Autumn weekends in Schaffhausen are usually grey and cold, so we like to spend them somewhere else. Last weekend we decided to go to Liechtenstein and we were so lucky with the weather. It was drizzling all the way to the mountains but as soon as we crossed the border the weather changed, and it was nice and sunny 😊
Liechtenstein is an independent principality, a princedom (Das Fürstentum), landlocked in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria. I is the fourth-smallest country in Europe and the sixth-smallest country in the world. It doesn't have its own currency and you can pay with the Swiss Francs or Euros.
It was founded in 1718/1719. The Princely House of Liechtenstein is among the world's oldest noble families. The first mention of the family dates back to the beginning of the 12th century.
It is one of the richest nations in the world but today I'm not going to talk about money. Today, I'm going to take you to the mountains surrounding this small country.
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It took us around 1.5 hours by car to get to Vaduz which is the capital of Liechtenstein. If you ever come to this country, make sure to visit Vaduz as well. It's a very small town with around 5,000 residents. Because of its size, it's a great city for one day trip. There are many good museums and interesting artworks around the city as well. It's worth a visit.
From Vaduz we drove up the hill through Triesenberg to Masescha. There are many hiking trails from there.
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On the way up, we parked the car at the side of the road and enjoyed the views. Can you see the river in the valley?
The river Rhine forms 27 km of the natural border with Switzerland. We are now in Liechtenstein and on the other side of the river you can see the Swiss Alps.
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There are many houses with spectacular views like this one.. Many of them are for sale if you're interested 😊
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It was a quiet day, and the roads were empty. This sidewalk stretches from Vaduz deep into the mountains. Are you asking who would use such a sidewalk? I was surprised to see many people jogging from Vaduz up in the mountains. It must be one of the most active nations too 😊
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After around 25 minutes (Google maps says 15 minutes but it's impossible to drive here 80 km/h if you don't know the road) we reached Masescha and started exploring.
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Our walk started with breathtaking views of the Appenzell Alps. Appenzell is Switzerland's most traditional region. I've heard that you should set your watch back 10 years when you cross the cantonal border. Can you imagine that until 1989 the women of the region couldn't vote on the local level? Nowadays, it's of course different and there are many changes that happened over the last years, but it is still 'a must' to visit Appenzell when you want to learn more about Swiss culture and traditions.
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Masescha is a picturesque village surrounded by large forests.
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It's an ideal place for geography lessons as from here we can see three different mountain ranges. In front of us is the Rätikon mountain range of the Eastern Alps which is on the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Rätikon mountain range is well known for areas of ocean sediment from Ancient Europe and Ancient Africa.
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If we turn a little bit to the right we can see the Glarus Alps of northeastern Switzerland (in the back of the photo). There are some challenging summits and beautiful lakes in this mountain range.
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Turn a little bit more to the right and admire the Appenzell Alps again.
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There is more of the Appenzell Alps if we continue turning to the right.
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And last but not least behind us is another part of the Rätikon range.
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We decided to take it easy and took the shortest and the most relaxing hiking trail ever. It was quite flat, and it took us around 30 minutes to complete. I think it was some kind of a rehabilitation trail as there were also many benches to relax. It's a pity that I forgot my book at home 😊
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I know what you think - how come there were again no people around? I have no idea 😊
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The trail led us mainly through forest. It was nice to see the rocky mountains in between the trees.
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Look at the color of these yellow trees..
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Now, we are slowly coming back to the village. I told you it was the shortest trail ever. But as we still have some time today we will visit a castle too..
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Before we go to the castle I'd like to share a few photos of flowers that we saw on the way.
An old, white-haired dandelion waiting for its seeds to be taken away by strong wind..
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A lonely meadow flower in the forest..
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Two best buddies..
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A strong violet resisting the cold..
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It's very special to see these flowers in November.
On the way back to Vaduz we stopped by the Vaduz castle that lies on a hill 120 meters above the city.
The first mention of the castle dates back to 1322. It was originally built in the 12th century as a fortress. The castle was renovated between 1905 and 1912 and it serves as a private official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein.
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We arrived to the castle later in the afternoon and it was getting chilly but we decided to go on a short walk and admire the castle from some distance.
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You can park your car and reach the hiking trail in around 200 meters..
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And here it is - the Vaduz castle in its full glory! The castle is however not open to the public as Hans-Adam II, the 15th Prince of the House of Liechtenstein, still lives there with his family. To protect the privacy of the royal family it is forbidden to use drones in the whole area.
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This is the closest that we could get to the castle. I was surprised to see many tourists around. It would be great if they would turn the part of the castle that is not used by the family to a museum. If this ever happen, I will show you the castle from inside as well 😊
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It was still raining when we came back home, so we were happy that we decided to go on a day trip.
I hope you have enjoyed another day with me.
Thank you for reading,
Cheers,
Martina
As usually, all photos are taken by my Nikon D3200 AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II (except of the ones indicated in the text)
