Hiking in the Alps - In one of the worlds smallest countries - Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein castle on the hill.

I woke up at 5:30 am, packed my backpack, ate a quick breakfast and headed for the train station. I arrived just in time for the train and purchased my ticket on my phone just as a boarded the train in Konstanz. I had about a 45-minute ride to St.Gallen where I had about a 40-minute transfer wait until I could board my next train. Since I had a little while kill while I waited I decided to walk around St.Gallen and see the town. The old town was pretty similar to Konstanz, but just a little more Swiss feel with the architecture. I then hopped on my next train which was just about an hour-long to Buchs SG.

Church beneath the alps in Liechtenstein.

I then transferred from there to a bus that took me to Schaan, where I transferred one last time to a final bus to Vaduz. After arriving I walked around the small town briefly before starting the hike to the Schloss Vaduz, the castle and palace of the current Prince of Liechtenstein. And yes, Liechtenstein is still a monarchy and has one of the highest standards of living due to the high GDP per citizen. This small country, located between the eastern border of Switzerland and the western border of Austria, is home to about 37,800 citizens. And the country even has more businesses registered within the state then there are citizens, probably one of the key factors for being such a prosperous country. The country is very linked to Switzerland and uses not only the Swiss Franc, but also utilized Swiss trains, and most Swiss travel tickets also work in Liechtenstein.

Lunch at the top of the mountain with great views.

After my hike to the palace I decided to keep going higher, the trail was a mix between gravel paths in the woods to the full-on road, particularly as I got towards the top. I passed many hillside traditional homes, lots of farms, and of course some cows with the famous cowbells. The whole way up was stunning, but exhausting, it took me about 2.5 hours to climb the 5.5 miles up the 2600 feet mountain.

Living at the top of the mountains.

Once I reached the top it was well worth it, with spectacular views of the valley and the Swiss alps on the other side, some of which still had a little bit of snow. I found a lovely bench in the middle of a wildflower field where I ate the lunch I packed and enjoyed the nature, the breeze, the sounds of birds and even got to see a paraglider fly by. It was very relaxing, and after grabbing some photos I began the long journey back down to town.

It took about an hour and a half to decent the mountain. And what’s I reached the bottom, I bought a scoop of ice cream, a souvenir, a cold drink and caught my buses to begin my journey back to Konstanz. Overall it was a great way to end my time here in Konstanz, an easy day trip, maybe not the cheapest as the train ticket cost about $65, but great exercise and some beautiful scenery. The 11-mile hike took a total of about 5 hours and is a place I recommend if you want to do some hiking in the alps.

To view my photos of Liechtenstein, Click Here!