Do This, Not That: 2 Days in Liechtenstein

Okay fine, I admit it. Like most people, the driving factor for me recently spending 2 days in Liechtenstein was simply to cross it off my list. I can’t help it—I’m a list lover. And crossing things off that list? Oh yes! Give it to me! More! More!

As someone who travels a lot, I’m often faced with the dilemma of: do I visit a new place? Or return to one of my favorite places? And, well, because I grew up in the age of ice cream and cookie dough in one splendid spoonful, I’m used to getting it all. The ability to make solid choices went out the window the moment leggings as pants became even mildly socially acceptable.  

Visiting Munich, Germany to attend Oktoberfest each year like I do, I always try to add in a trip to somewhere nearby or on the way that I’ve never been. In 2014 it was Iceland; in 2016 it was Norway and the Czech Republic; in 2018 it was Portugal and Austria. And in 2019 it was lovely little Liechtenstein—now one of my favorite places I indeed plan on returning to. In yoga pants, obviously.

Though my initial plan was simply a day trip, I ended up spending 2 days in Liechtenstein because, though lured in by the possibility of a posh passport stamp, I really was interested to know what the place was all about. I mean, was it really all that different from Switzerland, Austria, and Germany? What is there even to do there? Does the prince need a new quirky American friend? I look great in a tiara. Call me, boo!

After retrieving your bag(s), head to the train station inside the Zurich airport. You can try to figure out the next parts on your own (showoff), or you can do as I do and just tell the person at the info booth you need to get to Sargans.

He or she will get you the train tickets you need as well as give you a timetable of where you need to be and when, what trains you need to be on, and which platforms they leave from. The only way this could be easier is if he/she carried you there on his/her back. I don’t think this is a service they offer, but this is a country of hikers so you never know.

You’re now in the center of Vaduz (pronounced vah-doots), the capital of Liechtenstein. OOORR you’ve messed up terribly and are now wandering around suburban Austria with two pieces of luggage and one desperate need to pee. Enjoy!

For starters, you should at least know that Liechtenstein is teeny weeny—just 62 square miles to be exact. For comparison, that’s like two Walt Disney Worlds put together or, roughly, the same size as Dwayne Johnson’s back.

It’s the world’s 6^th smallest country, the 4^th smallest country in Europe, and the only country to be completely within the confines of the Alps. Also, being completely surrounded by Switzerland and Austria, it’s one of only two double-landlocked countries in the entire world (Uzbekistan being the other). As you can see, Liechtenstein is the cozy center of some very serious hugs. Enter: Dwayne Johnson. 🤗

Liechtenstein is officially the Principality of Liechtenstein which means it’s ruled by a billionaire prince who lives in a castle on a cliff who I’m pretty sure I’m related to.

Now, I almost always disagree with people in the second example of travelers, but I will admit I was nervous about spending a whole two nights there. Would I be wasting my time? Will I exhaust all there is to do on day one?

What if the prince doesn’t invite me to a ball at the castle? *angrily unlaces corset* However, what I found once I was there was that even 2 days in Liechtenstein was not enough.

Most people make a stop in Liechtenstein part of a day trip from Zurich or when passing through from Switzerland to Austria or Germany. And if that were the case—if I had just eight hours to experience the country—I definitely wouldn’t have seen Liechtenstein’s potential. Instead, what I found was the same as travelers in this first category—a true hidden gem!

Okay, so maybe Liechtenstein isn’t for everybody (NASCAR enthusiasts, your grandmother’s knitting club, any Hollywood movie agent in any film ever) but it sure is for a lot of people and especially yours truly.

The capital of Vaduz is full of museums and cultural sites—sure, they’re not the Louvre but each of them is interesting in their own way and, really, your grandmother’s knitting club would love that—and the villages outside the capital are pure Alpine perfection.

There’s a huge network of hiking trails, tons of culture and history, quirky spots and activities, and Liechtenstein is a huge winter sports destination (Olympic medal winners, hello?). The Liechtensteiners are some of the friendliest people I’ve encountered in Europe and the food here is simply AH-MAZING. Liechtenstein is easy to get to, easy to get around in, and has some of the best Alpine sunrises and sunsets I’ve seen.

What day trippers don’t realize is that Liechtenstein is so much more than Vaduz. The country may be small but it’s packed with interesting and adorable Alpine villages chock full of fluffy sheep, edelweiss, fresh mountain water, and a pupper that won’t leave your side during lunch.

So, don’t listen to the haters. There’s plenty to do here and to do it any justice you’ll need at least 2 days in Liechtenstein. It’s not boring and there is plenty to do.

Liechtenstein is always worth visiting, but to really get the most out of 2 days in Liechtenstein, you’ll want to plan ahead (and maybe pack some extra snacks). When planning my time in Liechtenstein—as I do with all my trips—I follow a general set of rules for maximizing my time in a new destination, and you can view that here. (Don’t worry, it’ll open in a new tab so you can check it out after you finish reading this.)

