It was late September 2014 and I was in Stuttgart. I wanted to go on a day trip outing. I had heard a bit about the largest falls in Europe, i.e. Rhine Falls. Thinking that would be a good choice, I set off one Saturday morning. Although the relevant town Schaffhausen is in Switzerland, it is located very close to the German state I was in, at the time. For such places, there is typically a discount train ticket available. I availed of the same and reached Schaffhusen by train by around 8.30 AM. One gets to see some really picturesque views enroute to the same during the train journey.
Once there, the only thing I knew was that I had to see Rhine Falls. After some figuring out, I walked down Bahnhofstrasse to turn left at Obentor. I walked down and took the first right toward Herrenacker. The point of all this was to get to the tourist information office, courtesy of the map at the train station. At the tourist office, I got hold of a map of the Old Town and the route to Rhine Falls.
Places Covered:
The Old Town is actually interesting to explore, although it is of a small scale compared to similar bigger cities of Europe.
After going through some interesting towers, squares and marketplaces in the Old Town like Obentor, Fronwegplatz, Kirchofplatz, Freiplatz and Karlsgasseplatz where one comes across some Gothic buildings and sculptures typical of such a place, one must not miss out on Fortress Munot, a hilltop fortress which has a lot of significance here. The icon of the fortress can be seen in several places. There is a stairway from the Old Town to this place with vineyards on either side. There is also a guided tour for the same, once you get to the top. But I wasn’t really interested in that as part of my day plan. But the view of the town from the fort was quite amazing.
After spending some picture worthy moments at the fortress, I set off on my way back to Old Town to get to Rhine Falls. There is also a famous Museum Alle Heilingen in the town here if one is interested. But that too was secondary to my plans. Once I was back at the tourist information office, I was advised to take any of the connecting roads which lead to the main road with Rhine river flowing alongside it. I walked along the 4 km road to reach Rhine Water Falls. The journey is very scenic, ideal for taking pictures. I did stop at points for pictures, involving both the beautiful green, hilly backdrop and the river. At places, the water is clear enough for one to witness shoals of fish, fooling around and the underlying vegetation.
I eventually came to a bridge, not far from the falls. I later learnt that there is an option to go from Schaffhausen train station to Rhine Falls station directly and vice versa from the other side of the bridge by train. There is also an option to go to another viewing point of Rhine Falls from there through a ticket counter through Schloss Laufen.
Or else, one could just walk on the side of the bridge which originates from the main road near the tourist office near Old Town. The path I took for that particular journey. That takes around 1 hour by normal walking. Would be much faster progress if one walks continuously and briskly.
Once there, it was afternoon. I had lunch in the form of sausages and bread or one also has other options. Many food stalls up there. There are many categories of boat rides in and around the waterfalls. There is some excellent rock formation right in the middle of the falls. Some boat rides allow you to get on top of the rock. Fantastic view from there. All the boat rides are fairly economical in terms of what it lets you do and the route it covers. I took the Felsfahrt mit Panormasicht option of 20 minutes duration, inclusive of the option to go up the rock.
On the way back, I noticed some kind of car shows going on, with people exhibiting different cars and others applauding. Like some Republic day show. Just that it is more informal and one sees cars instead of artillery. The walk back was very brisk because I was done with taking pictures and stopping at points which were covered.
By the time I was back to the town, it was close to 5 P.M. I had some snacks at some shops and one must also try out Katzenzungli, a local specialty there at some confessori. Considering it is a local specialty, it barely seemed available anywhere. Quite a large percentage of people in Switzerland speak Swiss German which is supposed to be different from German but every time I conveyed something in German, they understood. And I was able to listen and comprehend at other times. There were also a lot of English speaking people, inclusive of tourists.
I met another visiting group on my way back from Schaffhusen in a connecting station in Singen and spent some time chatting with them and taking pictures of some interesting things going on nearby. After that, it was time to get back to Stuttgart by train. All in all, a good sunny day outing! I recommend the place to people with similar interests.