One off the list: Rheinfall, Munot & Schauffhausen Altstadt.

Starting: Zürich Destination: Rheinfall, Munot & Schauffhausen Altstadt Time: 1 day.

I have a Swiss travel list. A list of places in and around Switzerland I wish to visit before this year ends. Rheinfall is on my list of travels. I am glad that we finally get to ticked it off the list. Sometimes it does take a little more time to get things done when we decided to procrastinate. We didn’t want to visit Rheinfall during the weekend because it would be packed with visitors. We want to go there when the water level is high which is ideally after rainy days. After some years, we finally went there on a Monday after having rainy days. Criterias ticked! ticked! and ticked!

Rheinfall is about 50 minutes drive from Zürich. If you are a traveller and have no car to get to Rheinfall, there is a direct train to Rheinfall from Zürich main station. That would be an ideal way to get to Rheinfall because there are instances where you can’t find a parking space.

RHEINFALL – THE BIGGEST WATERFALL IN EUROPE.

We started our journey pretty late on Monday, at around 09:00 and it took us a little longer to get to Rheinfall because you know, we gotta have a our coffee and croissants before we embark on our journey. There are a few parking spaces near Rheinfall and there are two sides of entrance. One entrance at Schloss Laufen, the southern bank of the waterfall which you pay CHF5 for entrance fee. The ticket is valid 24 hours so if you wish to go to the city for lunch and come back again like we did, that is possible. Whereas the other entrance, near Schlössli Wörth is free. Given that the ticket is valid for 24H, the price is reasonable and I don’t mind paying it.

When we arrived at Rheinfall, it was crowded already but we still managed to find a parking space. The first sight of Rheinfall was Wow! 🙌 The scale of the waterfall is astounding. The creation of Mother Nature never fails to thrill me, really. We spent a great deal of time at the waterfall. Herr Hallo brought his tripod because he wanted to shoot some long exposure pictures of Rheinfall. Whereas for me, I was just standing there taking in the virtue of Mother Nature. As you get nearer to the water, there is a platform very near to the waterfall. The strong water cascading down to the river is terrifying and yet liberating.

We desired to make the boat trip at Rheinfall but we held it off until after lunch time so we left Rheinfall and headed to Schaffhausen old town for lunch and came back again for the boat trip at around 16:00 – 17:00.

🚣‍♀️ BOAT TRIP 🚣‍♀️ There are a few options for a boat trip. You could do a small tour, a big tour, or even to the little rock in the middle of the waterfall. We decided to do the small tour which cost CHF8. It was worth every penny. The boat brought us very close to the waterfall. The current was so forcible and full of air bubbles that the boat engine could not stand a chance. It was thrilling, really. I will post some videos on our Instagram soon. One little side note: We are looking for boats (or peddleboats 💪) which are more environment-friendly.

💡 TIPS:

Go early to beat the heat & crowd.
Take the boat tour.

Read below: Schauffhausen Old Town & Munot, the circular fort.

Long exposure of Rheinfall (taken with Hoya NDX400)

Boat approaching Rheinfall.

Spectators vs. Nature.

Rheinfall

SCHAFFHAUSEN ALTSTADT.

Besides visiting Rheinfall, we drove out to the city of Schaffhausen. I’ve heard many wondeful things about this city and all of which are *Ka-Ching* true! The city has bountiful of stunning Renaissance buildings. So magnificent that your neck will hurt from constantly lifting your head admiring the fine points of each building. I suspect that this medieval city must be a trading hub in the olden days due to its strategic location. However, like many cities in Germany, Schaffhausen was destroyed by bombing during WW2 due to navigation errors by the US Air Force.

We were in the Altstadt for lunch and didn’t have much time to explore the city because our goal was to visit the circular fort, Munot which lies outside the core city centre. In order to enjoy the city, you have to allocate at least one day, preferably more. From our car park to the restaurant, we managed to see a few beautiful spots which includes the prettiest police station I have ever seen. We “gatecrasched” the police station and managed to take a few photos. As we were leaving the place, a police appeared to walk behind us. I told Herr Hallo that we should 🏃‍♂️RUN! He objected and said that was a bad idea. 😄

💡 TIPS:

Rent a bicycle to get around the city. There is a bike sharing network and Schaffhausen is very bike friendly. Your radius is larger with a bycicle compared to walking. Also, less tiring.

Read below: Munot, the circular fort.

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Renaissance: Haus zum Ritter

Prettiest Police (Station). 😉

Another beautiful building.

MUNOT – THE CIRCULAR FORTRESS.

Built in the 16th century, the fortress is very well maintained like many places in Switzerland actually. This was recommended by Herr Hallo Snr. The fortress sits on a hill overlooking the city of Schaffhausen and the Rhine (river).

We parked our car at Munotstrasse and had to pass a running track. At the running track, there are a few very old but cute looking trees. As we are approaching Munot, the deer park on the lower pasture can be seen. We had to cross a small bridge and enter the fortress through a casemate. It was dark but the casemate was illuminated by tiny windows and meurtrière, as can be seen in our favourite picture below. From the casemate, you can enter the deer park or take the spiral staircase to the rooftop of the fortress. The rooftop holds various events and there is a open cinema on the rooftop at this time of writing.

We spent more time at the casemate taking long exposure pictures than on the rooftop. Munot didn’t dissapoint us. In fact, it is the most interesting fortress I have ever been to.

Video below.

💋 Frau Hallo

Found 💕 in Munot.

Spiral stairs in Munot.

View from Munot.