LIECHTENSTEIN          
INFO & DIARY     

 GENERAL INFO (Jump to Diary)
Principality of Liechtenstein covers only 160 square kilometres The government is Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and are inhabitant by 37.500 citizens. 86% are Christians, 5,4% are Muslims and here are 5,4% without religions.
Their currency is Swiss franc (CHF), worth 6,97 Danish Krone. The GDP is US$5.155 billion.

The climate are dominated by the mountains, and it is a temperate, alpine climate, with warm, wet summers and mild winters.
Despite the size of the country, here are quite some animals. Around 55 mammals are native to Liechtenstein, including 17 species of bat, 140 species of bird, 7 species of reptile, 10 species of amphibian and 24 species of fish.
Liechtenstein's flora can be divided into three zones: The Rhine Valley floor; the lower mountain slopes above the Rhine and the Alps; and the fens and moors. For many plants requiring warm conditions, Liechtenstein and the warm climate it enjoys, thanks in part to the Föhn wind, is the most northerly place they can flourish. Of the 1600 types of plants found in the Principality, 800 are native to mountainous regions. The country is also home to 48 different kinds of orchid as well as a wide range of flora in the Ruggeller Riet.

DIARY
3/5. I arrival from Switzerland in the evening, but get to see a little castle on a little mountain, before I find the camp. So far, it have been a beautiful country.
4/5. I head right for the capital; Vaduz - although I try to do it by the minor roads. It is through the lowlands, and bit misty, but still a great drive. I get closer to the little castle; Burg Gutenberg, I saw yesterday, but I don't bother entering it. I find a COOP store instead, and fill my stock of food. A creek runs pass it, and despite it is half a meter deep, it look empty, that clear the water is.

I pass some diary farms, but only small ones. Then I reach the town of Vaduz  - I won't call it a city! I park in what I later learn is the dead centre of town. Then I start walking towards what I thought was the centre; Mitteldorf. It is around a hundred metres, and I'm out in the vine fields! Nice houses, some modern, some ancient.

I head back, and find the pedestrian street. It is almost sterile, and contain almost only new, cold houses. Here are several museums, and a lot of modern art on the street. I do a few more loops, but fail to find "old town". On the other hand, so much construction is going on here. There are huge cranes everywhere, and the roads are being dug up many places. It is a dynamic town for sure, but is have somehow lost its soul.
I think it is the only capital I have visited, where manure spreaders look natural in the dead centre of town.

I find "the other road" crossing the minute country. It leads deep into the mountains and Malbun. I have to stop time and time again to get some good photos of this great looking nature, dotted with a few huts, looking like Swiss coo-coo clocks. Here are huge, green meadows, views to snow coned mountain peeks above and Vadez below, white rivers, waterfalls and one of the first things I pass is Vaduz Castle.

While I walk around to get the right angle for the photos, I stumble over a lot of spring flowers. Some familiar, some strangely unknown to me. I pass a few sleepy villages, and then the "big" road is being renovated, and there is a detour by a real narrow one. To control the one way traffic, a light changes every 25 minutes!

Well, the road is great, passing small huts and huge meadows. A narrow tunnel marks the pass, and then it start going downhill again. The weather improves drastically, and the number of photos raises. Then road leads into a narrow gorge, right next to the white - or light turquoise river.

I make a stop at some small huts to make photos of the river, and here I find some lovely small purple flowers. I can't figure even the family! Here are some bright green/blue beetles, sucking up nectar, as the bees don't. Besides from them, I see very few animals, except from birds.

I reach Malbun, and it turns out to be a closed down skiing resort town. Some old and cosy hotels, other are new and real ugly. Here are only a few people around, and not a single shop open. But they have left the nature outside, and it is great! Despite here are snows lying around, it does not feel cold at all, due to the sun and lack of wind.

I head back down towards Vaduz, and enjoy the tour just a much as going up. Somehow, I missed a small hill, covered in purple orchids going up. And while I'm at it, here are some other strange flowers as well.
As I decent on the other side of the mountain, the sun fades away, and Vaduz is still covered in clouds. I drive right through it again, and then turn right towards my next sight, found in Germany - on the other side of Austria. The northern part of the country is covered in dark clouds, but the mountains on both sides of the road are impressive.

I might not have spend much time here, but it is a small country. A sunny day would have helped, but I feel I have seen most interesting. I have driven 63 kilometres and taken 300 photos. The expenses are limited; €75, but I gasses the car; €32,50. I would absolutely recommend a day or two here. Photos: slideshow