From Zurich: Rhine Falls, Stein am Rhein & Munot Fortress

Head north from Zurich through the Swiss Mittelland toward the Rhine — the river that forms the border between Switzerland and Germany for 170km. The guide introduces the contested history of this stretch of the Rhine: part of the Duchy of Swabia in the medieval period, disputed between the Habsburgs and the Swiss Confederation through the 14th-15th century, and finally secured for Switzerland after 1499 when the Swiss Confederation defeated Emperor Maximilian I in the Swabian War.

Schloss Laufen sits on a limestone cliff directly above the Rhine Falls — the largest waterfall in Europe by volume. The falls are not the tallest (23 metres) but carry more water than any other European waterfall: up to 700,000 litres per second in summer snowmelt. The castle was first built in the 11th century to control the portage route around the falls — all river traffic on the Rhine had to be unloaded above the falls, carried overland, and reloaded below, making the castle a toll and customs post of considerable value. The present structure dates from the 14th-16th century with later additions. The castle's lower levels give access to the viewing platforms: wooden walkways extending over the falls to within metres of the white water. Upstream, a boat can take visitors to the central rock in the middle of the falls.

Stein am Rhein is the finest medieval painted town in Switzerland and one of the best-preserved small medieval cities in Central Europe. The Rathausplatz (town square) and the Unterstadt (lower town) are lined with buildings dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, every facade covered in narrative frescoes: heraldic scenes, mythological stories, historical events, and decorative patterns applied and repainted continuously since the 1520s. The Kloster St. Georgen (founded 1007 AD) occupies the end of the lower town — a Benedictine monastery with a Romanesque cloister, a Gothic church, and a painted guest hall (Kaisersaal) with remarkable late-medieval murals. Above the town, Hohenklingen Castle (12th century) guards the vineyard-covered ridge — the view from its tower takes in the Rhine valley, the Swiss Mittelland, and the German Black Forest.

The Munot is the most unusual fortress in Switzerland — a perfectly circular Renaissance fortification built between 1564 and 1589 by the imperial free city of Schaffhausen. The plans were based on designs from Albrecht Dürer's 1527 treatise on fortification, adapted by local master builders. The result is a circular drum of masonry with a ramp (not stairs) spiralling up through the interior to the roof, designed so that cannon could be wheeled directly to the battlements. The Munot has never been seriously attacked; its military function was superseded by the decline of city-state warfare in the 17th century. Since 1839 the fortress has been maintained by the Munot Brotherhood — a guild of winemakers who ring the bell in the tower at 8pm every evening.