A fantastical land of soaring, snow-mantled peaks and stony castles that crown the crags like limpets, Liechtenstein is the untrodden gem at the very heart of the European Alps. On the edge of Switzerland and Austria, the nation is cut through by the meandering channels of the River Rhine. This narrow, winding waterway provides virtually the only flat section of the country; a wide valley where all of the urban centres cling to the eastern banks (the western ones are in Switzerland). Vaduz oozes a well-to-do charm, sitting crowned by the breathtaking rises of its eponymous castle: the ancestral seat of the nation’s proud princes. As the peaks soar to the east, ranging up to the craggy tips of the Grauspitz (the highest mountain), they give way to verdant Alpine meadows and rustic hamlets like Triesenberg and Steg, where cowbells ding during the summer and fir trees sway in the breezes. Deeper into the hills and Liechtenstein tour guides offer up the pistes of the Malbun Valley – the only ski resort in the principality. Further north, and the towns on the edge of Vorarlberg come with hearty Austrian taverns and the occasional Roman ruin to boot.