Schaffhausen (Swiss Canton)

The Canton of Schaffhausen is the most northerly in Switzerland. It borders Germany, is almost entirely confined to the right bank of the Rhine and has a very tortuous outline.

It is actually made up of three parts: the central part, centred around the main town, in which the German municipality of Büsingen is enclosed, and two exclaves, one in the far north of the canton of Zurich, the other in the north of the canton of Thurgau.

The medieval town of Schaffhausen, with its old buildings richly decorated with oriel windows and beautifully painted facades and its ideal location between the Black Forest and Lake Constance, is a popular destination.

Stein am Rhein, built at the point where Lake Constance narrows to form the Rhine, is known for its well-preserved old town with beautiful half-timbered houses and painted facades.

The main tourist attraction in the canton is of course the Rhine Falls in Neuhausen, which are the largest in Europe. Several hundred cubic metres of water roar down every second from a height of 23 metres and a width of 150 metres. A boat provides access to a steep islet in the centre of the falls and the natural spectacle can be observed from platforms built partly above the bubbling water.

Schaffhausen is also the home of the Pinot Noir grape, known as Blauburgunder in German, which has given the region the name Blauburgunderland. All the efforts, know-how and love of the Schaffhausen winegrowers are invested in this grape variety, which has made the wines of Burgundy famous and which also produces very good wines here.