As our route from Switzerland to Austria would take us near they tiny principality of Liechtenstein, we thought it would be fun to stop in for a few hours and check it out. We took the train to Buchs, the last Swiss town before the border, which is in the same mountain valley as Liechtenstein. From there we caught the "Liechtenstein Bus" to Schaan (the biggest town), then to Vaduz, the capital.
The principality is the last remnant of the once-vast Holy Roman Empire. It has close ties to Switzerland, and uses the Swiss Franc as its currency (although they generally also accept Euros). The capital, Vaduz, is a fairly modern town, although it does have some older buildings such as Vaduz castle (or schloss in German) and some of the houses. It is a major global banking and commerce city, with lots of bank buildings in town.
Liechtenstein has developed into a highly industrialized, prosperous, free enterprise economy since WWII. This quote from the Liechtenstein Wikitravel page paints a funny picture in my head: "Shortcomings in banking regulatory oversight have resulted in concerns about the use of the financial institutions for money laundering and tax evasion. However, the days of bringing suitcases of money into banks for deposit without questions asked is over". I just imagine someone hiking over the mountain pass from Austria with a suitcase full of cash! The principality is known for its extremely low tax rates: the current base rate for personal income tax stands at just 1.2%.
One of the many banks in downtown Vaduz.
Public timekeeping devices, provided by Rolex.
Liechtenstein, since becoming an independent state in 1806, has never been actively involved in an armed conflict, and the citizens see their flag as a banner of peace. There are currently 33,000 people in a territory of just 160 km2 (making it bigger than Monaco or San Marino, however). Vaduz itself only has about 5,000 people. You could drive from on end of the country to the other in less than an hour, I'd wager. Most people live along the Rhine Valley, and the rest of the country is very mountainous. The entire eastern border with Austria is only passable by foot. The language of business here is German, however an Alemannic (German) dialect is spoken at home. The system of government is a constitutional monarchy, and the Prince and his family live in Schloss Vaduz, on a hill overlooking the city. Liechtenstein is part of the European Economic Area, however, like Switzerland, it is not part of the EU. There are very few foreigners in Liechtenstein, and those that are are primarily Austrian or Swiss.
Schloss Vaduz.
You can see part of the castle up on the hill, to the left.
Schloss Vaduz, overlooking the town of Vaduz.
Schloss Vaduz, seen from the vineyards.
We spent about 2 hours in the city itself, visiting the Cathedral, the stamp museum, and walking around the city centre and the older district. The streets are very quiet, and are a mix of ancient buildings and modern offices. You can see the austere castle from most parts of the town, however it is closed to the public. What surprised me were the small vineyards within the city limits. We would later see this in many towns in the Alps. In the winter they don't look like much - just the twigs of the vines, but in the summer I think they'd be quite beautiful.
The cathedral.
Gargoyles!
The main street in Vaduz. On the left is the new art museum, and further down you can see the spire of the old cathedral.
The Liechtenstein flag.
Vinyards in winter.
The tiny ruins of a watchtower or castle, on a hill overlooking Vaduz.
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