Vaduz
On our long weekend trip to Zurich in Switzerland, we decided to make our way over to neighbouring Liechtenstein for the day, to cross off another country, and buy yet another shot glass (taking us to magic number 10). We had at one point, debated whether to spend the night here as well or even to come as a separate holiday, however I am SO glad we didn’t.
Transport
The country of Liechtenstein is the 6th smallest in the world, and it only takes something like 20 minutes to drive the whole length of it. Vaduz is the capital, and it’s just under 2 hours to get to it from Zurich on both train and bus combined (a train from Zurich HB to Sargans, and then a bus straight into Vaduz). You don’t need a passport to cross over from Switzerland, however I believe you do from Austria, and the official language is German – although everyone we spoke to knew English too.
What to do
Well, this really was the million dollar question. What can we do?
It probably didn’t help that we went on a Sunday, which by the way, DON’T DO as everything is closed, including bars and restaurants – we only just managed to find one Italian pizzeria that was open! There was a souvenir shop where we got our shot glass from, and there was a little high street with a pop-up ice rink in the middle, that had a few shops around it which, if they were open, looked pleasant enough. There were a couple of small museums about the history of Liechtenstein, and a castle sat up in the hill that looks beautiful from the ground (see image above), however you can’t visit as it’s privately owned.
We went in November, and it was pretty cold but sadly it didn’t snow. Vaduz sits in a bit of a valley; when the clouds lift, you can see the beautiful snow-topped mountains surrounding the town.
Sadly, it was a pretty unsuccessful trip for us, as we ended up sitting in the pizzeria for a couple of hours with a few beers, and then went back to Zurich. We didn’t go out any further that Vaduz, although I suspect there is more to do in the other areas as there is a ski resort to the north, however I don’t think either of us would come back to this country again. On a Saturday, it is probably a nice relaxing day out, but in our experience we wouldn’t recommend staying any more than one day here… and don’t go on a Sunday!