Unique Places in Liechtenstein

They lived in the simple home pictured here for most of the 19th Century - the Majoratspalais on Bankgasse, just off the Ring. The family has always been involved in amassing some of the world's greatest art treasures and these were housed in this palce until 1807 when they were relocated to the much grander Gartenpalais, now the Liechtensteinmuseum, a grand house of baroque art opening to the public in the spring of 2004 - Vienna, maybe being a place in which more people can be witness to the fine collection the family has amassed than the Kunstmuseum in Vaduz, and maybe a much more dramatic setting, as well. The Majoratspalais still served as a family residence for when the family was in Vienna, though some of the building has been rented out to Austrian government agencies over the last years. The family is planning on opening up the entrance and grand staircase to the public in 2005. It is well worth a walk by if you are around the Hofburg in Vienna, just to see that some of the Hapsburg Empire is alive and well at its core.

http://www.fuerstenhaus.li/museum.0.html?&lang=en for more on the history of the Ruling Family of the House of Liechtenstein.

http://www.liechtensteinmuseum.at/en/pages/home.asp for more on the new to open Liechtensteinmuseum located in the Gartenpalais - also in Vienna.

http://www.kunstmuseum.li/web2306e/index.html for the present art museum in Vaduz which serves as the present port for the public to witness the art holdings of the Liechtenstein family. It is an austere building more of the Bauhaus tradition. The new location in the Gartenpalais will be much more in keeping with the richness of baroque treasures.

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The Liechtenstein mountains are just magical. There are many miles of footpaths, some fairly 'flat' in the Rhine valley, and others right up on the peaks of the mountains. The air is a bit thinner there, and the weather can change quickly, so wear the right clothing, take plenty of water and ask locals for advice.

For the less adventurous - take the bus to Malbun and the chairlift to Sareis where you can enjoy great food at 2000 metres, without the need to walk!

For more information, why not visit my dedicated site - www.about-liechtenstein.co.uk

Right along the Austrian border in northern Liechtenstein, just outside the town of Schellenberg, is a monument to where several hundred cossacks escaped the advancing Soviet armies at the end of World War II. The cossacks sought protection in neutral Liechtenstein and were granted it by order of the Prince. The small monument marks the spot where the cossacks crossed the border, and is worth seeing as an interesting curiosity and little known moment in World War II. Visit it after stopping at the excellent nearby Wirthschaft zum Lowen restaurant.

THE HIGHEST POINT IN LIECHTENSTEIN IS GRAUSPITZ. ELEVATION: 2599 METERS. HERE ARE SOME NOTES FROM THE NET BY A PROSPECTIVE CLIMBER: We started from Frankfurt in two rental cars with the Grauspitz (8,076') in Liechtenstein as our first objective. We figured since Liechtenstein was so small and the peak low, it would be straightforward - wrong. Going to a tourist information office, nobody had any idea as to the route. Usually country highpoints have trails or extensive detailed climbing information but not here. Through the language barrier, we finally thought we had it figured out after looking at some poor detail maps. There was the Pfalzer hut on the ridge about one mile west of the summit and everyone seemed to think we could go along the ridge to reach the summit on the second day.

The four mile trail hike up to the hut was spectacular even in this area of lower elevation Alps peaks. Beautiful scenery and a light snow was falling as we reached the hut by late afternoon. As with all the European huts, there was great camaraderie among climbers of different countries, hot food and comfortable bunk beds. Nobody knowledgeable about the route to the Grauspitz could speak English but several seemed to indicate that going up the ridge was the right way. We did learn that we would be going over Noafkopf Peak. Our third day started fine and climbing through a couple of inches of fresh snow, in less than an hour we were to the top Noafkopf with Grauspitz clearly visible across a .5 mile very broken ridgeline. No way were we equipped for it so nothing to do but retreat.

You can't miss the cows in Liechtenstein. They stand glumly waiting for walkers and then clank their cowbells as they plod slowly out of the way. Down in the valley, the tourist shops do a brisk trade in souvenir cowbells to the busloads of tourists that throng the centre of Vaduz every summer afternoon.

Liechtenstein's only ski resort is at Malbun, a picturesque Alpine village about 17 km from Vaduz. Old Cliffie recalls driving up from the floor of the Rhine valley one drizzling winter morning to pass through a long, narrow tunnel into a wonderland of gently falling snow in the Malbun valley. But after lunch and two hours of steadily falling snow, it wasn't so easy driving back down to Vaduz!

Having got as far as Malbun, you may as well go all the way and ride the chairlift to the top of the Sareiser Joch. Up at 2000 metres the air is clear and you can peer down the other side of the mountain into Austria. If all the fresh air and dizzying height are too much for you, there's a little restaurant that serves filling bean soup and bottles of cool Swiss beer.