BootsnAll Travel Community

So folks need some help from those who have done this before. I need to get to Zurich...what are mz travel options from Prague. I landed in a small railway station and from what I have seen I don§t know if I can take a train down.

Yelp.

This is a very easy train journey. If you prefer overnight, you can leave Prague every afternoon just after 5 pm, and take a direct train that will have you in Zürich at 6.20 am the following day. There is also a good daytime connection, leaving Prague at 6.11 am every morning. By day, you make one change of train (at Linz, which is quick and simple, for the two trains stop at adjacent platforms) and you reach Zürich the same evening. The journey will take you through Austria and Liechtenstein. If you can take the day train, do, for it really is one of the most beautiful routes in Europe.
Hope these few thoughts help.
Nicky
www.hiddeneurope.co.uk

Nitpicky of me, but...

quote:

The journey will take you through...Liechtenstein.

Not true It comes sorta close (at Sargans), though.

Of course you can get to Zurich from Prague. Probably even direct. There are many train stations in Prague and two train stations that go long distances. Holesovice as well as Hlavni Nadrazi (main station). You may have to change in Munich or Vienna or something. But, fear not... European train stations go everywhere all the time!

Hey up, what’s this about Leichenstein being removed from the railway map of Europe? I want to speak up for the Liechtenstein railway network, diminutive though it is (just like Liechenstein itself). One of the really great things about the journey west through the Tyrol and on via Feldkirch towards Zürich is that you get to travel through Liechenstein – just ten minutes, I know, but these trains really do go through Liechenstein. Both the day and night services mentioned in my reply above take this route (with the proviso that the night train is diverted via Bregenz for two weeks in August, so sadly avoiding Leichtenstein – presumably a summer spell of Swiss / Austrian subterfuge to isolate Liechenstein from the rest of Europe).

The times to look out of the window to see Liechenstein are 04.50 to 05.00 on the direct night train routing from Prague to Zürich and 16.45 to 16.55 on the daytime connection via Linz. You traverse Liechenstein’s sole railway line between the station stop at Feldkirch (in Austria) and Buchs (in Switzerland).

Purists may treat it as a travesty to zoom through Liechenstein without so much as stopping, but many of the local trains between Feldkirch and Buchs actually stop at railway stations in Liechenstein, of which there are three. Amazing, eh, the trivia that some of us on Bootsnall fill our brains with
Nicky
www.hiddeneurope.co.uk

One day I'll learn to spell LIECHTENSTEIN properly too. Sorry about getting it wrong half a dozen times above.
NG

quote:

Originally posted by Nicky Gardner:
Hey up, what’s this about Leichenstein being removed from the railway map of Europe?

Yes, poor Liechtenstein is always getting beat up on

Could you please provide some link to these train schedules? I spent a good 20 minutes on www.sbb.ch (must fill brain with more trivia!) and could not find any train that was routed as you described at those times. In fact, I had to set my departure point at Buchs SG to get any trains routed through FL.

Regardless, I stand corrected on that point and other posts/threads where I've said 'there are no trains to Liechtenstein'. Oops. Will be sure to list this as an option for folks in the future, although it looks like it would add an hour or of travel for a day trip from Zürich relative to Zürich-Sargans by train and into FL by bus.

For anybody research or planning a trip like this, the rule seems to be that if a train goes through Feldkirch, Austria then it goes through Liechtenstein.

quote:

One day I'll learn to spell LIECHTENSTEIN properly too. Sorry about getting it wrong half a dozen times above.

You can edit your posts, correct the spelling, and pretend it never happened

Thanks, stoo, for the good-humoured reply. You find the entire Liechtenstein rail timetable in one little pdf file tucked away on several Swiss (or even Liectensteinian) websites. Just to go this link.

You'll see that there are ten trains each day Mondays to Fridays from Buchs in Switzerland to Feldkirch in Austria (and the same number return) that stop off at various stations in Liechenstein along the way. Six daily on Saturdays, and five on Sundays. In addition there are six fast trains each day each way that zoom through Liechtenstein without stopping once.

So here's to the future of Liechtenstein's comprehensive rail system which deserves more visibility on this excellent forum.
Nicky
editor / hidden europe magazine
www.hiddeneurope.co.uk

I took the train from Prague to Zurich with a change of trains in Munich. It was a seamless and beautiful ride. I left Prague in the morning (sometime between 9 and 11am - check schedule) and got to Zurich about 7:30 in the evening if I remember correctly.

If you are on a budget you might also want to check out the bus option.