Swiss/Liechtensteiner outlets have their own unique shape that only a select few European adapters will fit into. And that’s only after trying every outlet in the room and basically just getting lucky. (This happened to me in both Switzerland and Liechtenstein this year.)

Luckily, I was able to find one outlet I could shimmy my plug into but, had I not, the Residence Hotel has adapters on hand for weary, battery-drained travelers.

Your 2 days in Liechtenstein will not be a budget trip, but it doesn’t have to be insanely expensive either. Many of Liechtenstein’s top activities (hiking and other outdoorsy things) are totally free and getting around via public transportation can also be…

The Adventure Pass can be purchased in Liechtenstein at the tourism office or ahead of time online (and by doing so you can use it to get free transportation from Switzerland before you even reach Liechtenstein). With it you can zip in and out of sites and zip around the country to maximize your time with none of the guilt.

Learn more about the Adventure Pass here.

Many thanks to Liechtenstein Tourism for providing me with an Adventure Pass so I could help relay the best ways to spend 2 days in Liechtenstein! As always, all opinions are my own. 

Vaduz is Liechtenstein’s capital and where most of the sights and museums are concentrated. However, the country, being as compact as it is, makes getting around super quick and easy.

The LIEmobil buses are always on time to the minute, and you can get from Vaduz to either end of the country in less than 15 minutes. Can Disney World say that? Methinks not. *read that in Donald Duck’s voice for full effect* While you should spend a good amount of time in Vaduz, it’s outside the capital where you’ll experience the most Alpine-ness of this Alpine country.

You can head south to the city of Balzers and Gutenberg Castle–Liechtenstein’s other castle, the one you can actually visit. You can spend some time trekking with llamas (for real though!!) in Triesenberg, you can hike the Liechtenstein trail which covers the entire country, or do as I did and head up into the mountains in Malbun.

To follow in my damn I’m wearing the wrong shoes for this footsteps, use your Adventure Pass to take the 21 bus from Vaduz Post to Malbun Zentrum (the last stop on the line).

From there, like, literally right where you get off the bus, take the chairlift to the top of the mountain. It’s fine; apparently chairlifts are a totally normal thing that people do even though they make no sense to me.

From there you can head straight to lunch on the patio at Berggasthaus Sareis or, as I did, wander the trails for a while, cursing the fact that you didn’t book more time in Leichtenstein and taking in the amazing mountain views of Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and, oh hey Austria!

Afterwards, head back down and wander around adorable Malbun, fill up your water bottle with fresh Alpine water, make friends with some sheep, and eventually head to the bird of prey show for beers + birds. To return to Vaduz, just take the 21 bus from Malbun Zentrum back to Vaduz Post (the last stop). It could. not. be. easier.

Having fun exploring other parts of the country is the goal, but in all honesty, riding around Liechtenstein on the buses is entertainment enough. You’ll see so many amazing views, witness everyday life in Liechtenstein, and you may even get caught in cattle-related traffic jams. Even if you just ride the bus to the end of the line and back… totally worth it.

ARE CHAIRLIFTS AN ISSUE FOR YOU?
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Because they are for me! This whole concept is totally new to me yet this year I’ve found myself on a chairlift more than a couple of times. Check out this post on my Facebook page and share your thoughts!

The Liechtenstein Treasure Chamber is a small museum that houses some of the most important of the country’s treasures: fine art, a huge collection on Fabergé eggs, medieval relics, literal moon rocks, and, naturally, the prince of Liechtenstein’s opulent crown.

Visiting the Treasure Chamber, as it’s so creepily-named, was on my list of places to visit during my 2 days in Liechtenstein, but I ended up doing so accidentally.

At the ticket counter inside the Liechtenstein National Museum (my intended target), I handed the employee my Adventure Pass and she handed me back a gold coin. I was told to take it to the building that’s two buildings down and I would know what to do. (Spoiler alert: I did not know what to do.)

The building she described was actually the Liechtenstein Treasure Chamber and inside the main entrance was a small vestibule like the kind that often hold ATMs and Chandler Bing during that blackout that one time. There was a box on the wall with a sign that said to insert the coin. (HOW DID THEY KNOWWWW)

I inserted the coin, having zero clue of what would happen next, and immediately the wall next to me opened up. Now I’ve seen enough sitcom murder mysteries to know that when a secret passageway opens up in the wall, you walk into it. So walk into it I did.

Just then the wall abruptly closed behind me, sealing me inside what was little more than a pitch black 4’ x 4’ room. Just as I was about to scream bloody murder, I was able to barely make out some writing on the wall that implied I wasn’t going to die a horrible death because another wall was about to open up. And open up it did.

