Switzerland 
In numbers.
2.1m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr–Jul
Best months
940m
Elevation
The water at Reichenbach Falls, month by month
It roars from April to June.
The fullest months: from April to June, with the snowmelt. The thinnest: from January to February.
- 0.9 m³/sJan
- 0.9 m³/sFeb
- 1.9 m³/sMar
- 3.3 m³/sApr
- 3.9 m³/sMay
- 3.4 m³/sJun
- 2.8 m³/sJul
- 2.7 m³/sAug
- 2.2 m³/sSep
- 1.9 m³/sOct
- 1.9 m³/sNov
- 1.4 m³/sDec
From about 0.88 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.9 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to July.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall in Switzerland that is famous for featuring in the fictitious life of Sherlock Holmes
Reichenbach Falls is a waterfall in Switzerland.
Getting there.
- Meiringennearest town · 1.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 820 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Bern Airport (BRN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 57 km in a straight lineCar hire at BRN airport (Bern)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From April to Julybest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 575 m in 2.7 km.
What is around.
- 10viewpointsKaverne, Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty, Mühlefluh and 7 more
- 38waymarked walking routesAlpbachschlucht, Geissholz - Burgalp, Geissholz - Lammi and 35 more
- 73car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- 7toilets
- 7information boards and visitor centres
- 3bus stops within 1 km
- 10other named waterfalls within 4 kmAlpbachfälle, Wandelbachfall I, Wandelbachfall II and 7 more
- 1caves
- 9campsitesCamping Aareschlucht, Hofstatt-Derfli, Tipidorf Hasli-Aktiv and 6 more
- 45hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmGasthaus Kulm Brünig, Rosenlaui, Reutsperre and 42 more
- 25restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Meiringen1.5 km in a straight line
- Lungern8.2 km in a straight line
- Brienz12 km in a straight line
- Giswil13 km in a straight line
- Grindelwald15 km in a straight line
- Sachseln18 km in a straight line
- Engelberg20 km in a straight line
- Sarnen21 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 3 |
| Night °C | -6 | -6 | -2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 1 | -5 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 81 | 69 | 89 | 103 | 154 | 151 | 148 | 165 | 106 | 107 | 114 | 92 |
| Wet days | 14 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 15 |
| Sun h/day | 4.1 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 57 | 68 | 58 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 37 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (940 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 45% | 136% | 85% | 60% | 80% | 138% | 61% | 150% | 91% | 197% | 17% | 122% |
| 2021 | 175% | 77% | 57% | 62% | 101% | 104% | 227% | 73% | 103% | 73% | 75% | 102% |
| 2022 | 45% | 115% | 19% | 81% | 77% | 94% | 73% | 66% | 149% | 103% | 65% | 97% |
| 2023 | 55% | 28% | 126% | 117% | 121% | 82% | 91% | 128% | 113% | 156% | 155% | 163% |
| 2024 | 100% | 138% | 217% | 106% | 164% | 145% | 108% | 68% | 194% | 153% | 51% | 92% |
| 2025 | 132% | 50% | 90% | 118% | 100% | 100% | 148% | 105% | 195% | 80% | 78% | 34% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Reichenbach Falls
Switzerland
- —Height
- 2.1 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–JulBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q183395) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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