As Europe's Least-Visited Country Turns 300, a New National Hiking Trail
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Liechtenstein TRAIL OF THE UNEXPECTED As Europe’s least-visited country turns 300, a new national hiking trail promises to reveal some of the many unknowns about the nation, as Luke Waterson fi nds out. 74 J U L | A U G 2 0 1 9 www.wiredforadventure.com Liechtenstein www.wiredforadventure.com JU L | A U G 2 0 1 9 75 Liechtenstein STUNNING ALPINE PATHS he Liechtenstein Trail, the new cross-coun- BELGIUM GERMANY try hiking route created as part of Liechten- CZECH REP. stein’s tercentenary celebrations in 2019, SLOVAKIA does not start where one might expect. LIECHTENSTEIN In the world’s only nation to fall com- AUSTRIA HUNGARY T pletely within Alpine terrain, and in a land SWITZERLAND FRANCE SLOVENIA famous for its fairytale castles, this path CROATIA SERBIA began in a fl at, grassy fi eld. Th e mountains and the castles were BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA not far away, of course; nothing was far away in a country that measured 15.4 miles at its longest point and 7.7 miles at ITALY its widest. But in the misty April morning on which I stood at the trailhead, these were well out of sight, and I could see only a farmer tending his cows in a nearby barn. Both the man and beasts looked mighty surprised to see a hiker, which underlined who’s writing? to me just how un-traipsed the walk I was about to embark on currently was. Th at was not to say that the Liechtenstein Trail traversed par- A novelist and travel writer focussing ticularly remote ground. Largely linking up a series of pre-exist- on adventure and culinary travel, LUKE ing pathways, tracks and roads, many of its sections have been WATERSON is happiest when in the used by locals since time immemorial. But it was never walked great outdoors on a multiday hike. He writes mostly about wildernesses, as a complete route in its own right before this year. I knew this specialising in UK, Eastern European because one of the main forces behind the trail’s creation, Martin and South American travel. His latest Knoepfel, met me before I set out. I would be walking the route novel, Song Castle, set in 12th century Wales, was before the signposts had all been erected, he told me, and there published in 2018. would be no chance of fi nding the way without a trial version of the trail app, LIstory (a portmanteau of ‘Liechtenstein’ and ‘his- 76 J U L | A U G 2 0 1 9 www.wiredforadventure.com Liechtenstein TAKING IT STEADY ON THE WAY DOWN PICTURE POSTCARD VILLAGES LINE THE ROUTE THE BEAUTY OF AN EMPTY TRAIL NAVIGATING THE TERRAIN tory’). He had only given LIstory to two people prior to me. One, were but a handful of some 150 distinctly more esoteric points an American who completed the path. The other had given up. of interest en route. Unusually, the LIstory app was designed to inform users about Liechtenstein’s culture, with the Liechten- Unexpected challenges stein Trail created to complement the app, rather than the other The trail followed a particularly zigzagging route from Liech- way around. The hike, therefore, was culturally led rather than tenstein’s southern border with Switzerland to its north-east- being a grand tour of the greatest viewpoints. ern border with Austria – 46 miles and three-to-four days’ hike I started out on low-lying land, by Liechtenstein’s lofty stand- in total – and its round-about nature is just one of the reasons ards, a mere 400m above sea level on emerald-green pasture navigation was challenging. The other reason? This was a path beside the Rhine. I soon saw Martin’s point: with 2,000m-plus that constantly foils expectations. Just as one imagined it would mountains not so far away, few would think to walk here, but keep rising into the clouds, it dropped into a bucolic village; as the valley scenery had its own charm. The early stages traced it seemed certain to plummet into a town, it twisted back into Liechtenstein’s least obvious border, skirting fields and woods; nature again. In a mountainous nation, this was a route as much on two recent occasions, in 1985 and 2007, the Swiss had inad- about forested foothills and riverside farmland as about scaling vertently intruded on Liechtenstein territory with armed forces peaks: a seldom trod way because, before its rebranding as the during training exercises. Liechtenstein Trail, few people, local or otherwise, would ever The first town on the trail was Balzers, a widely-dispersed set- have thought to walk it. tlement beautified by meadows grazed by livestock and tiers of “We want the trail to show the good and the bad of Liechten- flower-filled vineyards in-between the