schaffhausen switzerland

Schaffhausen to Singen to Tuttlingen

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I was up early at 6:45 to get ready, eat a leisurely breakfast and head out by 8. 

The hostel breakfast was great. Definitely eat the Youth Hostel breakfast in Schaffhausen.

Today was an absolutely wonderful ride. It was hard as hell coming up out of the Black Forest but all I could do was laugh out loud to myself like a crazy person at the notion that I get to live this cycling dream! 

I stopped in a little town called Stein am Rhein just before 10:30 am. It’s a picturesque old Swiss village turned tourist stop-off. Bikes are parked everywhere because a few different EuroVelo routes cross through the town. All this is within a plaza packed with people, chairs, fountains, and ornately painted buildings. 

I made a pit stop at the River Bike and Cafe to check out their bicycles and left with a delicious ginger beer. The owner of the place was a nice guy. 

After Stein am Rhein there was a big climb out of Switzerland and the Black Forest into Germany. The forest gave off a cool breeze. The climb rewarded me with what must be the coolest campsite in the world, the Zeltplatz für Radfahrer, or Campingplace for Cyclists. Whatever you do, stay here. 

I ate vegan currywurst, fries, and tabouleh for dinner and my only regret is that I didn’t make it in time for the thermal baths. The campsite only costs 5eur and is located in a serene public park that includes a skatepark, fitness park, two restaurants, and a live music venue with deliciously cheap beer. All this made for a fun night. 

I met an Argentinian guy at the campsite named Miguel who lives in France. Miguel bought me a beer and we had a great time talking about the route and the other bike tours Miguel’s been on. It was great to find an English speaker. Let’s hope he’s even half as cool as my friend Maac was!

The campground

Basel to Schaffhausen

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Do not ride along the Swiss side of the Rhine after Basel. It might as well be the Alps. Hill after hill, dirt roads, winding freeways with fast cars and trucks. Not ideal. Today was the second hardest ride after that 100-mile’r in France. Take the German side all the way instead, it runs along the the EuroVelo15 and meets the EuroVelo6 in Schaffhausen. 

It hurt’ so good

At only 66 miles, the route took me about 11 hours to complete. Along the way, there were strikingly green-blue vistas on the Rhine. I met a young French guy about 15km outside Schaffhausen. Once he realized I was about to walk my bike up what felt like hill number 6,356 he kicked it into high gear and hightailed it out of there on his way to Lake Konstanz. 

Today’s ride gave me slope-induced amnesia so I was pleasantly surprised when I rode up to Europe’s largest waterfall, the Rheinfall. I hate to say this but my honest first thought was, ‘I used to walk to class every day over a gorge this big in Ithaca and they never charged $5 for admission.’ Then I remembered that I’d paid a lot more than $5 for that privilege and I happily took some free pictures.

I stayed at the Youth Hostel by Hostelling International in Schaffhausen. I was famished at check-in with no sign of a restaurant in crawling distance so I acquiesced to a $17.50 hostel dinner. Spaetzle, ratatouille, lot’s of bread, and chocolate pudding were the veg options. The lunch-lady thought I was nuts.

Let’s eat

“More spaetzle please.”

“Da?”

“Yes, please,” as I mimed a scooping gesture with my free hand. 

“Guten?”

“More please,” as I took another scoop out of the air.

And so on and so forth until she finally laughed and moved onto the ratatouille. We did the same dance across the veggies and finally, my plate was more mound than round. This hostel dinner was worth every franc.