Swiss city, capital of the canton of Schaffhausen

House Zum Ritter, Vordergasse 65

Schaffhausen is a city in north-eastern Switzerland on the river Rhine, next to the German border. Its prime tourist attraction are the Rhine Falls, Europe's largest waterfalls.

Rhine, Güterhof, Schifflände and castle Munot

Understand

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Schaffhausen is a city-canton which entered the Swiss Confederation in 1501. It is Switzerland's northernmost canton and is mostly agricultural land.

In 1944 Schaffhausen was bombed by the United States Air Force, killing 40 people — it was later determined that the daylight raid was an accident, due to a navigational error.

The current population of Schaffhausen the city is 35,413, and of the eponymous canton where it is located 77,955.

Get in

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Map of Schaffhausen

By train

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From Zürich Hbf an hourly S-Bahn suburban train, line S16, runs towards Thayngen, stopping at Winterthur among others and taking 57 minutes to Schaffhausen. A single ticket costs Fr. 9.30; however, if you have an all-zone Zürich day/monthly/annual pass, this is reduced to Fr. 3.60. Look up time tables or other train routes on the Swiss Federal Railways website.

Special conditions apply for visitors to the Rheinfall, see below

By car

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From Zurich: Take the A4/E41 direction north. It will lead you right into the city. Note that you need a vignette for all Swiss motorways.

Get around

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You can get around by local bus, however in the old city only by foot. Buses depart every 20 minutes, in busy times every 10 minutes. For Fr. 5 you can get a "Tageskarte" which allows you to use all buses for a whole day.

 
Panoramic view of the Rhine Fall near Schaffhausen with the Laufen Castle and environment.
  • Old town. Walk through the old town and admire the renaissance buildings.
  • 1 Munot fortress. Visit the Munot fortress and enjoy the view over the old city and the beautiful landscape. free.    
  • 2 Rheinfall. The Rheinfall is the largest waterfall in Europe, served by two train stations: Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall (closed in winter) and Neuhausen Rheinfall (you can also use the Neuhausen Bad Bhf station, but it will require a short walk along the Rhine). The former station is more convenient for the main tourist route and all the observation platforms - it starts at the Laufen castle (Fr. 5 or €5, adults). The latter is better if you plan to take a tourist boat, and for a nice view over the castle and the waterfall together. There exist several boat routes - just to cross the Rhine near the waterfall (the cheapest option), to get very close to the waterfall and back, or to go to an outcropping in the middle of the falls (the most expensive option). A speciality is the firework on the night of the 1st August (national holiday).
    Get in: From Zürich: take S-Bahn S16 towards Thayngen, get off not at Schaffhausen, but at Winterthur. Change for line S33 towards Schaffhausen, and get off at SLaR (during winter, get off at Dachsen and take bus 634 from there). From Schaffhausen, Take S-Bahn S33 two stops to 'Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall", or S-Bahn S22 two stops to 'Neuhausen Rheinfall' (3,20 CHF) (or an Erzingen bound local train one stop to Neuhausen Bad Bhf - and by foot from there).
    If you're fond of long walking, you can also make the full way from Schaffhausen to the Rheinfall by foot - there exists a nice walking road along the Rhine.
       

Museums

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"Chatzezüngli", (en: kitten tongues) are a speciality of Schaffhausen. You can get a box of this chocolate either in the confectionery at the Vordergasse or at their shop inside the train station.

Doner/Kebab stands are spread all over the city, restaurants are easy to find in the old city too.

Drink

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Sleep

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Go next

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This city travel guide to Schaffhausen is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.