Rhine Falls – how you can enjoy Europe’s biggest waterfall

Rhine Falls (Rheinfall in German) is the biggest waterfall in Europe and, of course, from Switzerland. It is located in the northern part of the county, near the city of Schaffhausen and approximately 50 km away from Zurich.

Rhine Falls / Rheinfall

Rhine waterfall is absolutely mind blowing. While walking from the car to the viewing points you can hear the water falling and your mind starts to imagine this place. But, in my case, I was far from a correct image. First of all, the place is huge, it is 150 meters wide, the water falls for 23m with a huge speed. There are 600,000 liters of water that fall every second! The power and the speed of the water are amazing.

The ticket point from Schloss Laufen castle

We have arrived at Rheinfall by car from Zurich, but you can reach it also by bike or by train. There are two SBB stations there (Neuhansen am Rheinfall on the north side and Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall on the south side). We have parked the car at the first parking (P1) and went on foot to the Schloss Laufen castle entry (there is another huge parking here too). In order to entry and see the Rhine Falls from the viewing platforms you have to buy tickets (5 CHF for adults and 3 CHF for kids).

Also read our article about the world's longest suspension pedestrian bridge.

The entry is through the magical castle Schloss Laufen: you can visit the small castle and its inner yard, see the exhibitions there and then go towards the waterfall. There are two ways: using a glass elevator or take the stairs. I recommend you to take the stairs to go down because it is really beautiful. There are different observation points from where you can admire the waterfall, even a gorge from where you can touch the water, it is just 10 cm away. And the view of the falling water just in front of you is amazing. Then you go down, take tens of pictures, and arrive at the lowest observation point just above the water. It is really amazing. To go up you can take the glass elevator and thus take an amazing view of the waterfall.

A tip for buying the tickets: if the main ticket point at the parking in Schloss Laufen is crowded (as it is the case in weekends) take the elevator and go down. You don’t need a ticket for that. And just as you exist from the elevator there is an automatic ticket machine. You can pay with the card. And there is nobody there, buy the tickets and go through the entry gates. There is also a ticket machine in the castle, but it was out of order when we visited.

Just as any touristic place the Switzerland there are many options to spend your time here. You can take a boat trip that will take you on the Rhine close to the waterfall (amazing view and feel), you can rent a canoe, there is an adventure park or cruises to the rock on the middle of Rhine Falls (you can climb on the rock). Of course, there are many restaurants, coffee houses and souvenir shops.

Before going there get all the information that you need from the official website of Rhine Falls. Also this map of the Rhine Falls is very usefull.

To sum up: Rhine Falls was a breath-taking experience, a must see in Switzerland! 

Check out our video of Rhine Falls / Rheinfell: