government buildings are neat.

What supposedly saves Vaduz from being merely quaint is the culture. The Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein holds a contemporary collection that would justify a visit even without the novelty of the country around it. The National Museum explains how a territory this small has survived as an independent state since 1719. Whether Vaduz fills a full day or runs out of material by lunchtime is one of the things we're going to find out.

The mountains above

Liechtenstein's other half is vertical. Malbun, the only ski resort and summer hiking base, sits at 1.600 metres in a valley that apparently feels disconnected from the Rhine below. The Sareis chairlift goes higher. From the top you're looking into Austria on one side and Switzerland on the other. Steg is a smaller settlement further into the mountains, with the Gängle See in a landscape most people never reach because they assume Liechtenstein ends at Vaduz.

The country is small enough that you shouldn't need a plan. Fifteen minutes from the hotel and you're in the mountains. Fifteen minutes back and you're at dinner. That's the theory, anyway.

Hotel Sonnenhof

Sonnenhof is where we will be staying. A small, family-run Relais & Chateaux in Vaduz that operates, by reputation, well above what you'd expect from a principality this size. It works as a base and, through its restaurant Marée, potentially as a reason to stay for dinner rather than looking elsewhere.

We'll find out and report back.

Marée

Marée is the hotel's fine dining restaurant. In a country this small, a kitchen working at this level becomes part of the destination rather than a footnote to it. Whether the menu and the experience justify building an evening around is something we'll cover in the hotel review.

What we're going there to find out

We are spending three days in Liechtenstein. Walking Vaduz, hiking above Malbun, eating at both ends of the spectrum. Our coverage will include a full review of Hotel Sonnenhof and Marée, and a destination guide covering Vaduz, the mountains and the cultural stops.