Vaduz has been on my list of places to visit ever since I listened to the BBC Radio 4 sitcom, Cabin Pressure episode of the same name. On our annual pre-Christmas trip during December 2018, we made time for a day trip to Vaduz from Zurich.
From Zurich, the easiest way to get to Vaduz is by train and then by bus (There are no direct services between Zurich and Vaduz). A return ticket costs about 80 Swiss Francs, if you don’t have any swiss rail passes.
Tip: You can buy tickets to Vaduz from Zurich Hbf station. It is possible to buy tickets from the machines, but I would recommend going to one of the manned ticket desks, as they will work out the cheapest ticket option for you. This is especially worth it you are planning to spend a few days in Switzerland, and trains fares in Switzerland are not cheap.
At Zurich we hopped on a train toward Chur, stopping at Sargans. The journey from Zurich to Sargans is about 55 minutes.
From Sargans station, we got on the number 11 bus to Vaduz. (The bus starts in Sargans, and heads through Lichenstein into Feldkirch in Austria, so if you wanted, you could cover 3 countries in one bus ride). The buses are coordinated with train times, so when we arrived there was a bus waiting for us at the station forecourt. The ticket we bought in Zurich is valid for the bus too.
The bus takes 20-30 minutes to get to Vaduz, going through the small villages of Balzers and Triesen. One thing I noticed was that Lichtenstein number plates are black with white numbers and letters, unlike any other I have seen anywhere in the world.
We got off the bus at Vaduz post office, which is the stop nearest to the centre of town.
Our first stop was the Vaduz tourist centre. Here, you can buy souvenirs as well as an official Lichtenstein stamp on your passport for 6 Swiss Francs.
After lunch, we walked around the centre of Vaduz. It was no bigger than my local high street and even less busy (given that it was a Saturday, this was really surprising).
We then walked up to Vaduz castle. The walk provides some great viewpoints over the city. Vaduz castle is the private residence of the Prince of Lichtenstein, so it is not open to the public.
Lichtenstein is only 160 square kilometres in size, and one of the smallest countries in the World. It is doubly landlocked, and has a population of less than 40,000. It is also one of the richest countries in the World, in terms of GDP per capita.
Vaduz also has a Museum of Modern Art and a National Museum of Lichtenstein. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit these.
We did however find time to enjoy some food at the Sri Lankan stall at the small Christmas Market in Vaduz.
Late afternoon, we headed back to Zurich, retracing our steps, taking the bus and then the train.
Have you been to Vaduz? What did you think? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Diary of a Tourist 