Day 7 - The Jungfrau

Another highlight of the tour was the trip up the Jungfrau Railway. We were advised to start as early as possible (the first two trains have discounted fares). We went for a more leisurely 9.00 am start, but even then the queue for tickets was quite long.


We decided to travel up via Grindelwald and return via Lauterbrunnen - the staff at the hotel recommended this to make the most of the sunshine in the valleys.

The first train journey from Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald sped along giving us occasional glimpses of the Eiger until we reached Grindelwald where the famous North Wall dominates the skyline.

A change of trains and we started the tortuous climb towards Kleine Scheidegg and another change of trains.

After the rolling slopes of the foothills beneath the Eiger, the scenery here became more rugged. The station had all the busyness of a mainline railway junction as passengers changed trains from or to Launterbrunnen, Grindelwald and, of course, the Jungfrau Joch
After a short climb to Eigergletscher, the train disappeared into the Eiger tunnel, blasted through the rock in a steady climb across the North Wall. At about the half-way point the train stopped at Eigerwand station to allow us a ten minute view through windows set in the North Wall. A further halt at Eismeer provided us with a view across the ice field before completing the climb to Jungfrau Joch.


Unfortunately, the summit was shrouded in cloud, and blowing a gale, but the ice caves and the observatory proved interesting. I hadn't expected to suffer quite so much from the thinness of the atmosphere, having to catch my breath when climbing the stairs, for example.

After an hour and half at the summit we hopped on the train for the return journey. At Kleine Scheidegg we opted for the Lauterbrunnen route, via Wengen.


To my mind, this route is more picturesque than that through Grindelwald. The valley is narrower with a couple of spectacular waterfalls cascading down cliffs from improbable heights (see video).
A change of trains at Lauterbrunnen and we returned at high speed to Interlaken Ost.

So, was it worth the money? Definitely, yes! Despite the fact we were shrouded in cloud at the summit, the journey itself is well worth the expense and the experience of high altitude cannot be replicated, unless you have a bent for mountaineering. It's inevitably a popular and busy tourist destination, so in future I would try to avoid peak holiday periods if I had the choice.

There are several other railways and cable car services in the area which, given time, I would love to explore. Hence, if (hopefully, when) I return, I will allow more time to revisit this area - particularly as the hotel was so welcoming.