We recently took a long weekend trip of three full days visiting three countries. In Switzerland we had a quick & clean city stay in the city of Basel, in Liechtenstein it was mini-sightseeing with shopping and in Austria we went hiking in the Alps. Sounds like a lot but is completely doable even in as short time as three days, and makes you feel like you’ve been on a week-long vacation! And you even have time to sleep! Here’s our detailed plan on how to make it happen - with some comments and advise!
- Keep driving distances short and don't forget to consider general driving conditions. Smaller roads in the mountains can take much longer than estimated.
- Pack enough for a versatile trip. You might be short on time buy you don't have to stick to a monotonous trip.
- Make sure you plan your dining beforehand. Searching for a restaurant can take lots of time. Searching for places to eat near your hotel or route beforehand makes life so much easier!
Saturday
Getting up in the morning, enjoying breakfast at the hotel and off we went for a quick 2-3 hour stroll across the town. We were out of the hotel around 8.30 in the morning. Make sure you know where to get your breakfast from not to waste too much time on this in the morning.
We found a nice city walk (Googling and ending up on TripAdvisor’s Forum) which was truly great and covered the most important sights and areas you’d probably want to see. As Basel is quite a small town we felt this walk was definitely enough. I guess you could spend good 1-2 days there (especially if you like museums) but anything more than that is probably too much. Half a day is more than enough.
Basel city walk, found on TripAdvisor by MAEZLI:
Start on the northern bank of the Rhine on Middle Bridge,( Mittlere Brücke) the center of the city. Walk upstream and take photos of the river and the mediaval skyline with the cathedral behind it.
Take the ferry boat hanging at a rope, and then climb up to the cathedral, 11th century, high upon the Rhine, to the Pfalz and take a photo of 3 countries in one picture, explore Cathedral place (Münsterplatz), then walk through Augustinergasse, Martinsgasse until you can take the stairs down to Marktplatz. See the town hall, 15 th century, leave the place on the opposite side and enter Sattelgasse and then Schneidergasse. Try to find the very narrow Imbergässlein (Ginger lane), next to Restaurant Hasenburg, and walk uphill to Nadelberg, turn left towards to Spalenberg, then some meters down and the right through Gemsberg a U-turn to the right up to a place called Lyss. There you will see in 200 m distance the famous Spalentor.
Started driving to Liechtenstein at 11.00. Route: A3, Basel – Vaduz, Liechtenstein, driving time: 2h.
The scenery was incredibly beautiful and traffic nice and efficient. We didn't make any stops during the drive as we didn't feel it was necessary. No matter where you drive in these countries, you'll always be surrounded by amazing scenery. therefore don't panic if you miss a nice view, there'll be next one around the corner.
Liechtenstein is tiny! We had planned a few different locations to visit, such as the Vaduz Castle, Burg Gutenberg, Malbun and Triesen chapel but as soon as we arrived to Vaduz, we quickly decided to skip most of them and only walked along the main street of the city and went up to the Vaduz Castle. We skipped the rest because those locations were mainly for the great views but we felt it was unnecessary to drive around as the view was all around us all the time anyway. Also, we wanted to save time for shopping. Obviously.
Landquart Designer Outlet (Tardisstrasse 20a, 7302 Landquart, Switzerland, 20min drive from Vaduz) was quite good. It's not huge but the things they sold were quite high quality (not that bulk outlet stuff some shopping villages have) so we made a few great buys. Most of them were Finnish brands, though. A fun coincident to buy Suunto and Rukka in Switzerland for half the price.
After a nice shopping spree it was time to drive to the final destination, Innerbraz in Austria, about an hour drive from Liechtenstein. We had booked a nice, traditional gasthof (German for guesthouse) with a very highly rated restaurant, therefore no need to search for restaurants! Luckily the restaurant was incredibly good so we had no reason to search elsewhere.
The gasthof we stayed at was called Gasthof Rössle in Braz. We loved the traditional wood paneling all over the hotel, it was such an authentic experience.
Sunday
Alpine trekking!
