Schaffhausen Switzerland

Schaffhausen Switzerland stands out

due to a certain medieval flair, even though not as much as Stein am Rhein. There is a lot so see here and the city attractions can be explored in three to five hours by foot-except for the Rheinfall. Between, you can take a rest at several places in pavement cafés.

Schaffhausen stands out due to its geographical position since it is situated to the north of the Rhine.In Switzerland, there are only three regions to the north of the Rhine.

Rheinfall (Falls of the Rhine)

The greatest attraction of Schaffhausen is located in its neighbouring town Neuhausen am Rheinfall. There, the quiescent Rhine temporarily turns into a torrential and dangerous water. If you want to, you can get to the medium rock via boat and you will be surrounded by thunderous and brawly bodies of water.

Another boat allows you to traverse the Rhine and to get to the platforms on the other side. A platform there allows you to closely approach the cascade which is therefore an impressive experience. If you like to walk, walk up on the pedestrian path along the cascade and traverse the Rhine over the railway bridge behind.

How to get to the falls of the Rhine: You can take the train to “Neuhausen am Rheinfall” and then keep on walking about 20 minutes or you can take the Schaffhausen city bus no. 1 to “Neuhausen Zentrum” (the centre of Neuhausen) and then, you still have to walk about 10 minutes.

Historic city centre

You best explore the historic city centre beginning from the Schwabentor (the address is Vorstadt 69) and then you walk along the main alley to the Fronwagplatz and then, you turn left.

View from the Fronwagplatz back to the Schwabentor

Another 100 metres after the Fronwagplatz you can see the Haus zum Ritter on the right side.

The outside of the house was completely painted in the Renaissance style from 1568 until 1570.

The painting portrays the civil virtues, such as honour or patriotism. The original frescos are saved in the Allerheiligen museum and the facsimile according to the original was made in 1938/39.

Keep walking to the bottom until you reach the Bachstrasse. Cross this street and continue until you need to cross another street. Behind, there is the Rhine and you can enjoy a nice view. Also, two restaurants with outdoor terraces allow you to take a rest in order to be able to enjoy the view. What you can see here as well is the beautiful railway bridge that is a part of the railway line Schaffhausen to Stein am Rhein.

By the way: While -according to this description- you are walking through the main alley of the historic city centre do not forget to explore the side-alleys to your left because here, a few jewels in the form of pretty churches, fountains or beautiful old houses wait to be found.

Munot

If you go back from the Rhine on the same path, you can see the ascent to the Munot on the right. By no means, you should miss visiting this impressive fortress, the landmark of Schaffhausen. The Munot in its today’s appearance was built from 1564-1589 and replaced an older fortress back then. Unfortunately, the fortress seems to never have served its purpose having been occupied by the French at Napoleon’s time. Nowadays, the Munot is the town’s landmark and a popular place for carrying out social events.

What I definitely liked most when entering the fortress is a round “spiral path” that leads to the upper platform of the fortress.

The Munot – seen from the city

The “spiral path” – shot from above

View from the Munot over the historic city centre

The Allerheiligen monastery

This large complex consists of a monastery including the typical monastery cloister, the largest one of Switzerland, the directly attached minster church, the beautiful herb garden and a few more buildings. The Allerheiligen museum, which is also housed there, unites exhibits from archaeology, history, arts and nature study of the monastery of Schaffhausen Switzerland and is definitely worth a visit.

Parts of the complex are already a thousand years old.

The cloister of the Allerheiligen monastery

The minster church

How to get there

If you are on a tour through Switzerland, it would be most reasonable to visit Schaffhausen during half a day or a whole day. Take the train from Zurich’s central railway station and after not more than 40 minutes, you arrive at the railway stationright next to the historic city centre. Visiting Schaffhausen can be combined with a sightseeing of Stein am Rhein during one day. Schaffhausen and Stein am Rhein are linked with a train connection and are 20 minutes away from each other.

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