A microstate is defined as a country with a population of less than 1 million people and a land area of less than 1,000 square kilometres. Here are the six European Microstates:
- Vatican City
- Monaco
- San Marino
- Liechtenstein
- Malta
- Andorra
And I have backpacked five of them. Back in 1977, Meat Loaf reckoned that Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad, so if four out of six ain’t bad, then five out of six, European Microstates must be pretty good. Or not? Well, you ain’t gonna find me in Vatican City.
1. Monaco
The Principality of Monaco is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera. At just 2.08 sq. kilometres, it is the second smallest of all the microstates in the world. It is one of the world’s richest countries. They are NOT members of the EU, they use the Euro, they are in the Schengen zone.
Some say that Monte-Carlo is the capital, whereas it is actually only one of four quarters: Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, Monte-Carlo, and Fontvieille. Monaco is a city-state where the entire country is considered the capital!
I visited Monaco in the spring of 2025. I took the train to Monte-Carlo from Nice, and backpacked Monaco on a Budget, in 5 hours and 33 minutes, before taking another train to Ventimiglia.
2. San Marino:
Republic of San Marino is a microstate enclaved entirely within central Italy. At 61.9 sq. kilometres it is the third-smallest state in Europe after the Holy See and Monaco and it is the fifth-smallest country in the world and one of only 3 countries landlocked by a single country, the other two being Lesotho, which is surrounded by South Africa and Vatican City, which is also surrounded by Italy.
I backpacked San Marino on a day trip from Rimini in April 2025.
3: Liechtenstein:
Liechtenstein, a semi-constitutional monarchy headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein. It’s Europe’s fourth smallest country at just over 160 sq. kilometres. It is one of the 193 UN Member States; it is not in the EU but is part of the Schengen Area. Despite living and working, on and off, in Switzerland between 2001 and 2018, I never visited Liechtenstein until I backpacked it in 2024.
I crossed the Switzerland-Liechtenstein border at Schaan-Vaduz, saw what I could of Vaduz in 24 hours and left on a FlixBus bound for Milan.
4. Malta:
Malta is an island just off the coast of Sicily, in the Mediterranean. At 316 sq. kilometres, it is the world’s tenth-smallest country by area and the fifth-smallest of the European Microstates. I backpacked Malta in the summer of 2024, flying in from Seville via Madrid.
I stayed 10 days at the Boho Hostel in St Julians, which has since moved to a new location.
5. Andorra:
The Principality of Andorra is a landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, sandwiched between France and Spain. At 468 sq. kilometres, it is the sixth-smallest state in Europe, and I backpacked through it in the spring of 2024. It’s easy to get to Andorra on a DirectBus from Barcelona.