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, we headed out to the mountains. Austria is one of the best locations for people who enjoy spending time outdoors in the nature and they have great resources for this also. I did struggle a little at first while trying to find hiking trails but searching by the area name or even nearby mountains will help. To top up the efficiency, lay out all your hiking clothes the night before, fill the water bottles and pack everything else you’re planning to take a long.
We chose a hike on Vorarlberg (click on the link for the trail map) suitable for winter time (without special gear) which was perfect for us. It was quite easy with a nice ascent to the Lindauer Hütte (alt. 1744m) on Montafon. Would definitely want to hike this trail also during the summer and stay at the cottage. This time we only walked up (and slightly further from the cottage), had a cup of coffee there and went back down. The weather was absolutely fantastic that day. We had clear skies all day long and temperature was high!
For Sunday we didn’t have anything else scheduled than hiking. We knew when the sun was setting and had reserved a table at the restaurant of our hotel for 19.00 meaning we had quite a relaxing day ahead.
After finishing our fantastic hike, we went back to the hotel and prepared for the dinner, being completely exhausted and tremendously happy the restaurant was right there at the gasthof. To make things easier for the departure day, we packed majority of our stuff after coming back from the hike so we could just fell on the bed right after dinner and get some much needed sleep.
On the last day we had lots of time and decided to avoid highways and take a look at some alternative routes. This was fun as we definitely enjoy driving around exploring! The route from Innerbraz in Austria to Mulhouse airport in France took us through the total of five countries (in only 2-3 hours!) covering also Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany. We made it back to the airport right on schedule and were back in Amsterdam at 20.00 on Easter Monday and ready for work the next day.
We were traveling with the total of 35kgs of luggage which is quite insane but necessary as we brought our own hiking gear (clothing, shoes, backpacks, hiking sticks) and bought some wine to bring back home. However, the amount of luggage wasn’t a problem at all with a relatively big car we had rented.
So there! Not so busy but completely versatile and full of new experiences. We were exhausted from the hike even a couple of days after the trip but it was more than worth it!
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| Basel, Switzerland |
- Don’t pick huge and insanely interesting cities for short 1-day stays as you’ll most likely end up staying too long or regretting not having enough time.
- Keep driving distances short and don't forget to consider general driving conditions. Smaller roads in the mountains can take much longer than estimated.
- Pack enough for a versatile trip. You might be short on time buy you don't have to stick to a monotonous trip.
- Make sure you plan your dining beforehand. Searching for a restaurant can take lots of time. Searching for places to eat near your hotel or route beforehand makes life so much easier!
Friday
We flew out from Amsterdam on Friday afternoon after work and arrived to our Basel hotel at around 19.00. Basel is an hour flight away from Amsterdam which is perfect for quick trips!
We rented a car which, at the Basel-Mulhouse airport, was super quick and easy. We were sitting in the car within 10 minutes after getting our luggage. What’s important to know is that you might have to buy a vignette when crossing the border to certain countries, therefore do your research beforehand and be prepared for this to avoid unpleasant fines. You could also ask the rental company for a car that already has a vignette for Switzerland.
Having booked a restaurant near the hotel beforehand we were all set for dinner at 20.00 and back at hotel around 23.00. Used TripAdvisor’s fantastic Browse Nearby feature.
We flew out from Amsterdam on Friday afternoon after work and arrived to our Basel hotel at around 19.00. Basel is an hour flight away from Amsterdam which is perfect for quick trips!
We rented a car which, at the Basel-Mulhouse airport, was super quick and easy. We were sitting in the car within 10 minutes after getting our luggage. What’s important to know is that you might have to buy a vignette when crossing the border to certain countries, therefore do your research beforehand and be prepared for this to avoid unpleasant fines. You could also ask the rental company for a car that already has a vignette for Switzerland.
Having booked a restaurant near the hotel beforehand we were all set for dinner at 20.00 and back at hotel around 23.00. Used TripAdvisor’s fantastic Browse Nearby feature.
