How to Travel to (and Within) Liechtenstein

What do you know about Liechtenstein? I’ll admit I didn’t know very much before visiting the country during our RTW trip. In fact, I only knew how to spell Liechtenstein because of my geography obsession on Sporcle. (Nerd alert.)

Fast Facts — Liechtenstein
Capital: Vaduz
Currency: Swiss francs (CHF)
Language: German (English widely spoken)

Liechtenstein is a tiny country (the entire population is about 38,000) nestled between Austria and Switzerland. It has no airport, so you can only travel overland to visit Liechtenstein. It is part of the Schengen zone, so if you are already in Austria or Switzerland on a Schengen visa (or as a European resident), you will have no immigration problems. In fact, Liechtenstein doesn’t even have immigration control. (Although you can get a souvenir passport stamp once you arrive for 3 CHF.)

So, how does one get to Liechtenstein?

We were in Switzerland and knew we wanted to visit Slovenia and Austria before leaving Europe, so it seemed natural to travel through Liechtenstein [see map above]. But trying to find a good route through the country was honestly a bit of a pain! Although there are a few train stations in Liechtenstein, a train/bus combination was the best method for us. (Note: If you have a Swiss Rail Pass, I believe it also counts for rail travel into Liechtenstein, but double-check this information.) Basically, you need to catch a train close to the border in either Switzerland or Austria, then catch a bus to your destination in Liechtenstein. We visited Vaduz, the capital, so this post specifically addresses visiting Vaduz, though once you are in Liechtenstein, it is very easy to use the LIEmobil bus system to get around (see more below).

Traveling from Switzerland to Liechtenstein.

From Switzerland, we recommend traveling to Buchs or Sargans via train (there are direct trains to both these towns from Zurich), then catching a LIEmobil bus to Vaduz (bus #11 from the Sargans station or bus #12 from the Buchs station).

We used the Swiss transit app, SBB, to plan our route. We love the SBB app, but you should not use it to get to Liechtenstein because: The app recommended we take the train from Zurich to Sargans (good), but then instead of putting us directly on the #11 bus to Vaduz from Sargans station (presumably because it’s not part of the SBB system), it had us catch a bus to Sevelen, Switzerland, before transferring to the bus for Vaduz. I think the app was trying to take us as far in Switzerland as it could, but it would have been better if we had caught the bus directly from Sargans. The middle bus was not necessary. We even saw the bus to Vaduz when we arrived in Sargans (it’s bright yellow/lime! you can’t miss it!), but we had already paid for the middle bus via the app and also doubted ourselves. Now you can learn from our mistake. 🙂

Traveling from Austria to Liechtenstein.

In Austria, Feldkirch is a great city near the border to get you to Liechtenstein (LIEmobil bus #14 and #11 go to Vaduz). Feldkirch also has overnight trains to popular European cities such as Vienna, Ljubljana and Budapest, so it’s a good option if you’re traveling elsewhere in Europe or flying out of a bigger city after visiting Liechtenstein. We took the overnight train to Ljubljana from Feldkirch. Be sure to book early if you want a sleeper car!

How do I get around within Liechtenstein?

You made it to Liechtenstein! Yay! As mentioned above, the LIEmobil buses are wonderful. You can pay the driver in cash (CHF) for each trip. See current rates here. Check the maps at the stations (or online) to see how many zones you need to buy. You can just tell the driver your final destination when you board and they will know which ticket to sell you, but it’s good practice to know how much it should cost ahead of time. (Also, unlike most countries, a day pass for the LIEmobil buses is cheaper than two tickets. So if you are going to ride the bus more than once, ask for a round-trip ticket, which is effectively a day pass.)

Now that I’m in Liechtenstein, what should I do?

I’m glad you asked! Check out our post on How to Spend 24 Hours in Vaduz, Liechtenstein for some ideas. 😉