Vaduz castle on its wooded rock above the roofs of the town and the Rhine valley beyond
HomeCountry guidesLiechtenstein

Liechtenstein by campervan

Liechtenstein is 160 square kilometres and you can drive its length in about twenty minutes. It is a stop on the road between Switzerland and Austria, not a week. There is no national camping act: the communes regulate it, and the one commune that publishes its rule bans wild camping outright. The country has no motorways, so it has no vignette of its own, but you need a Swiss or an Austrian one to reach it.

Published 18 September 2026Last checked 18 September 2026

Basics

Basics

Liechtenstein is in Schengen and in the European Economic Area, but it is not in the European Union, and it shares a customs territory and a currency with Switzerland. The practical effect is that nobody stops you at either border, that you pay in Swiss francs, and that Swiss tax rules apply rather than EU ones. The EEA Agreement came into force here on 1 May 1995 and the Schengen rules from 19 December 2011. The customs treaty with Switzerland dates from 1923 and the franc became legal currency on 26 May 1924.

The flat floor of the Rhine valley with fields and villages below steep wooded mountains
The whole country is one valley floor and the mountain wall above it

The memberships that decide what applies

  • Schengen, from 19 December 2011. The Schengen rules became fully applicable that day, so there is no routine check on either border.
  • The EEA, from 1 May 1995. The agreement came into force for Liechtenstein once the 1923 customs treaty with Switzerland had been amended to allow it.

Power, water and getting online

  • 230V, 50Hz, Swiss type J sockets. This is the one that catches people. A continental type C plug goes in, a type F with earth clips does not. Carry a Swiss adapter.
  • Tap water is drinkable and the country is not short of it.

The national day on 15 August is worth planning around rather than avoiding. It is the one day the whole country turns out, at Vaduz, and the one date on which the shop closing ordinance lets every shop open until midnight without asking anyone.

Common questions about Liechtenstein by campervan

Can you sleep in a campervan in Liechtenstein?

There is no national law that prohibits sleeping in a legally parked vehicle, but there is also no national law that permits camping, and the eleven communes set the detail themselves under the Gemeindegesetz. Schaan is the commune whose ordinance is published in full, and it prohibits wild camping outright, with a police fine of up to 2,000 francs and the power to tow the vehicle. The other ten communes do not publish an equivalent instrument, so ask the commune office rather than assuming.

Is wild camping legal in Liechtenstein?

No, wherever a commune has said so, and Schaan has. Its ordinance on the maintenance of peace, safety and order, in force since 18 April 1990, states that wild camping is prohibited, and allows a police fine of up to 2,000 francs. Two national laws sit behind that: the Baugesetz requires a building permit to site a caravan or mobile home outside a place approved for it, and the Naturschutzgesetz treats laying out a tent or parking area outside the building zone as an intervention needing a permit, with fines to 50,000 francs.

Do you need a vignette in Liechtenstein?

Not for Liechtenstein itself. The country has no motorways and charges nothing to drive on its roads. You need one to get there. From Switzerland you arrive on the A13, which is a Swiss national road, and the Swiss charge is 40 francs for a calendar year, valid from 1 December to 31 January of the following year. From Austria you arrive on the A14 near Feldkirch, and the Austrian vignette for a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes cost 12.80 euros for ten days in 2026. A vehicle over 3.5 tonnes pays the Swiss heavy vehicle charge instead of the vignette.

Is Liechtenstein in the European Union?

No. Liechtenstein is in the Schengen area, which has applied to it since 19 December 2011, and in the European Economic Area, which came into force for it on 1 May 1995, but it is not an EU member state. It is in a customs union and a currency union with Switzerland, so the currency is the Swiss franc, and its own VAT act sets the standard rate at 8.1 percent with 2.6 percent on food and 3.8 percent on accommodation.