Travel to Liechtenstein in Europe

Cheap Transportation by Car, Plane, Trains, and Bus to Vaduz

Apr 2, 2008

Liechtenstein in the heart of central Europe is easily reached by road or rail. Buses provide the best transportation in Vaduz and the rest of the principality.

Liechtenstein is a small sovereign country nestled between Switzerland and Austria in the heart of the European Alps. The excellent transportation networks of its larger neighbors ensure that Liechtenstein and its capital Vaduz can be reached easily on both public and private transportation.

Currency and Customs in Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein has been in a customs union with Switzerland since 1924. As a result, the Swiss Franc (CHF) is the official currency and no border controls exist with Switzerland. Once Switzerland joins the Schengen Agreement (expected during 2008), there will be no further (Swiss) border controls with Austria either.

As Liechtenstein has no immigration controls, travelers can only get an official Liechtenstein stamp in passports by visiting any local Liechtenstein tourist information office. Liechtenstein’s investment in this souvenir service was absolutely brilliant. Annually more than 40,000 visitors fork over CHF3 each for such stamps – returns on investment seldom come higher.

Traveling to Liechtenstein by Road

Liechtenstein can be reached by road via fast highways in Switzerland and Austria – note that both countries require a valid highway vignette to use autobahns.

Flying to Liechtenstein

There are no cheap flights to Liechtenstein and only partly because the principality has no airport. The closest airport is at St Gallen-Altenrhein (ACH) with four daily scheduled flights to Vienna (and charter flights especially in winter). More realistic options are Bodensee Airport-Friedrichshafen (FDH) in Germany or Zurich International (ZRH) in Switzerland.

Traveling by Train to Liechtenstein

Rail travel to Liechtenstein is via the excellent Swiss and Austrian railway networks. Liechtenstein has only a small railway line – without a stop in Vaduz itself.

Regular direct trains are available from Feldkirch to Bregenz (26 or 45 minutes), Lindau (54 minutes), and Innsbruck (2 hours). Direct trains are also available to Vienna, Graz, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Mainz, Bonn, Cologne (Köln), Düsseldorf, Münster, and Dortmund.

From Buchs SG and Sargans direct trains are available to Chur (30 minutes), St Gallen (50 minutes), Zurich (1h10), and Basel (2h40).

Transportation in Liechtenstein

Despite the country’s small population of only 35,000 it sports an excellent public bus service with an extensive network and pleasantly low prices. More than a third of the citizens have an annual bus pass (it is only CHF160) while around a third of the population uses the bus each day. On major national vacation days up to 35,000 people use the bus.

The yellow, low-emission buses of the Liechtenstein Bus Anstalt (LBA) literally goes everywhere a tourist would want to go including Feldkirch, Sarganz, and Buchs to connect with trains in Austria and Switzerland. Ticket prices start at CHF 2 while the day ticket at CHF 7 is excellent value for money. Even cheaper are week tickets at CHF 18 and month tickets at CHF 40.

Liechtenstein has a minor railway line connection Buchs in Switzerland with Feldkirch in Austria via a loop through Liechtenstein. The capital Vaduz is not directly on this link – use the stop Schaan-Vaduz. The bus system is generally much more convenient.

Once in Liechtenstein, visitors will find the country small – which is one of the major attractions – but with many sights worth exploring.

The copyright of the article Travel to Liechtenstein in Europe in Liechtenstein Travel is owned by Henk Bekker. Permission to republish Travel to Liechtenstein in Europe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.