22-23 Winter Europe

Today we visited Jungfraujoch also advertised as “Top of Europe”. The interesting thing is that Jungfraujoch is not even close to being the highest point in Europe. Coming in at just under 13,000 feet it was still quite a journey.

We started the day by taking a bus to the main terminal in Grindelwald. From there we took a 15 minute high speed gondola to a train station in the mountains. The gondola was a new addition in recent years and replaced the 45 minute train ride that used to be required. At first, Julie was sitting backwards as we flew up through the mountains but quickly she got queasy.

After arriving in the gondola station, we needed to transfer to a cogwheel train to take us the remaining 30 minutes up to the summit. This cog wheel runs to the highest train station in Europe. It was a technological wonder when it was built in the late 1800s. At that time the train ride was coined as a ride to the top of Europe. Thus the name today.

Once at the top, we were treated with breathtaking views of the Swiss Alps … literally breathtaking. We both had our time breathing with the altitude. In addition, we visited a museum about the building of the train line and an ice palace. Inside the ice palace was beautiful sculptures that last year round. We both had a blast sliding around on the ice floors.

While the experience was beautiful, we both agree that overall it seemed to be a little bit of a tourist trap. Some of the views we have seen throughout the trip for free have matched this expensive experience.

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As a side, not related to this experience, we have found that the Swiss food is bland and way overpriced. We are looking forward to some Spanish food in Barcelona.Read more