Jungfraujoch - A day at the highest railway station in Europe
Jungfrau, is one the prominent mountains in Switzerland with an elevation of 4158m. We travelled to Junfrau from Interlaken from the comfort of a Swiss train. Our adventures to Jungfrau includes travelling on Jungfrau railway, which climbs to an altitude of almost 4000 meters making it the Europe’s highest railway.
Read along to find out the fastest way to get from Interlaken to Jungraujoch and what’s there to do at the top and finally the best way to book the tickets.
Segment 1: Interlaken to Eiger Glacier
Our day begins at Interlaken, a picturesque town between two lakes in central Switzerland. The journey up to Jungrau consists of 3 parts and Interlaken Ost station is our first checkpoint. Regular trains to Interlaken Ost come from various Swiss cities as well as Germany and France. There are multiple ways to get up to Jungfrau and the initial trip from Interlaken Ost is the same. The train splits up later in the valley to go to either Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald. The platform has markings for both Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. So be sure to get on the right carriage.
Trains on this section run every 30 minutes and they take approximately half an hour. They are operated by these blue and yellow carriages of the Berner Oberland Bahn. We recommend sitting on the right side for the best views.
The views from this train are alright but nothing compared to what we are about to see soon. The train rides next to lake Brienz, which is one of two major lakes in interlaken. There are two stations named Grindelwald, make sure to get off Grinderwald terminal which is the starting point for the Eiger Express.
Segment 2: Eiger Express
The Eiger Express is a cable car linking Grindelwald with Eigergletshcer and was opened only 2 years ago. The terminal is physically connected to the train station. Here we buy our Jungfrau pass, which is required for the reminder of the journey.
The Eiger Express cable cars are gigantic and fits 26 people. It take you up to Eiger glacier station. Starting early in the day meant we didn’t have that many people on our car. The ride is quite fast and takes only 15 minutes, and we go from the green rolling hills to the snowy landscape. As we climb up, we see the lower section of the Jungfrau railway line. If coming via Lauterbrunnen, this would have been our route.
The blanket of snow gets thicker as we go up higher on the cable ride finally arriving at Eiger Glacier. We put on another warm layer in anticipation of the cooler temperature at higher altitude.
While we waited for you train to Jungfrau, We went out outside into the snow without getting in the way of skiers coming down the Eiger mountain. Eiger glacier is a popular spot of skiers as there are a few trails that start from here. Eiger mountain was covered with deep layers of show and we got excited for the snow at Junfrau, which is even higher up.
Seqment 3: The Ascent - Jungfraubahn's Unique Climb
The Jungfrau rail arrives and it was quickly filled with excited passengers. We slowly starts our ascent which is the most unique part of the journey. Junfrau rail is going to scale the face of the Mt Eiger as it head up to Jungfraujoch. The Jungfrauban, a cogwheel train climbs a height of 1000 meters in just 25 minutes. Officially opened more than a century ago, the The train is extremely popular recording 1 million visitors a year. It is also one of the four remaining 3 phase railway lines.
Most of the journey is through the tunnel so it doesn’t matter which side you sit.
As we go into the tunnel, the trains history is explained on the commentery.
The concept to build the train to the summit of Jungfrau was envisioned in the 19th century. It took 16 years to complete and finally opened in 1912.
The train made a brief stop at Eismeer station where there is a window looking out to the eastern face of the Eiger. This is a short stop and only few people got off. We then travel a short while on this ground breaking rail arriving at Jungraujoch station.
Activities
There are several activities at Jungfrau which can be done in any order. The main attraction is the sphinx observatory which has spectacular views out to Junfrau, Monch and Eiger Mountains. There is desinagated lift to take you up 6 levels for breathtaking views. Ther is also ice caves that features some very cool sculptures from the Ice Age movie series.
There is also an Indian restaurant here along with some souvenir shops. Lastly, there is a Lindt chocolate shop, but note that it is pricey and they don’t do any hot drinks here.
There are lots of places to explore around the building. There is a opportunity to reach even higher altitude by doing the glacier walk to Mönchsjoch Hut. It is the highest service hut in Switzerland and is accessible during the summer season. You need decent hiking shoes or show boots for this walk and it can challenging with thick snow.
On a sunny day like the day we walked, we felt quite hot despite the temperature being 0 degrees. Even though the distance to the hut was short, we took a long time to hike and it was difficult to walk fast at that altitude.
After about 40 minutes of walking, we made it to the hut which has a small cafe and a bar for casual visitors from the Junfrau .
We treated ourselves with a warm beverage and enjoyed our view across Europe’s longest glacier. The walk back down was much quicker and we had fun throwing snow balls at each other.
Booking
Tickets to Jungfrau, top of Europe can be purchased online or at the various terminals. On the website, there are several options based on the departure point. In our case, we booked from Grinderwald terminal. The cost of the ticket was 200 francs per person. With a Swiss travel pass or EU rail pass, you can get a 25% discount. Not only that, the cost of the train to Grindelwald is also covered.
This can be expensive and long trip. So, we recommend spending at least 6 hours at Jungraujoch to make the most of it and get more value for your trip.
We hope you enjoyed our trip up to Jungfrau and that you find it useful when you planning your own trip there.
