Discover Buch: history and outdoor routes

When looking for hotels in Buch, you can plan your stay around different themes: local history, a visit to the donkey farm or cycling and hiking. Historical points of interest can be found in the town; other routes and landscapes are in the surrounding region.

Local history and cultural heritage

Buch was first mentioned in official records in 1080. In the Middle Ages, Buch was an Obervogtei (administrative district) and was then more significant than the surrounding villages, which are considerably larger today. The historic sawmill at the entrance to the village dates from the late 18th century and is freely accessible. Check access locally before your trip.

As of 1 January 2025, the Säge Open-Air Museum in Buch (SH) is classified as a Category B cultural asset in the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property. The historical points of interest thus span the first recorded mention, the medieval Obervogtei and the sawmill dating from the late 18th century.

Säge Donkey Farm and children’s programme

The Säge Donkey Farm offers themed afternoons for children. Visitors may visit the donkeys in the enclosure at the front; the rest of the farm grounds are not freely accessible. If you plan to attend a themed afternoon, check the current dates in advance. This will help you coordinate your visit with the children’s programme and take into account the access restrictions to the rest of the grounds.

Bus and train connections

The public bus to Buch runs as VBSH route 25 from Schaffhausen via Büsingen, Dörflingen and Randegg to Buch and Ramsen. The nearest train station for Buch is Gottmadingen; trains from there run towards Schaffhausen and Singen. The bus runs hourly, while trains run every 30 minutes. Check the bus operator’s timetable and current train times before your trip.

Cycling and hiking

For cyclists, Buch is a junction on cross-border cycling tour Route 12 of the “Erlebniswege westlicher Bodensee, Hegau” (“Western Lake Constance and Hegau Adventure Trails”). The wider region also includes “SchweizMobil 753: Hegau Route”, which is 29.5 km long, and the “Natura Trail Westlicher Untersee, Radolfzeller Aach, Randen”, which is 106.7 km long. The Natura Trail is therefore more than three times as long as the Hegau Route.

The routes also differ in their connection to Buch: Route 12 has its named junction here, while the SchweizMobil route and the Natura Trail are in the wider region. This makes it possible to distinguish a specific cycling connection to Buch from two regional routes with clearly different lengths.

A hike via the Bucher Säntis and Ramsener Blick offers views of almost the entire upper part of the Canton of Schaffhausen, the Bibertal valley and the Hegau volcanic cones. In the wider region around Buch, hiking routes run through the Hegau, around Gailingen and along the German-Swiss border. The region’s landscape and excursion context also includes the volcanic formations and castles of the Hegau, the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen and river landscapes. This range of themes extends from a specifically named scenic hike to the varied landscapes and cultural points of interest of the wider region.

Discover more destinations: Stein Am Rhein, Hemishofen, Ramsen

See the main travel overview: Stein.