Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen sits north of the Rhine, almost surrounded by Germany, with the largest waterfall in Europe a few kilometres downstream. Above the falls the river is wide, slow and warm in summer, which makes it genuinely usable water rather than scenery.

The Randen hills behind the town are gentle, wooded and almost empty — good trail country that very few people outside the canton have heard of. The town is small, so book weekend slots ahead.