Schaffhausen is the only Swiss canton lying entirely north of the Rhine, which makes it an odd geographical thumb pushing into Germany, and it was spared both world wars except for an American bombing raid in April 1944 that hit it by navigational error. What survived is an old town of around 171 Erker, the projecting bay windows that merchants added to show their wealth, many of them painted and carved, on facades that are themselves frescoed.
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Four kilometres downstream, the Rhine Falls drop 23 metres across a 150 metre width and carry the highest flow rate of any waterfall in Europe, peaking at around 600 cubic metres a second in summer melt. You can take a boat to a rock in the middle of it and climb stairs to a platform in the spray. Pack for getting wet and for a flat, easy town.
What Makes Schaffhausen Different to Pack For
The falls will soak you
The boats run right into the spray zone and the rock platform in the middle is permanently wet. On a summer day that is refreshing; in April with a cold wind it is not. Waterproofs and a dry bag for a phone are the sensible answer, and ponchos are sold at the site for people who did not bring them.
A mild river valley climate
Summer runs 14°C to 26°C, winter minus 2°C to 5°C with Po valley style fog occasionally settling over the river. Spring is when the falls are at their most powerful, fed by Alpine melt, and also when the spray is coldest.
A merino wool base layer for women covers the cold months and is useful under a waterproof at the falls in any season.
A flat and genuinely small town
The old town is compact, pedestrianised and level, with the single exception of the climb up to the Munot. Nothing here is physically demanding.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Schaffhausen Packing List
Footwear
Flat and grippy, and something you do not mind getting wet for the falls. The rock platform stairs are wet stone and metal with spray on them constantly, and they are the one genuinely slippery thing in the area. The old town is smooth paving and easy.
For the Rhine path or the Randen hills behind the town, waterproof hiking shoes are right for the forest and the vineyard tracks.
Clothing
Layers and a genuinely waterproof outer for the falls. A change of top if you are doing the rock platform on a cool day. Covered shoulders and knees for the Munster, the former Benedictine minster.
Schaffhausen is an ordinary, prosperous Swiss town and dresses that way.
For the falls specifically
A packable rain jacket, a dry bag or waterproof phone case, and a cloth for a camera lens, which fogs and beads within seconds in the spray. Nothing you would mind soaking.
For winter
A warm layer and a windproof. The river valley holds cold air and the falls viewing platforms are exposed. The Munot terrace is windy year round.
Practical
Cash alongside cards. Note that Schaffhausen is a short train ride from Germany and a day in Konstanz or the Black Forest is easy, which needs your passport. The Rhine boats run seasonally.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Rhine Falls
Viewing platforms on both banks, at Schloss Laufen on the south side and Schlossli Worth on the north, with boats crossing to the central rock.
Practically: the boat to the rock and the stairs up it put you in permanent spray, and the steps are wet metal and stone with a handrail. It is spectacular and it is genuinely slippery. Boats do not run in high water or in winter. The best light is morning from the north bank.
The Munot
A circular sixteenth century fortress above the town, built partly with forced labour after the Schmalkaldic War, with a vaulted casemate hall, a ramp wide enough for horses, and a keeper who still rings the bell at nine every evening. There are deer in the moat.
Practically: reached by a covered stair from the vineyard below or a longer path. The spiral ramp inside is easy going. The terrace is exposed and windy and gives the whole old town.
The old town
Vordergasse and Vorstadt hold the best of the oriel windows, and the Haus zum Ritter has a frescoed facade whose originals are in the museum. The Munster and its Romanesque cloister sit at the eastern end.
Practically: flat and walkable in an hour, longer if you actually look up, which is the point here. The Allerheiligen museum in the former monastery is good and quiet.
Stein am Rhein
Twenty minutes upstream by train or two hours by boat, and it is the more photographed town: a small medieval centre where almost every house on the Rathausplatz carries a painted facade.
Practically: the boat is the pleasant way and is exposed on deck. Stein am Rhein is tiny and fills with coaches at midday, so go early or late.
The 1944 bombing and what it explains
On 1 April 1944 American bombers aiming for Ludwigshafen, around 230 kilometres away, hit Schaffhausen instead. Forty people were killed, the Allerheiligen museum lost part of its collection, and a neutral country was bombed by an ally in broad daylight. The United States paid compensation twice, in 1944 and again after the war.
It is worth knowing because it explains the town's appearance. The parts that were rebuilt are visibly of the 1950s, sitting alongside a medieval core that survived intact everywhere the bombs missed, and the contrast in the streets north of the station is sharp once you are looking for it. There is a memorial at the Fasenstaubpromenade.
Practically: the museum has material on it, and the tourist office runs a walk that covers it in summer. It takes ten minutes to see the memorial and it changes how you read the rest of the town.
IWC and the watchmaking
The International Watch Company was founded in Schaffhausen in 1868 by an American, Florentine Ariosto Jones, who wanted to combine Swiss craftsmanship with American machine production and picked this town because the Rhine could power his factory. It is the only major Swiss watch manufacturer in the German speaking east rather than the Jura, and it is still here.
The museum in the original building shows the movements and the history, including the pilot's watches the company became known for.
Practically: small, indoors and takes about an hour, which makes it another reasonable wet weather option in a town that has several. The factory itself is not open to casual visitors.
The Randen and the wine
The hills behind the town are limestone, forested and quiet, with marked walking. Schaffhausen canton grows Blauburgunder, which is Pinot Noir, and the Hallau vineyards are the centre of it.
What Not to Bring
Leave anything you would mind soaking for the falls. Leave smooth soled shoes for the rock platform stairs.
Leave a full day's plan for the town itself, which is a half day, and use the rest on Stein am Rhein or across the border. Leave the passport at the hotel only if you are staying in Switzerland.
Essential Resources for Women in Schaffhausen
Emergency numbers in Switzerland: 112 is the European emergency number. Police 117, ambulance 144, fire 118. Rega, on 1414, covers air rescue. River incidents go through 112.
Tourist support: Switzerland has no separate tourist police. The Schaffhausen cantonal police take reports from visitors and English is widely spoken. A stolen passport needs a police report before the consulate can issue a replacement.
US Embassy and consulate: the embassy is in Bern at Sulgeneckstrasse 19, telephone +41 31 357 7011, at ch.usembassy.gov, around two hours away by train. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: the Kantonsspital Schaffhausen has a 24 hour emergency department, and Zurich's large hospitals are under an hour away. Swiss healthcare is excellent and expensive, so travel insurance is necessary.
Official health authority: the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health at bag.admin.ch.
US State Department travel advisory for Switzerland: current advisory level and detail. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Switzerland: entry requirements, safety and health guidance.
Official tourism authority: Switzerland Tourism at myswitzerland.com, with the Schaffhauserland board at schaffhauserland.ch for boat timetables, falls platform opening and the Rhine cruise schedule.
Solo women safety assessment: Schaffhausen is very safe for a woman travelling alone. It is a small, prosperous Swiss town of around 37,000 people, the old town is pedestrianised and busy in the daytime, public transport is punctual and runs into the evening, and eating alone is unremarkable. Violent crime against visitors is essentially unknown and harassment is rare. Petty theft is limited and concentrated at the Rhine Falls, which is the one genuinely crowded place in the canton and where bags get put down for photographs. The town is quiet after about nine in the evening, particularly outside summer, which some solo travellers find peaceful and others find a little dead; it is not unsafe, simply empty. The practical risks are about water. The falls platforms and the central rock are permanently wet, the steps are steep and slick, and people are injured falling on them every season, which is the commonest incident here by a wide margin. The Rhine itself is fast and cold above and below the falls, and swimming in the river at Schaffhausen is done by locals in the designated areas only; the current is much stronger than it looks and the approach to the falls is obviously not survivable. Keep children and belongings well back from unfenced river edges. If you are cycling the Rhine path, it is shared with pedestrians and busy at weekends.
Reading On
Schaffhausen is an easy half day from Zurich and pairs naturally with Stein am Rhein and the German border towns. The Switzerland travel guide for women is the parent for the whole country and covers the regions, the seasons and the rail passes, and the Switzerland packing list for women covers a multi region trip. South, the Zurich travel guide for women covers the city under an hour away, the Basel packing list for women covers the other Rhine city west, and the Appenzell packing list for women covers the hills east. Further on, the Lucerne packing list for women and the Interlaken travel guide for women reach central Switzerland and the mountains. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why merino works under a waterproof in cold spray, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