Saturday
Getting up in the morning, enjoying breakfast at the hotel and off we went for a quick 2-3 hour stroll across the town. We were out of the hotel around 8.30 in the morning. Make sure you know where to get your breakfast from not to waste too much time on this in the morning.
We found a nice city walk (Googling and ending up on TripAdvisor’s Forum) which was truly great and covered the most important sights and areas you’d probably want to see. As Basel is quite a small town we felt this walk was definitely enough. I guess you could spend good 1-2 days there (especially if you like museums) but anything more than that is probably too much. Half a day is more than enough.
Basel city walk, found on TripAdvisor by MAEZLI:
Start on the northern bank of the Rhine on Middle Bridge,( Mittlere Brücke) the center of the city. Walk upstream and take photos of the river and the mediaval skyline with the cathedral behind it.
Take the ferry boat hanging at a rope, and then climb up to the cathedral, 11th century, high upon the Rhine, to the Pfalz and take a photo of 3 countries in one picture, explore Cathedral place (Münsterplatz), then walk through Augustinergasse, Martinsgasse until you can take the stairs down to Marktplatz. See the town hall, 15 th century, leave the place on the opposite side and enter Sattelgasse and then Schneidergasse. Try to find the very narrow Imbergässlein (Ginger lane), next to Restaurant Hasenburg, and walk uphill to Nadelberg, turn left towards to Spalenberg, then some meters down and the right through Gemsberg a U-turn to the right up to a place called Lyss. There you will see in 200 m distance the famous Spalentor.
Started driving to Liechtenstein at 11.00. Route: A3, Basel – Vaduz, Liechtenstein, driving time: 2h.
The scenery was incredibly beautiful and traffic nice and efficient. We didn't make any stops during the drive as we didn't feel it was necessary. No matter where you drive in these countries, you'll always be surrounded by amazing scenery. therefore don't panic if you miss a nice view, there'll be next one around the corner.
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| St. Florin Cathedral & The Alps |
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| Vaduz Castle |
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| Vaduz Castle |
After a nice shopping spree it was time to drive to the final destination, Innerbraz in Austria, about an hour drive from Liechtenstein. We had booked a nice, traditional gasthof (German for guesthouse) with a very highly rated restaurant, therefore no need to search for restaurants! Luckily the restaurant was incredibly good so we had no reason to search elsewhere.
Sunday
Alpine trekking!
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| Going up Vorarlberg in Austria |
We chose a hike on Vorarlberg (click on the link for the trail map) suitable for winter time (without special gear) which was perfect for us. It was quite easy with a nice ascent to the Lindauer Hütte (alt. 1744m) on Montafon. Would definitely want to hike this trail also during the summer and stay at the cottage. This time we only walked up (and slightly further from the cottage), had a cup of coffee there and went back down. The weather was absolutely fantastic that day. We had clear skies all day long and temperature was high!
For Sunday we didn’t have anything else scheduled than hiking. We knew when the sun was setting and had reserved a table at the restaurant of our hotel for 19.00 meaning we had quite a relaxing day ahead.
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| Made it up and down we go! |
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| Vorarlberg, Austria |
After finishing our fantastic hike, we went back to the hotel and prepared for the dinner, being completely exhausted and tremendously happy the restaurant was right there at the gasthof. To make things easier for the departure day, we packed majority of our stuff after coming back from the hike so we could just fell on the bed right after dinner and get some much needed sleep.
Monday
On the last day we had lots of time and decided to avoid highways and take a look at some alternative routes. This was fun as we definitely enjoy driving around exploring! The route from Innerbraz in Austria to Mulhouse airport in France took us through the total of five countries (in only 2-3 hours!) covering also Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany. We made it back to the airport right on schedule and were back in Amsterdam at 20.00 on Easter Monday and ready for work the next day.
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| Somewhere in Switzerland |
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| Somewhere on the road from Austria to France |
So there! Not so busy but completely versatile and full of new experiences. We were exhausted from the hike even a couple of days after the trip but it was more than worth it!
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| Approximate driving route from Base-Mulhouse airport to Innerbraz, Austria via Basel and Liechtenstein . On the way back we took a scenic route avoiding highways. |
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