For a holiday that isn’t packed with thousands of other tourists, there is one tiny country that is unbeatable. According to research from cruise and tour operator Riviera Travel, Lichtenstein offers alpine beauty, quiet luxury and plenty of sightseeing, all without crowds of people.

In 2024, tourists spent over 200,000 nights in this principality. When compared to the tenth least visited country of Serbia, which had tourists spending 12,662,151 there, you can see that Lichenstein is a very quiet place. 

This peaceful paradise, nestled between Switzerland and Austria, is one of the continent’s — and indeed the world’s — tiniest nations. It holds the distinction of being a doubly landlocked country, meaning it’s surrounded by other landlocked nations and reaching the sea requires passing through at least two other countries.

It’s also classified as a microstate, a sovereign state with an extremely small population or land area, typically both.

As Europe’s fourth-smallest nation, Liechtenstein covers just over 62 square miles and has a population of 40,023, making it the sixth-smallest country on the planet.

Yet despite its tiny size, it has secured an impressive reputation as one of the globe’s wealthiest nations and remains under the rule of a monarch who ranks among Europe’s richest individuals.

The semi-constitutional monarchy is headed by the Prince of the House of Liechtenstein, presently Hans-Adam II. As of March 2025, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated his net worth at approximately £7.9billion, placing him as the 277th wealthiest person globally.

Liechtenstein is also amongst the extremely rare countries worldwide that carry no debt. It was previously regarded as a billionaire tax haven, reaching a peak during a tax scandal in 2008, but the principality has since worked extensively to shake off this image.

In 2020, Liechtenstein held the distinction of having the world’s highest millionaire density, with 19% of households classified as millionaires. Switzerland came second at 15%, whilst Bahrain secured third place with 13%, and Qatar followed with 12.7%.

As an Alpine nation, Liechtenstein’s mountainous landscape attracts winter sports enthusiasts to destinations such as the Malbun resort.

Yet this very terrain leaves little room for constructing an aviation hub, making it one of the rare countries globally without an airport.

The closest airport for Liechtenstein’s residents is Altenrhein Airport in Switzerland’s canton of St. Gallen, roughly 30 minutes away by car. Those preferring Zurich Airport face a journey of just under 90 minutes by car from the capital, Vaduz.

The principality also lacks train stations and, naturally, seaports. The most convenient rail connections are through Swiss border stations at Buchs or Sargans, or the Austrian station at Feldkirch.

All offer excellent express train services and bus links to Vaduz. That said, Liechtenstein isn’t entirely disconnected from air travel — a privately run helicopter airfield operates in Balzers.

Whilst Liechtenstein holds United Nations membership, it remains outside the European Union. However, it participates in both the Schengen Area and the European Economic Area, maintains a customs union and monetary union with Switzerland, and uses the Swiss franc as its currency.

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