Schaffhausen tourist information & hotel reservations

We warmly welcome you to visit Schaffhausen and wish you a wonderful vacation.

Schaffhausen is located 51 kilometers north of Zurich and 27 kilometers north of Winterthur. It used to be a big depot for river barges and was built on the steep bank of the Rhine River. There are many parts of the town with modern buildings, but is still preserves part of its medieval atmosphere. You can still see beautiful fountains and houses with brown roofs and little statues in niches. From Schaffhausen you can go to the Rhine Falls (Rheinfall) which are the biggest attraction in this part of the country.
The town used to be ruled by the Hapsburgs, then a free imperial city and later – capital of a canton with the same name. The architecture in Schaffhausen is greatly influenced by the German style as Germany the canton on 3 sides.

Attractions
A great place you can spend a day around is the Old Town. It can be explored on foot and from the fortress of the Munot you can see some amazing views of the town. The fortress itself dates from 1564 and has a moat around it, crossable through a covered bridge. You can freely enter and climb to the tower. Interestingly, this is the only fortress, which building was inspired by a book by Albrecht Dürer, published in 1527. The Munot fortress can be visited daily throughout the whole year.
The most special place in the Old Town is the Münster (All Saints’ Church which can be found on Münsterplatz. It was built in 1052 as a Benedictine monastery, but is now a Protestant church in Romanesque style. Near it you can see the bell from the 15th century which inspired Schiller to write the poem “Song of the Bell” and Longfellow – the beginning of “Golden Legend”.
Many people stop to take a look at the Haus zum Ritter – a frescoed building from 1485 located on Vordergasse. Another famous place is the Fronwegplatz with its two great fountains from the beginning of the 16th century.
Museum zu Allerheiligen (All Saints' Museum), located on Baumgartenstrasse, is a museum with importance for the whole country. In it you can see displays from prehistoric to modern times, including traditional clothing for the province, weapons and furnishing. You should also not miss the “Treasury” in what used to be a salon of the abbot. The museum can be visited for free, every day except Monday, during the whole year.

The Rheinfall (Rhine Falls) is probably the most famous waterfall in this part of Europe. And it certainly is the most powerful one with 700 cubic meters of water per second going through a width of 137 meters. The waterfall is absolutely gorgeous and the sight of the water falling from 21 meters height is amazing. You should visit it in the beginning of the summer when it is fed by snow from the mountains. You can reach the falls by bus (bus number one from the bus station) or by train. The trip with the bus takes around 10 minutes. You can also go to the Rheinfall from Zurich by train from the Hauptbahnhof to Neuhausen – it makes a stop at the falls. You will get there in less than an hour. From Neuhausen you can walk to the waterfall and it will take you about 15 minutes. For a greater experience of the view you can take a boat to the rock in the centre of the waterfall, available from April till October. There is also a magnificent view of the Rheinfall from the belvedere of the Laufen Castle, located on the other bank of the Rhine River. Nowadays the castle houses a restaurant and there is a staircase, leading to the belvedere.

From Schaffhausen you can take a ferry which will take you to Neuhausen on the other bank of the river. There you can visit the small Schlöseli-Wörth Castle which dates from the 12th century and used to be a Customs post. Now it is a restaurant, available for visits from March till Noveber.

Getting There

Through Schaffhausen pass all of the important north-south train lines, connecting Stuttgart and Milan. There are also frequent trains from Zurich and the trips takes 40 minutes.
By car from Zurich you should follow Route 4 north till its end. You will get there in an hour.

Visitor Information
The Schaffhausen Tourist Information Office is located at Fronwagturm and during the summer is available daily; during the winter – from Monday to Saturday.

For flights, trains and car-rental reservations as well as for buses, coaches and taxi ski transfers refer to the general Transport Page!