How to Visit Every European Microstate | Adam Aaronson

← Back to Blog

Jun 16, 2026

How to Visit Every European Microstate

So you’re in third grade. You’re looking at a map of Europe, and you notice something peculiar sandwiched between France and Spain, like a pea between two mattresses. Somehow, there’s a tiny country there. It’s called Andorra, and you show it to your classmates as if you’ve struck gold.

You decide to make Andorra part of your personality. You make your first email address epicandorra@gmail.com, you snag the alt username Andorra on Sporcle, and you do a research project on the country. You find out it’s co-led by two co-princes (one from France and one from Spain), that its economy subsists on tourism, and that these tourists tend to engage in the three S’s of activities (skiing, shopping, and smuggling).

Visiting Andorra yourself remains a pipe dream for many years. But then, shortly after you graduate college, your friend Justin will throw out an idea:

A lot of trips don’t make it out of the group chat. It might take 3 years, but it is very, very important that this one does.

The lay of the land

A microstate is a really small country. (It is not to be confused with a micronation, which is usually a self-proclaimed country with limited recognition, like Sealand or Slowjamastan. But you’d be forgiven for confusing the two, because whoever came up with that distinction must have been out to confuse people.)

The cutoff for what defines a microstate is arbitrary, of course. But in Europe, there are 6 countries that are significantly smaller in area than any other:

Country<br>Area<br>Population

Vatican City<br>0.17 mi²<br>882

Monaco<br>0.77 mi²<br>38,857

San Marino<br>24 mi²<br>34,154

Liechtenstein<br>62 mi²<br>41,237

Malta<br>122 mi²<br>574,250

Andorra<br>181 mi²<br>89,484

Of these 6 countries, 5 are full UN members, Vatican City being an observer state that’s widely regarded as an honorary country. By area, Vatican City and Monaco are the world’s two smallest countries, and all 6 are among the 17 smallest in the world. They’re all in the bottom 12 countries in the world by population, with the exception of the surprisingly populous Malta.

If you want, you can classify the 6 microstates into 4 different types:

Vatican City and San Marino are enclaves, landlocked and entirely surrounded by Italy.

Monaco is a semi-enclave, with a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea but bordered only by France.

Andorra and Liechtenstein are sandwiched between two countries (Andorra between France and Spain, Liechtenstein between Switzerland and Austria).

Malta is an island nation, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Haters might say island nations can’t be microstates, but you can kindly point out that Malta is smaller in area than Andorra, which definitely counts.

Conveniently, these microstates are all vaguely in the southwest quadrant of Europe, making it not inconceivable to hit all 6 of them in one trip. You’ll have to go through some pesky macrostates in between, though.

What about Luxembourg?

Luxembourg is indeed the 7th smallest country in Europe, but at 998 mi², it’s more than 5 times larger than Andorra. It may be smaller than all its surrounding countries, but you can at least make it out on most maps. Honestly, the “x” in its name probably lends it an air of exoticism that makes people think it’s smaller than it actually is.

And anyway, you and Justin had both already been there.

The plan

The trip was initially pitched as a road trip. But after living in New York City for some time and generally becoming more transit-pilled, you and Justin decide to pivot: instead of renting a car and road-tripping through southwestern Europe, you’ll leverage the region’s robust network of intercity rail and buses (and one ferry). It’ll look less like a road movie and more like a season of Jet Lag: The Game.

Lucky for you, Justin is something of a pro traveler. He’s already been to over 50 countries (of which the only microstate has been Vatican City), and he’ll take any excuse to lock in and figure out some logistics. So he’ll gladly be the trip’s Logistics Guy, in charge of all things transportation and lodging.

You, on the other hand, are Food Guy, responsible for all things food and drink. You’re determined to eat the characteristic foods of every region and city you pass through, including the national dish of each microstate. You’ll scour the Michelin Guide (sorted by “Lowest price”), the New York Times 36 Hours series, and random Reddit threads to find the best restaurants and bars in each location. You can think of it this way: if Justin’s in charge of the rhythm of the trip, you write the melody.

So, as Logistics Guy is wont to do, Justin figures things out. The trip will last two and a half weeks. You’ll go in May, when it’s not too hot and not too cold. You’ll fly into Barcelona and out of Malta. He’ll find an outrageously cheap flight deal with an extremely tight 50-minute connection in Oslo on the way there and...