Reichenbach Falls

The Reichenbach comes off the Rosenlaui valley in a series of falls totalling around two hundred and fifty metres, the upper one, the Great Reichenbach Fall, dropping some 110 metres into a bowl of black rock - one of the highest falls in the Alps. Conan Doyle visited in 1893, and in The Final Problem he sent Holmes and Moriarty over the edge together here - a plot decision he intended as permanent and had to reverse under public pressure. A star marks the supposed spot on the path, Meiringen has a Sherlock Holmes museum in a former church with a reconstructed Baker Street sitting room, and there is a statue of Holmes in the village. The funicular that carries visitors up dates from 1899 and was built to serve exactly this traffic. Water is drawn off for power, so the flow is not always full.

Highlights

• The Final Problem's setting - the ledge where Holmes and Moriarty went over.
• An 1899 funicular - built to carry the visitors the story created.
• About 250 metres of cascade - the upper fall dropping into a rock bowl.
• Meiringen's Holmes museum - a reconstructed Baker Street room in a church.

When to go

May to early October. Two hours with the museum.

Things to know

Hydro abstraction reduces the flow, and at times it is much thinner than the Victorian descriptions. The funicular closes in winter and for maintenance. The site is small. The star marking the spot is a modern addition, not a historical one.

Nearby

The Aare gorge is below Meiringen; Rosenlaui is up the valley.

Key facts