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Guidebook
Lonely Planet Switzerland
Lonely Planet · 2024
Current Lonely Planet covering Schaffhausen, the Lauterbrunnen valley, Meiringen and Glarus, with transport and pass details.
Switzerland · Brienz
Giessbach
Giessbach is a waterfall in Switzerland.
Essentials guide
Facts from Wikidata, compiled September 2026; season and access are our estimate, not a visit report. How we build these pages.
Giessbach drops over a series of steps. It is a cascade-type fall, and the nearest base for a visit is Brienz (BE), Switzerland. Access to the main viewpoint is rated moderate.
As a cascade waterfall, water tumbles down a series of rock steps rather than falling free.
What you can do here
A walk-in-and-look waterfall
No commercial adventures run at Giessbach itself — the experience is the approach and the view. Guided day trips from Brienz (BE) are the easiest way to combine it with the area around it.
Also good forHikingPhotography
When to go
Spring snowmelt and rain make April to June the fullest months; October adds colour, and a hard winter can freeze the face.
Getting there
- Base town Brienz (BE), Switzerland
- Country Switzerland
- Region Brienz, Alps & Central Europe, Europe
- Access Moderate — a real walk — expect stairs, uneven ground or an hour on the trail
How it compares
This waterfall
Giessbach
Switzerland
Height—Width—
Most similar
Langfoss
Norway
Height612 mWidth—
Also a cascade waterfall and in Norway
Largest curtain
Victoria Falls
Zimbabwe · Zambia
Height108 mWidth1,708 m
Largest single sheet of falling water
Tallest on earth
Angel Falls
Venezuela
Height979 mWidth—
Widest on earth
Khone Phapheng Falls
Laos
Height21 mWidth10,783 m
Measured across the whole multi-channel system
108 m
330 m
612 m
979 m
Victoria FallsEiffel TowerLangfossAngel Falls
Khone Phapheng Falls
10,783 m
Victoria Falls
1,708 m
We don't have a reliable crest width for Giessbach yet, so it is left off the width chart. Tallest · widest lists.
Watch and read
Books worth packing
Guidebook
DK Eyewitness Switzerland
DK Eyewitness · 2024
Illustrated country guide useful for combining the Rhine Falls with the Bernese Oberland on one trip.
On the map
46.68917, 8.065
Quick answers
Where is Giessbach?
Giessbach is in Switzerland (Brienz). The nearest base is Brienz (BE), Switzerland. Its coordinates are 46.6892, 8.0650.
When is the best time to visit Giessbach?
Peak flow is April to June and October. Spring snowmelt and rain make April to June the fullest months; October adds colour, and a hard winter can freeze the face.
What can you do at Giessbach?
Beyond the viewpoints: hiking and photography. Access to the main viewpoint is rated moderate — a real walk — expect stairs, uneven ground or an hour on the trail.
How do you get to Giessbach?
The usual base is Brienz (BE), Switzerland. A real walk — expect stairs, uneven ground or an hour on the trail from there.
Nearby
Closest to Giessbach
Reichenbach Falls
Switzerland · 120 m · 9 km away
The waterfall where Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes
Staubbach Falls
Switzerland · 297 m · 16 km away
The waterfall that inspired a Goethe poem
Paragliding
Full guide Trümmelbach Falls
Switzerland · 140 m · 18 km away
Glacier waterfalls you walk through inside the mountain — unique in Europe
Cascata del Toce
Italy · 143 m · 40 km away
Cascata del Toce or La Frua, also known as Frütt Fall in Walser dialect, is a waterfall on the river Toce…