Day 193: Jungfraujoch

Very early start this morning, one of the earliest we've had on the entire trip! Alarm at 6:30, up and dressed and out the door by 6:50. Arrived at Grindelwald Grund station around 7am, well in advance of our 7:25 train. Grabbed a coffee to pass the time while we waited, though the train showed up fairly early and we settled in.

Not too many people on board which was nice - Jungfraujoch (the lookout near the top of Jungfrau) is the most popular tourist attraction in Switzerland and apparently gets very very busy during the day. Part of the reason we'd bought "Good Morning" tickets was to avoid the crowds, though it also looked like the weather would be much nicer earlier in the day as well.

The train left on time with Swiss efficiency and was soon chugging its way up the hill sides. It's a cog-wheel train, where there's a central rail of cog-teeth, and a bunch of wheels on the train rotate around the teeth, pulling the train up the hill. It allows the trains to climb much steeper gradients than typical trains, and we were soon climbing quite sharply. Fantastic views of the Grindelwald valley on the right hand side, though on the left-hand side Eiger loomed above us.

After about 45 minutes we popped out at a pass, where our train ended and met another train coming from the next valley over (Lauterbrunnen, where we'd been yesterday). Here both trains terminate and you switch trains for the final ascent up Jungfrau. The view from the station was magnificent, as you finally got to see Jungfrau shining in the sun, flecked with snow and topped with a little cloud.

Soon after leaving Kline-Schidegge station the train entered a tunnel, which it stayed in for about the next 25 minutes. Pretty much the entire final ascent of the mountains is done in tunnels through Eiger, which is absolutely crazy. Particularly in one part, the train stopped at a station where you could hop off and look out windows onto the glacier below. Thankfully it stopped for five minutes so we didn't have any re-boarding dramas!

Finally we arrived at the top station, still underground and in the tunnels. Our train was probably half full, but it was the first train of the day so the area didn't feel that crowded. Once at the top, there's a surprisingly large centre with lots of stuff to do - a small museum about the area and the construction of the railway (in the 1890s, no less), an "ice paradise" area where you could walk through tunnelled-out parts of the glacier, a 4D ADVENTURE which looked very unappealing, plus an elevated observatory, a few outdoor areas, and the usual load of shops and restaurants.

We decided that since Jungfrau (and the Aletsch glacier) were on the world heritage list and we needed to film, we'd head straight for the observatory. There's a numbered itinerary you're supposed to follow while at the complex, but we figured skipping to stop 4 and back-filling was the best way to go.

The observatory is about 100 metres above the train station level, accessed via elevators, and as far as I could tell we were the first people up to the observatory, along with a couple of others and an Australian girl from Brisbane who was cooing over Schnitzel. So we finally popped out at the top, with nobody else around! Perfect.

The view was epic from up here, nice and sunny though not super clear, but Jungfrau was clear, as was Monch and the other nearby peaks. The glacier looked magnificent as well, lots of snow powder despite being late summer. And it wasn't too cold either, about 7 degrees at the top, though a bit of breeze made it chillier at times. Took a bunch of photos and did some filming, and 20 minutes later when the next train arrived it was definitely noticeable by how much the place started to fill up.

Walked through the ice palace which was quite nice (though a little slippery), checked out the museum and the other displays, and the lower outdoor viewing platform. By now it was around 10:30am and the place was noticeably more crowded (lots of shouting Chinese too which never impresses me), so we decided to push ourselves a bit and head out on the glacier walk.

This walk was listed as 45-60 minutes each way, across the glacier to a mountain hut on a ridgeline, from where you could see other directions normally hidden behind the peaks above. It was surprisingly tough going, even though we were both dressed adequately for snow walking (proper shoes etc). Lots of uphill trudges, and in some places you'd sink ankle-deep into the snow. Schnitzel seemed remarkably un-fussed by the whole experience; the only time he really seemed bothered was when his belly got wet from the snow.

Finally after a bit over an hour we made it to the far hut, and were rewarded with more fantastic views. The glacier stretches out endlessly, more snow-capped peaks ringing the horizon, and great spectacles in every direction. It's almost disappointing in a way when you look back at your photos and realise how they didn't quite capture the moment.

We headed inside the hut where Shandos celebrated our hike with a beer, while I just settled for what the Germans (and the German-speaking Swiss I suppose) call a Milchkaffee. We agreed that the 45-60 minute estimate probably assumed that you were Swiss and well versed in snow hiking! It was very noticeably a different crowd over at this hut - not that it was crowded, but everyone was dressed appropriately, most people had hiking poles and so on. Nobody sporting Loius Vuitton heels or Burberry overcoats.

We hurried back to the main complex, slightly concerned since we'd reserved seats on the 1:13pm train (a condition of our cheap morning tickets was that we leave by 1:15pm at the latest). We made it just in time, though it was still tough going on the way back as the snow had softened significantly and made walking tough.

Quickly went through all the shops selling expensive Swiss watches and Lindt chocolates, and of course we didn't even bother looking at the Chinese restaurant or the Indian restaurant as despite our lack of time, we'd heard they were overpriced and crap even by Swiss standards (and the cuisines should give you an indicator of who actually ascends the top).

Anyway, we made our train and enjoyed the descent in the tunnel. The stop at Kline-Schiedegge took about 20 minutes, so we had a good amount of time to admire the views looking both upwards to Jungfrau, and down into the valley. The descent took noticeably longer than the ascent, not sure why, though finally we were back down at Grund station, tired and filled up on incredible views and photos.

Back to the car where we drove back to our accommodation and collapsed around 4pm, very tired but satisfied with how the day panned out. After a good rest, we went downstairs for dinner again - this time Shandos had the fondue (apparently a traditional Swiss dish!!), while I had the Schnitzel. Great food again, though still expensive for what it is. Off to bed, long day of driving coming tomorrow!Read more