Close to the border with Germany lie Schaffhausen and the Rheinfall. These two can easily be combined to make a great day trip. Schaffhausen itself is a beautiful town with gorgeous old streets, markets and historical buildings – well worth a visit. The Rheinfall is where the Rhine (almost) crosses between Germany and Switzerland and the river turns into a cascading waterfall which is marvellous to see.

Map

Getting To Schaffhausen and Reinfall

It is pretty simple to get to Schaffhausen on public transport. If you head to Winterthur then Thurbo trains run from Winterthur to Schaffhausen very regularly. You can either stop in Schaffhausen proper to explore the town first or stop at the Reinfall first. Both are stops on the same line so it is easy to get in between them and connect with Winterthur.

Things to do in Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen is another wonderful town to simply wander around but there are a few things that you can do here that I would recommend.

Munot

The Munot is worthwhile visiting because you can get some fantastic views over Schaffhausen. The building itself is great to explore anyway and is completely free.

Fronwagplatz

Fronwagplatz is a beautiful town square to wander around. When I was there the Christmas markets were on which made it all the more exciting. The buildings are beautifully painted and the town looks like a fairytale.

Exploring Rheinfall

The Rheinfall is rather spectacular and is a tourist attraction for a reason. It can be very popular but it remains a free thing to do. The train station is not far from the falls themselves and there are elevators which can take you down to the water level. There are walkways surrounding the falls which make it easy to stroll around and enjoy the views. If you wish to climb the mound in the middle of the falls then you will have to take the boat, this does cost a fee (more info on the boat trips can be found here).

I would recommend visiting Rheinfall in good weather because it makes the falls look spectacular however it is not as pertinent for this attraction as for others. There are not really any spectacular mountains which would be occluded by fog, so it is okay to come here on an overcast day.

Have you visited this area or have questions? Let me know in the comments below!