The side wall of my tiny black cell opened up into, well, a slightly larger all-black room that was lit as dimly as possible yet filled with sparkly treasures. Though I could barely see where I was walking since my eyes hadn’t acclimated to the darkness yet, I was 100% sure I was in there alone.

*Soo… I’ll just be taking this crown now kthanksbye….* Eventually an employee entered to answer my questions and, most likely, make sure I didn’t walk off with any priceless royal thingamabobs. To exit, I repeated the process on the other side.

All in all, the process of entering the super aptly-named Treasure Chamber is quick and painless IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S COMING. I get the bejeezus scared out of me on my travels so you don’t have to! You are welcome.

Though there is no official border crossing to get from Switzerland to Liechtenstein (as well as no airport or train station in which to arrive), you can still get your passport stamped there. And it is cu-ute! Getting a Liechtenstein passport stamp is easy—just pay 3 CHF at the Liechtenstein tourism office and they’ll stamp it for you (or just use your Adventure Pass and get it fo’ free).

Was I a little nervous to get my passport stamped in Liechtenstein? Yes, and here’s why: you may have read that certain “souvenir” passport stamps can potentially invalidate your passport seeing as how it’s an official government document that’s not to be fiddled with.

Such “souvenir” passport stamps include the likes of the ones you can get at Macchu Pichu in Peru, “Checkpoint Charlie” in Berlin, the Equator in Ecuador, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales, and more. (That’s a literal town in Wales, not my cat walking over the keyboard.)

Page 5 of the United States passport expressly states “This passport must not be altered or mutilated in any way. Alteration could make the passport invalid, and if willful, may subject you to prosecution. Only authorized officials of the United States or foreign countries may place stamps…in this passport.”

Now I don’t know about you, but I’m keen on keeping the U.S. Government on my side. More importantly, I’ve heard accounts of people having trouble entering foreign countries when these “souvenir” stamps were discovered in their passports—stamps that can be seen as “forgeries.” Like, after they’d already flown there. (For what it’s worth, these accounts have always centered around travel to China, Russia, and Finland.)

However, while these rules may apply to the souvenir passport stamps of Easter Island, the DMZ, the Galapagos Islands, the South Pole, and the End of the World in Argentina, et al, visitors to Liechtenstein have little to worry about.

Though the Liechtenstein passport stamp is given inside the tourist information center, and for a fee at that, the Liechtenstein tourism office has a government decree allowing them to give out the passport stamp.

Given this information, you shouldn’t have any problems with a passport stamp from Liechtenstein (as I know many people who have them). As for the others, maybe stamp an old passport? Stamp some other piece of paper? After all, this is an official government passport, not a sticker book from the Magic Kingdom.

At the very least, get more information. All I can say is, if my ass travels to the South Pole, you can bet your beluga I’m getting proof of it.

A short walk along a quiet creek and past some cow pastures will take you to Alte Rhinebrücke, the old bridge over the Rhine River. This covered bridge dates back to 1901 and is the only remaining wooden bridge over the Rhine.

The bridge is entirely vehicle-free (but not livestock-free so look out for poo) and you can get a shot of yourself standing in two countries at once because you’re a huge dork who’s totally into that stuff.

From the town center, follow the road up Beckagässli, to the left of Brasserie Burg. From there, simply follow the signs towards the Schloss. From the center, the walk will take you about 18 minutes.

Along the way there are amazing viewpoints and informational signage about Liechtenstein, the castle, and the royal family. The path up to Vaduz Castle is super steep, gravely, and full of dirt so make sure you wear some decent shoes.

At the castle, you can walk around the property and look at it all from the outside in (for now, mwahaha!). Up here you can get great shots of the castle as well as of Vaduz from up above.

On the patio of the mountainside restaurant Berggasthaus Sareis, I had rösti mit käse for lunch—basically a huge hash brown that’s covered in raclette (or as they call it, “mountain cheese”) and baked. It’s greasy, it’s stinky, it’s incredible. Add in a view of the Alps and you’ll totally forget the fact that your lunch smells like feet.

One way to combat overtourism is by traveling during a destination’s offseason. Another way is to visit the lesser known parts of the world. Liechtenstein, for instance.

During your 2 days in Liechtenstein, you won’t have to wait in a single line, you’ll have more than enough elbow room everywhere you go, you can breathe fresh air in a wondrously clean country where sometimes the only sound you’ll hear are cowbells. There’s no trash, no crowds, no scam artists, no having to stand on packed buses, no pollution, no fighting for photographs, and no reason to not visit Liechtenstein.

More info for your 2 days in Liechtenstein

Heading to Liechtenstein? Read hotel reviews on TripAdvisor or book your room now!
But where do I personally recommend? Definitely the Residence Hotel in Vaduz! 
What else should you bring? Check out my What to Pack resource page.
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