The Liechtenstein Trail

Day 2 - From Triesenberg to Vaduz

The morning welcomes us with a sunny, cool atmosphere, fitting for today's route through the Walser village. This overlaps with the Wals Fable Trail, which tells the story of Triesenberg with life-size wooden figures. We climb to the Prufatscheng homestead at 1100 m above sea level, the highest point of the Liechtenstein Trail, where a magnificent view of the Rhine Valley opens up to us.

From there, the path winds down the mountain in the dense forest to the ruins of Schalun Castle. The high castle is built in the middle of the forest on a mountain slope and offers a good all-round view.

Now it is only a short distance through the forest until we catch sight of Liechtenstein's landmark for the first time: Vaduz Castle. The keep was one of the first buildings to be erected and was later supplemented by a residential tower. For a long time it served as the seat of the bailiff with official flats.

Vaduz Castle dates back to the 12th century and has been the official residence of the Liechtenstein princely families since 1938 and is therefore not open to the public. Once a year, on the country's bank holidays on 15 August, Prince Hans-Adam II opens his garden and invites the Liechtenstein population to an aperitif. Although it is privately owned by the princely family, Mo knows a trick to visit it. He opens the LIstory app on his smartphone and so we virtually immerse ourselves in the castle. The app gives us a virtual insight into normally forbidden rooms of the princely residence. Even the app can't show us all the rooms, however, because there are so many that even the prince doesn't seem to know the exact number.

Unlike the previous castles and ruins we visited, this historic building is still inhabited. The Princely Family moved into the castle in 1939 and took up permanent residence in Vaduz.  The castle is still privately owned by the princely family and can only be visited from the outside.

We reach the centre of Vaduz via a narrow path. Although Vaduz seems quiet for a main town, the hustle and bustle nevertheless seems very busy after the quiet in the forest. After a short while, we notice a bistro, the Brasserie Burg. It is high time for us to take a break, drink a warm tea and enjoy this delightful little capital.