[Vaduz, Liechtenstein, Sat, Nov 25, 2023]

Liech-what now? At 62 square miles, this tongue-twister of a country is the sixth smallest in the world. Sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, it’s entirely within the Alps.

The capital Vaduz was so close to Zurich that I couldn’t resist to the temptation to check off 2 countries in one trip. Although there is no direct train to Vaduz, the train/bus combo is very reliable and it takes less than 90 minutes. I bought tickets ahead of time on trainline.com and downloaded them to my phone before I left. I decided to give myself about 5 hours in Vaduz.

The train ride to Sargans on IC3 (Inter-City train) lasted about 50 minutes. I sat on the left side of the train and that turned out to be a good choice because I had gorgeous views of Lake Zurich for the first half of the trip. The snow that had been forecasted had not appeared yet! In fact, it was a gorgeous mostly sunny morning with some clouds in the sky.

As we got closer to Sargans, it started snowing but the accumulation was mostly mush. Once in Sargans, I only had to wait for about 10 minutes for the bus to Vaduz to depart. It took about 30 minutes to reach the city center and I arrived just after 11 am.

The Liechtenstein info center was just a short walk up from the bus stop. I got a magnet and a stamp in my passport. There is no border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein, so this is the only way to get a stamp. I also picked up a city map. Liechtenstein’s currency is Swiss Francs, but I was able to pay with Euros 1-for-1. Elsewhere, I used my credit card.

My first order of business was to get another Käsekuchen – this time with spinach and meat.

I also took some photos of the Rathaus, which had an ice rink next to it. Vaduz Town Hall dates from 1932/33.The balcony fresco by Johannes Troyer on the south façade depicts St. Urban, the patron saint of wine growers. The municipal coat of arms can be seen carved in stone above the entrance.

I then set to climb to Vaduz Castle perched on a small hill above the city. The path to get there was quite steep but very pretty with some fall colors still around. The mountains around me were shrouded in fog but visibility improved as time went by.

Vaduz Castle is the palace and official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein and as such is not open to the public. It is believed to have been built in the 12th century by the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans. The Princely Family of Liechtenstein (which actually hails from Austria and served as advisors to the Habsburg dynasty) acquired Vaduz Castle in 1712 when it purchased the countship of Vaduz. At this time, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, combined the countship with the Lordship of Schellenberg, purchased by the Liechtensteins in 1699, to form the present Principality of Liechtenstein. It was a part of the Roman Empire until its end in 1806, when it became sovereign.

From there, it was a beautiful walk down to the Red House. It was built in the 14th century and gets its name from the red color it was painted with in the middle of the 19th century. It has had many owners over the centuries. Since 1807 the building has been in the possession of the Rheinberger family. Egon Rheinberger is a famous painter, sculptor and architect from Liechtenstein. This whole area of Vaduz looked like it was a backdrop for a fairy tale!

My walk back to city center took me through Mitteldorf, which literally translates to “middle of the village”. I walked by a very modern-looking white-and-gold building that I had also passed on the way to the castle. But now I could see the main entrance and the name – Center for Art. It was built between 1971 and 1974 by the Cuban architect, artist, sculptor and painter Ricardo Porro (1925-2014).He was commissioned by the financier Robert Altmann to design offices together with a gallery for his private collection. The building’s most striking feature is probably the hanging gold lamellae made of anodised aluminium with a golden shimmer. They were originally designed to move and emit sound. However, a wind storm blew them off the façade one year. Then they were fitted with a ball joint system to prevent them moving, but the sound effect was now gone.

My next stop was the Kunstmuseum. This modern museum housed a few interesting temporary exhibits, which honestly went a little over my head. The Liliana Moro exhibit included a room full of glass pieces you could walk over. I had never walked on glass before, and it was in interesting auditory experience.

I did enjoy the permanent collection a lot more. There were a few Picassos and a Matisse, but the rest of the collection was great also. A brochure in English went into detail about the works on each of the three floors, explaining why the works that were on the same floor were grouped together.

My phone was getting low on charge, so I ducked into American Bagel and Coffee, figuring a US-themed coffee shop was more likely to have outlets. They did, but they were Swiss outlets! I had standard European plugs in my hotel room and an adapter for them, so I didn’t realize that Swiss plugs were different. After observing a tall contraption that looked like an adapter on another table, I decided to ask the gal at the counter if she had one. I was in luck, and that’s how my power tower was born. With my phone charging, I could enjoy the chocolates I had purchased earlier in peace.

I had another couple of hours to kill until my scheduled departure. I decided to walk to the cathedral to take some photos, then ducked into the Post Museum and the National Museum (Landesmuseum).

The Postal Museum was founded in 1930 and opened in 1936. It tells the history of Liechtenstein’s postal service over the years and displays a large number of postage stamps past and present. It’s rather small and I felt overwhelmed by the stamps displayed. I think one has to be a postage stamp aficionado to enjoy it.

The Landesmuseum was also overwhelming in that it was chock-full of items that didn’t seem to follow any sort of cohesive story. I did enjoy the temporary exhibit 300 days of Pandemic Travel. Tang Yu Lap, a photo artist from Hong Kong, was stranded in Europe due to the pandemic in 2020. In 300 days he traveled across Europe and captured beautiful images of historical sites and tourist hotspots in a unique silence.

I was back in Zurich by 6 pm. I picked up Tibetan Momos and some mini doughnuts from the Christmas markets in Niederdorf. I also drank one last cup of Glühwein, which has become a nightly habit for me by now. It had stayed dry in Vaduz but the forecasted snow finally made a showing!

My two days in Zurich and Vaduz were just what I wanted and they have been a great intro to this region! Now I can’t wait to come back in summer so I can see those darn mountains in their glory! And probably do some serious hiking.