The Altstadt of Schaffhausen is one of the best-preserved medieval city centres in Switzerland, and it has a specific characteristic that sets it apart from other intact old towns: more oriel windows than anywhere else in the country. The city has over 170 Erker — protruding bay windows, often on corner positions, decorated in Renaissance and Baroque stonework — on buildings that line the Vordergasse, the Münsterplatz, and the connecting lanes.
The whole area is pedestrianised and easy to walk in an hour or spend an afternoon in. The facades are painted in faded reds, ochres, and greens, and many of the buildings carry painted murals or heraldic devices as well as the oriels. The density of architectural detail is genuinely unusual — Swiss cities are generally well maintained but not always distinctive, and Schaffhausen's old town is both. Start at the Münsterplatz, walk north to the Munot, then loop back through the Vorstadt.