On my final day in Zurich, I decided to actually take a day trip over to Liechtenstein, since I figured this might be my only opportunity to visit the tiny principality. Unfortunately, there aren’t any direct trains, but you can take an ~hour long ride from Zurich to the town of Sargans, and then pick up an “express” (although there are about 8 intermediate stops) bus into Vaduz, the capital of the tiny nation (which takes ~20-30 minutes depending on how many stops are requested).

The landscape on the train ride is stunning, with sweeping views of Switzerland’s many lakes and Alpine peaks (and some random castles / fortifications atop hills!). The country of Liechtenstein is pretty visually indistinguishable from Switzerland, with only a small road marker denoting the border. The bus ride into Vaduz passes through a couple small “towns” (which you could be forgiven for mistaking as suburbs of Vaduz, given they are legitimately walkable from the downtown area). The bus drops off passengers at both the southern and northern sides of the city (about a 15 minute walk apart), so I opted to start at the northern part and walk my way down.

First priority was lunch. I went to the Alderhaus, which was fine. The service was pretty lacking (the table next to me had apparently waited over an hour to get food and the waitstaff were actively confused and trying to point towards each other for the mistake). I got my food relatively quickly (probably because they were trying to close up); I ordered the menu of the day, which included watery potato soup, a very thin but well breaded schnitzel, and some unseasoned potatoes. Thankfully there was lingonberry jam, but it was also pretty thin. They forgot the dessert which was unfortunate, as it was part of the paid menu.

After that, I decided to do some walking through the very small downtown area. It is lovely – the main square was fitted for the summer with an outdoor play area, there are little cafes, restaurants and shops, and the entire town is overlooked by the imposing castle (which unfortunately is undergoing massive renovations, so it wasn’t as picturesque as promised which was understandable).  

I made my way to the southern point of the downtown area, the cathedral St. Florin. On the way, I passed a couple impressive buildings and noted some of the incredible statues that line the streets (it reminded me quite a bit of the street art in Andorra!).

After that, I decided to hit a couple sites of interest including the Landesmuseum (Liechtenstein national museum) and the “treasure chamber” (no photos allowed, but it included an incredible collection of gems and artifacts like ornately decorated eggs and a piece of moon rock and a flag brought back from Apollo 11). Both the entrance and exit require an impressive air-lock style door.

I also visited the information center for the tourist passport stamp, of course (and saw that even the port-a-potties were cute here!).

The Landesmuseum was especially interesting and I was really happy I dropped in. The collection was quite fascinating, covering everything from ancient to modern Liechtenstein history. Of particular interest were a couple items:

• A traditional stove, showing the improvements from using open fire (not as smokey, more even cooking temperatures, ability to stand rather than stoop to cook), with the ability to still remove the “hot plate” in order to put cookware in the flames if needed
• An “aquamanile” aka a glass vessel used to store water that would be used to wash hands at the table; apparently, they took a variety of shapes and this well preserved version was found in the castle basement
• Incredible garments dating back to the Bronze Age (and more modern periods) – they have an incredible preserved sock / boot liner that dates to the Bronze Age and is so well preserved, you can actually see the knitting pattern. As a lover of history, this was such a cool thing to see in person!
• An amazing collection of historic records / artifacts that were used into SHOCKINGLY modern times, the first of which was the historic schnapps still. Apparently, everyone would either have one at home, or bring their fruit (any fruit, even that which couldn’t be used for other purposes) to a town distillery. Apparently the one pictured was from the 18^th century, but was used until the 1970s!
• The marriage record, which was used until the 1990s – it’s an incredible book of handwritten records of every marriage in the country. Interestingly, the wedding dresses were traditionally black, weddings would only take place on weekday mornings, and babies had to be baptized immediately if there was fear they wouldn’t make it to adulthood (this one tracks, but it was fascinating to hear that a midwife could be authorized to perform the ceremony)
• The “witch” that is ritually burned on a bonfire every year to make the transition between seasons; it was unclear from the audio narration if this used to be a “real” witch when the Pagan tradition was borne, but now it’s made of hay; apparently at the end of this festival, if a boy goes home with a girl and doesn’t get a traditional candy, he’s out of luck!
• An amazing property that they clearly purchased and relocated to the museum itself – unfortunately there was no audio narration available about it, but it was lovely to see the property itself
• Some incredible early Christian artifacts – including a “Lenten textile” – aka a textile that chronicles a variety of Bible stories and was pulled out for Lent and pulled out for a variety of occasions as well; there was also an amazing reliquary for St. Barbara that was made of Venetian glass and still had the wax cover on it

Sadly, I’d gotten a slightly later start to my day than expected, so I didn’t have a ton of time to explore if I wanted to get back to Zurich in time for dinner and packing before my flight back to the USA. So, I decided to forego the City Train, which apparently takes you throughout the country and provides some more color commentary. I’m not sure I’d prioritize returning, but I’d recommend the train to any future visitors if you have time. There’s also a postal museum and a Kuntsmuseum, the primary art gallery.

Then, I grabbed the bus back to the train station and watched as multiple men in full suits ran to catch the next train heading to Zurich – and was right there with them, since they only come every half hour or so!