Ever thought about visiting one of Europe’s microstates? The tiny ones that people forget are actual countries, wedged into corners of bigger nations like geopolitical footnotes. Liechtenstein is one of them. And if you’re anything like me, it’s probably been sitting on a quiet, long-standing bucket list, patiently waiting for its moment. In May 2024, it finally got its turn.

I was on a week-long trip around central and eastern Switzerland - part photography, part curiosity-fuelled adventure - and I dedicated one full day to exploring Liechtenstein. One day might sound short, but for a country that’s only 160 square kilometres, it’s actually more than enough to dig into the quirks, culture, and surprisingly vibrant energy tucked between the Swiss and Austrian borders.

It’s not exactly a tourist magnet. Unlike Monaco, it doesn’t have a world-famous Grand Prix, it’s not drenched in spiritual significance like the Vatican, and you won’t find sprawling beaches like Malta or powdery ski slopes that attract global crowds like Andorra. And yet, it shares something in common with San Marino, it’s quietly overlooked. Not because there’s nothing to see, but because most people just aren’t quite sure how to get there.

It’s not the easiest place to reach unless you plan for it. There’s no airport, no easily accessible train station, it’s a country you have to go looking for. And that alone makes it worth the effort.

I flew into Zurich, which is the closest international airport with a decent range of connections. From there, you want to make your way to Zurich HB (the main train station) and then hop on a regional train heading towards Chur. Get off at Sargans, a small town on the Swiss side of the border. And this is where things get interesting.

Outside Sargans station is the number 11 bus, a public service that runs from Switzerland into Liechtenstein and out the other side into Austria. It’s hard to miss - it’s big and yellow/green! It stops in a variety of places in Liechtenstein whilst linking Sargans train station in Switzerland to Feldkirch train station in Austria. In under an hour, you’ve done three countries, one valley, no passport required. It’s easily one of the smoothest and most scenic cross-border journeys I’ve taken.

Once you’re on the bus, your first stop worth hopping off at is Vaduz Post, the main station for the capital. It’s a small, clean, quietly impressive town centre. Think gift shops, art galleries, cafes, museums (the Landesmuseum and Postmuseum are right next to each other), and a short walking distance to everything that matters.

What strikes you first isn’t the architecture, it’s the geography. The mountains are massive and Vaduz (and Liechtenstein in general) is completely sandwiched in a narrow alpine valley. The landscape towers over you in every direction, making it immediately clear why this place isn’t exactly teeming with motorways and airports. It’s not just that Liechtenstein is small, it’s hemmed in. But that’s also part of the charm. And it all builds towards one visual highlight: Vaduz Castle, perched dramatically on the hill above the capital like something straight out of cinema.

From the centre of town, it’s only about a 25-minute uphill hike to reach the base of Vaduz Castle. The trail is incredibly walkable, cutting through forested switchbacks with regular viewpoints offering panoramic shots of the town and valley below. On the way up, there are small information boards dotted along the path that give you a bite-sized history of Liechtenstein itself, its origins, its monarchy, and how it carved out its place between its two much larger neighbours.

Once you reach the top, there’s a paved road that leads up to the castle itself. It’s still the official residence of Prince Hans-Adam II, so the public can’t go inside. But the views are stellar, the building’s architecture is suitably regal, and there’s a little easter egg: if you accidentally (or not-so-accidentally) stray too close to the private areas of the castle or try and walk around to the rear, a loudspeaker system will activate, warning you in multiple languages to step back. Royal privacy, with a very modern Swiss precision. You’ve been warned!

After the hike back down, I stopped in town for some lunch, keen to try a local dish. Liechtenstein’s food is largely borrowed from its neighbours - think schnitzel, sausages, strudel - but it also has its own star: Käsknöpfle. It’s essentially tiny dumpling-like pasta smothered in Swiss cheese, an absolute win on a plate. A quick word of warning if you’re coming in from Austria: Liechtenstein uses the Swiss Franc. You might assume they take Euros. They don’t. Or at least, not without a raised eyebrow and a bad exchange rate. Always double-check your wallet before ordering the cheese.

One of my favourite moments of the day came next. Just a 15-minute walk from the centre of Vaduz is the Rheinpark Stadion, the national football ground of Liechtenstein. It’s also home to FC Vaduz, a club that plays in the Swiss football league despite being from an entirely different country. Very Liechtenstein. It’s also one of the few stadiums where you can kick a ball into another country, with the stadium sitting next to the stretch of the Rhine river that splits Liechtenstein with Switzerland.

We rocked up just in time to catch a youth match, the FC Vaduz junior team facing off against a side from near St. Gallen. The stadium was quiet but open, and we walked right in. Some youth players who weren’t on the pitch were sat in the stands with us, shouting encouragement. It was all very wholesome. The home side lost, but it didn’t seem to matter. There was pride, community, and a proper football atmosphere, just distilled down to its simplest form.

Back on the number 11 bus, I made a short journey north to Schaan, Liechtenstein’s second-largest town. It’s slightly more industrial, slightly more lived-in, and has a little more grit to it than Vaduz. One fun personal detail, Radio Liechtenstein, based here in Schaan, shares its name with my dad’s old radio show, so it felt strangely full circle visiting it decades later. What Schaan lacks in glitz, it makes up for in architecture and atmosphere. The St. Laurentius Church is a gothic presence that looms over the town. If you catch it at the right hour, with the light filtering through the mountains, it feels almost haunted. It’s one of the most photographable buildings I saw all trip.

By total coincidence, I timed my visit perfectly with the Jahrmarkt, Schaan’s annual market day-slash-street festival. The main square was packed with food stalls, people spilling out of bars, and a full-blown beer-fuelled party in the sun. It was part fairground, part town reunion. Naturally, I joined in. I ended up with pints of Liechtensteiner Brauhaus Hells, chatting with locals who were thrilled (and slightly baffled) that I came all the way from the UK just to spend a day in their country. The music picked up, the sun started to dip, and it felt like one of those unexpected travel moments you remember more vividly than anything you planned.

If you’re going to visit a microstate, make sure it’s during their local beer festival. Accidental travel tip.

After a few final cheers and some solid fairground food to soak up the lager, I caught the number 11 bus back to Sargans and made the last train of the day to Zurich. It felt like a full trip, not just a country ticked off, but a proper adventure. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to Triesenberg, which is apparently excellent for hiking. The town sits higher up in the mountains and offers a ton of trail options with stunning scenery. And Malbun, Liechtenstein’s ski resort in the north-east, is on my winter list. For a microstate, it packs in more than you'd expect.

Liechtenstein might not have a flashy tourism board or huge Instagram pull, but it does offer something better, authenticity. It’s not performing for the world. It just exists, proudly, between two giants, doing its own thing. In one day, I covered geography, royalty, food, football, and festival beers. I walked castle trails, mingled with locals, trespassed (mildly), and left with a solid understanding of what Liechtenstein is, and isn’t. And that’s exactly what makes it worth the journey.

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I visited Liechtenstein in May 2024 as part of a broader Swiss adventure. If you want to see what a castle hike, a football match, and a mountain fair look like in one day, check out my photo gallery from the trip.

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