Holidays no matter the weather in Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen is a small oasis in East­ern Switzer­land. If you’re look­ing for a place that’s a nice vis­it even in cold weath­er, Schaffhausen is the place to be. Besides numer­ous activ­i­ties in the sun­shine, there are also many excur­sions that are pos­si­ble in the rain. It’s nev­er a bore in Schaffhausen, that’s for sure.

Schaffhausen Swiss Youth Hostel

From Bern, my best friend and I take the train to Schaffhausen in around two hours. Once there, we hop on the mod­ern city bus no. 7 to Schaffhausen Schützen­haus, where the youth hos­tel is just a stone’s throw away. We sleep like queens and kings in a medieval cas­tle. With its bright red shut­ters and large gar­den with ping-pong table, bad­minton net and a swing, as well as many cosy cor­ners to relax, the cas­tle is just one of the high­lights of your hol­i­day.

Old Town of Schaffhausen

Short­ly after arriv­ing, we vis­it the medieval old town. The traf­fic-free old town of Schaffhausen is one of the most pic­turesque in Switzer­land due to its more than 17 bay win­dows with dif­fer­ent shapes, colours and pat­terns and the exquis­ite­ly paint­ed facades. The build­ings are from the Goth­ic and Baroque peri­ods. The live­ly old town offers many shop­ping oppor­tu­ni­ties for shop­ping queens and kings. We rec­om­mend the street mar­ket in Vorder­gasse!

A vis­it to Schaffhausen Cathe­dral is a must. The cathe­dral is the most orig­i­nal Romanesque church in Switzer­land.

The Munot

The Munot can be seen from afar. It is the land­mark of the city of Schaffhausen. The ring-shaped bul­wark was built between 1564 and 1589 based on a con­cept by Albrecht Dür­er. Enjoy an expan­sive view of the city from the bat­tle­ments of the Munot. Every evening at 9 p.m. the bell rings in the tow­er. A vis­it is rec­om­mend­ed, despite the steep steps. 😉

A detour to Konstanz/Germany

It takes just under an hour by train from Schaffhausen to Kon­stanz, a south­ern Ger­man city on Lake Con­stance on the bor­der with Switzer­land. Kon­stanz is known for its well-pre­served medieval dis­trict, the Romanesque cathe­dral and the prom­e­nade on Lake Con­stance.

Did you know? In Kon­stanz, there is an alley cov­ered with coloured umbrel­las. Prac­ti­cal in rainy weath­er. 😊

The cof­fee roast­ing house on Sankt-Stephans-Platz invites you to enjoy a nice cof­fee. There is even a bak­ery there. If you want, you can also buy a pack­et of cof­fee to take home with you.

Rhine Falls and the Rhyfall Express

On the sec­ond day of our jour­ney, we hop on the Rhy­fall Express, a choo-choo train that takes us from Schaffhausen’s old town to the Rhine Falls! Dur­ing the trip, you learn more about the dif­fer­ent dis­tricts of Schaffhausen until the sound of the impos­ing Rhine Falls takes over, where the jour­ney ends.

A walk along the Rhine Falls is worth­while. There is a short and a long Rhine Falls cir­cu­lar trail. We decid­ed on the long walk, which takes around two hours and starts at Dachsen sta­tion. The trail runs along the banks of the Rhine to the Rhine Falls.

After vis­it­ing Europe’s largest water­fall and its attrac­tions, you will return to the start­ing point, this time on the oth­er side of the riv­er. A beau­ti­ful cir­cu­lar trail.

About Marieluise

Marieluise is a young, enthu­si­as­tic and enter­pris­ing woman who enjoys trav­el­ling in Switzer­land. Overnight stays at the youth hos­tels offer her a great way to unwind from her demand­ing rou­tine and hos­pi­tal job.

For her, spend­ing a few days at a youth hos­tel feels like an escape to anoth­er world. She also appre­ci­ates the sim­plic­i­ty and the excel­lent val­ue for mon­ey.