‘ve never seen a city defined by color. But Liechtenstein is. It’s yellow. Yellow and black to be specific.

Only 25km long by 12km wide (at its broadest point). There’s no airport and no train station, the only way to arrive is by bus. We had no idea what Vaduz looked like so we just sat near the bus driver and hoped he would remember to stop for us. The landscape was very moody and brooding until we got into the town and then there seemed to be two distinct versions of Vaduz:

• The interesting part (yellow)
• The not interesting part (not yellow)

To be fair it wasn’t exactly yellow, or ochre, it was more of a mustard or maybe it was meant to be gold? The area around the Parliament building everything was yellow – the buildings, roofs, the bricks in the sidewalks. It was disconcerting but visually interesting.

1. Things to see

To offset all that mustard they used black, black barren trees in gravel parks, black monolithic twisted statues and black round organic shapes randomly placed about.

To top it off is the giant black cuboid made from black concrete and basalt that hosts temporary art exhibitions. And of course – the giant (oversized) black sculpture of the nude woman laying out by the gallery looking up at the sky. Some black tortured horses and a black face that seems to be peeling apart… Surreal.

Everywhere in town you’ll find signs pointing up to the castle – the Schloss Vaduz, built in the 12th century, a turreted castle backed by a forested mountain and is now where the Prince lives, visitors are NOT allowed, however, every 15 August residents get to come up to drink in the gardens and there are fireworks.

You might be forgiven for thinking the hike to the top would be worth it, the signs seem to indicate it might be so. it’s a hefty climb, one of those climbs when ur at the bottom you think – I couldn’t possibly reach the top, and then when u reach the top you’re like I can’t believe I’m not dead…

We made it, and looking back on the climb there were positives and negatives:

Positives

• It’s a workout
• There were some nice visuals of the town below
• You got to see the back-end of the castle once u were at the top

Negatives

• It’s a workout without reason as there was nothing to do at the top
• The visuals of the town below were not that spectacular
• You can only view the butt of the castle you can’t enter the grounds or get many good photos – the front of the castle faces down on the town

So essentially it’s a walk to no-where for nothing. I tried to warn an older couple on the way up that seemed to be struggling, but maybe they spoke a different language. They didn’t pay me any mind and continued their labored breathing step by arduous step. I’d call this the nasty trick of Liechtenstein – as it looks like something a tourist would be interested in, but in reality, when you get to the top you realize you’re not in on the joke, but the joke itself.

We stopped by a church with Virgin Mary and son that were created in oddly simplified designs. At the end of the day, we left the same way we came, via the bus, and drove by two amazing looking castles we were told were not accessible to the public.

A castle not open to the public

View from the top

Around Liechtenstein

Garden

Statue

Posing in front of building

Around town

Empty landscapes

3. Spend

At the bottom of the trail were several souvenir shops that looked promising from the outside, however once inside they were Shenzen china ported to little Liechtenstein, some of the cheapest possible souvenirs and not just for Liechtenstein but all over Europe – whatever they thought might sell. We couldn’t find a real souvenier shop which was a little disappointing. One thing we like to collect is magnets (as we have limited cabin luggage)

There’s also a shop that for 5 or 6 euro will stamp your passport with a Liechtenstein stamp. So, we did that.

5. Getting Around

There’s a regular bus the plies from Vaduz to the train station where you can get to the rest of Europe.

7. Tips

Unless you like to hike or find the back end of castles interesting. Avoid the climb.

Small, yellow, stark, artistic, and a surreal little spot to visit for a day.