The Rhine Falls, the largest Falls in Europe, offer a spectacular showpiece to visitors. With an average flow of 25'000 cubic ft / sec (700 m3 / sec) the water cascades down the cataracts, which are 450 ft ( 150 m) wide and 75 ft (23 m) high. Taking a boat trip into the basin below the cataracts you can feel the great power of the rushing water.
The Rhine's origins are in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Graubünden. At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (Dutch Rijn, French Rhin, German Rhein, Italian: Reno, Romansch: Rein) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe.

The formation of the Rhine Falls during the ice age
500’000 years ago the glaciers moved from the alps downwards due to a drastic fall in temperature, and formed the landscape as it is nowadays.

1. original flow of the Rhine River
approximately 200’000 years ago, before the start of the ‘Riss ice-age’, the Rhine River flowed from Schaff-hausen westwards through the countryside ‘Klettgau’. Afterwards this valley was filled up again with morai-nes.

2. the first change of the flow of the Rhine River
approx. 120’000 years ago, during the ‘Riss ice-age’, the Rhine River turned to the south and formed the Rhine valley of the ice-age. The basin below the Falls is still the same old valley, filled with moraines.

3. the second change of the flow of the Rhine River and the beginning of the cataracts
during the latest ice-age, called ‘Würmeiszeit’, the Rhine River was forced to change the route in a wide bow to the south and eventually reached a hard soil called ‘Malmkalk’ above the Falls. 15’000 years ago, right on the borderline where the soil changed from hard limestone to softer moraine, the cataracts were formed due to different erosion caused by the river. The remaining rocks are part of the original steep hard limestone.

Schaffhausen’s best excursion is the short trip westwards to the Rhine falls, Europe’s largest waterfall. They are truly magnificent, not so much for their height (a mere 23m) as for their impressive breadth (150m) and the sheer drama of the place, with the spray rising in a cloud of rainbows above the forested banks. The turreted castle Schloss Laufen on a cliff directly above the falls to the south completes the spectacle. August 1 – the Swiss National Day – is particularly impressive, with a huge fireworks display mounted on the riverside.

Getting to the falls is simplicity itself: the 3km riverside walk from Schaffhausen to the suburban town of Neuhausen, where the falls are located, takes about 45 minutes; or you could take city bus #1 or #6 to Neuhausen Zentrum, from where the well-signposted falls are five minutes’ walk away. Schloss Laufen even has a train station (April–Oct only), served by hourly trains on the line between Schaffhausen and Winterthur. (Neuhausen’s own station is awkwardly far from the falls.)

Once you’re within sight of the falls, though, you’re inevitably brought down to earth with a bump by the hordes of tourists crowding both banks in search of the best camera angle, and by the circus of souvenir stalls and dismal restaurants all around. The worst of it is on the north bank; crossing by the arched footbridge over to the south bank – which can still get unpleasantly overrun – at least means you can experience the power of the falls at close quarters. Damp steps (Fr.1) lead from the souvenir shop at Schloss Laufen down to various platforms at the very edge, from where the roaring waters tumble inches from your nose.