houses. stein,” Martin told me. “We are trying to create new wisdom Soaring over the rooftops was the walk’s first fortress, Guten- about the country in a modern way, by combining it with the berg Castle. I climbed up to the bailey for a spectacular view of app, which has a lot of augmented reality features, to create a the way ahead. As it turned out, the majority of Liechtenstein walk which will be eye-opening, even to locals.” stretched out before me, with the fertile Rhine Valley suddenly All this means that, while the walk does take in Liechten- swooping up abruptly into forests and near-vertical rock faces stein’s iconic mountain vista, the three-pronged ridge of Drei that seemed especially intimidating distorted by the lingering Schwestern, and its most internationally recognisable landmark, mist. The castle keep was locked, but LIstory informed me of the the castle where the principality’s royal family resides, these stories within. This was the former home of one of the most sig- www.wiredforadventure.com JU L | A U G 2 0 1 9 77 Liechtenstein DISCOVERING THE COUNTRY’S HISTORY PRISTINE VALLEYS FLANKED BY TOWERING RIDGES TAKING IN THE GNARLY RIDGELINE WELL-GROOMED PATHS LEAD THE WAY nifi cant German-language medieval minstrels, and lovingly re- The mountains beckon constructed in Romantic style by Liechtensteiner architect and So pleasantly well-maintained was the trail that at fi rst I sculptor Egon Rheinberger, who did didn’t feel the eff ects when, above so in a fl amboyant take on its original the milling town of Triesen, I started design. Its immaculate terracotta on one of the most punishing climbs turrets fl ying high above the hilltop Liechtenstein of the route: 450m of up, corkscrew- seemed storybook medieval, a better ing through meadows and then for- version of the past than the real one. stretched out before est, fi rst to the hamlet of Böba and Idylls, I discovered, were huge- then on to Triesenberg, the end of ly important in Liechtenstein. For me, with the fertile the fi rst stage. Liechtensteiners were every few houses the path passed, health-conscious people. Sapped of there were elaborate window and Rhine Valley suddenly breath at the top, I rested against a back yard displays depicting pastoral post only to discover it was part of a scenes of yesteryear Liechtenstein, swooping up abruptly fi tness circuit winding off through from menageries of woodland ani- the woods. I decided against trying mals to a shepherd and his fl ock. Th e into forests and near- it out; my body was already getting many drinking fountains that would quite suffi cient workout. have been so important to travellers vertical rock Clinging to a steep grassy slope, of old had all been restored along the Triesenberg was the gateway to Liech- trail, complete with ornamentation faces. tenstein’s highest mountains. A road and a selection of drinking vessels. threaded up its contours and on to Even on remoter parts of the path, Malbun, the country’s only mountain pristine log-built benches or informative placards were posi- resort. Triesenberg was also known for its distinctive accent and tioned along the wayside. Heading up into the foothills after traditions thanks to the Walser people, originally from Switzer- Balzers, preserved rustic wooden houses still had the poles pro- land, who settled hereabouts in the 13th century. A small mu- truding at right angles from the walls for drying hay. seum in town showcased this ancient alpine culture; other than 78 J U L | A U G 2 0 1 9 www.wiredforadventure.com Liechtenstein SEEKING OUT THE BEST SPOT TO ENJOY THE VIEWS THE BITTERSWEET SIGHT OF SWITCHBACKS THE PERFECT WAY TO START A DAY THE JOY OF EXPOSURE that Triesenberg was a place to drink frothy-headed beer and not linked by air or rail to the outside world, presented that sample the local delicacy of cordon-bleu (veal or chicken coat- opportunity. Due to the steepness of the descent, I caught ed in cheese and ham and then battered) while overlooking the my first eagles-eye glimpse from almost directly above. Rhine gleaming in the valley below. My overnight stop on day two was a city in name only. Its At Triesenberg, a tough choice faces the hiker. The main spread of burnished rooftops, with the Liechtenstein royal trail climbs to a high point at Profatscheng, before heading family’s castle residence presiding grandly over the scene, down through glorious forest and via two fantastic castles was smaller than most UK market towns. Still, with a ca- to the capital ‘city’ of Vaduz. Another branch links with thedral, several museums and a pretty pedestrian street, it Liechtenstein’s most famous hike, the vertiginous Furs- was a lively break from the trail.