Liechtenstein

There is no label with the inscription "Welcome to Liechtenstein" on the Rhine river from Switzerland - or if there is, then we have not seen it. It is a small and pretty land, small and functional, yet very autonomous. All of the mountains of the princedom, about a fourth the area of Toronto, are bordered by Austria in the south and Switzerland in the south.

There should not really be, just as San Marino, Monaco and Vatican City, which are the only smaller ones in Europe, should not be. Passing the fortress, we followed the signposts to our motel and got strayed along the steep and slim street. Further up the hill the path was blocked for repair and we asked some native walkers for the path; in Liechtenstein everyone seems to know English and everyone knows where everything is.

It turned out that our city of Vaduz in Liechtenstein was famous for its hotels. Parkhof Sonnenhof is a delightful, family-run four-star resort with 29 rooms and a Michelin-star Michelin style dining area, where the owner's boy is the cooks. "They knew the Sonnenhof because they had all ate there - Liechtenstein is one of the richest nations in the atlantic.

No stupid riches, as in Monaco, but a comforting level of prosperity secured by an almost zero level of joblessness and a prospering bank industry directly linked to the CHF. Our beautiful room costs 195 CHF, which is about $250, and a two course meal in the Marée costs about $100 per guest, before the wine), but the price is not higher than in Switzerland or Austria.

The majority of the 37,000 Liechtensteiners lives in the Rhine basin, just south of the Rhine, which has high hills on both sides. While we were visiting this months, the highest summits were covered in snows, and it was easily recognized why downhill ski is such a big attraction in summer, but the whole land looks like a card, with well-kept woods and willows.

Well-known for its cleanliness, Switzerland has certainly learnt this from its little neighbor. It was a sailing holiday organised by the Toronto tour operator Butterfield and Robinson. If you want a holiday in Europe, you have a beautiful vehicle available at low costs.

Buttersfield and Robinson now also offer BMW clients trips to Europe and combine this holiday option with a tailor-made travelroute. It' not long to cross the 25 kilometres of the land. The 12 km wide land is much longer to travel, because the few streets leading to the west wobble up into the hills on sharp tarmac, which can turn into a dirt road if you make a bad turn.

At the end, the Malbun skiing and walking area is 1,600 meters above sealevel and more than one kilometer above the Rhine, but the visiting period was short and we had to turn back in Triesenberg. From there we could at least have a panorama look at the world.

We had a mark for Liechtenstein at the southern boarder of Switzerland and left the vehicle directly at the shore of the world line for some pictures. Near here it was 2007, when the Confederation inadvertently marched in during a hibernation exercise: 170 troops were killed and crossed the frontier before they recognized their mistakes and withdrew.

Apparently nobody in Liechtenstein realized it, which is just as good, because it has no own armies. The Principality of Liechtenstein is proud of its tranquility and peacefulness. Then we got back in the cars and went to the other end of the land, with a stop at the famous Vaduz museums and galleries.

There was a checkpoint on the Austrians' frontier and a half-kilometre line of cars awaiting entry into Liechtenstein, but without any delays. You should rely on the Swiss neutrals and their currencies (isn't it?), but pay attention to these Austrians. Liechtenstein has found a working equation for itself in this new globalisation paradigm.

Toronto-based tour operators Butterfield and Robinson have recently started to offer BMW clients both off-the-shelf trips and tailor-made trips to Europe: The three organised trips all begin in Munich and comprise a five-day trip through Prague to Vienna, a six-day trip to Paris and a five-day trip through the Alps back to Munich.

Rates begin at $2,495 (USA) but differ depending on the standards of the desired city. and Robinson.