Switzerland Guide
The Bernese Oberland
Jungfraujoch
Switzerland's most popular (and expensive) mountain railway excursion is touted endlessly throughout the Oberland under the shoutline "Top of Europe": for once, though, the reality justifies the hype. Trains trundle through lush countryside south from Interlaken before coiling spectacularly up across the high pastures above either Wengen or Grindelwald, breaking the treeline at Kleine Scheidegg and tunnelling clean through the Eiger to emerge at the Jungfraujoch, an icy, windswept col at 3454m, just below the Jungfrau summit. This is the highest train station in Europe, and offers an unforgettable experience of the mountains.
Inevitably, the summit is a tourist circus of ice sculptures, husky sleigh rides, glacier walks, a short ski run, dismal restaurants and a post office, all invariably overflowing with tour groups. Nonetheless, panoramic views from the open-air Sphinx Terrace, at 3571m, to Germany's Black Forest, the Vosges in France and across a gleaming wasteland to the Italian Alps are heart-thumping – as is the thin atmosphere up here. Yawning away below the silver-domed weather station on top is the mighty Jungfraufirn glacier, which joins up with several others (including the Aletschgletscher, largest in the Alps) at the Konkordiaplatz ice plain 3km southeast.
The best way to avoid being smothered by snap-happy crowds is to travel up on the first train of the day, and on arrival follow the signs quickly straight to the high-speed lift for the Sphinx Terrace – that way, you can snatch five or ten minutes of crisp, undisturbed silence at the loftiest point of all, and be the first of the day to sweep the snow off the railings. At other times, you may have to queue for an hour or more just to get your nose into the fresh air. Once you've finished at the terrace, it's easy to leave the bustling summit station behind and head out across the snows into solitude and silence, although you must stick to the marked trails (crevasses give no warning).
Currently, the adult round-trip fare to Jungfraujoch from Interlaken is a budget-crunching Fr.173. One way to cut costs is to take advantage of the discounted Good Morning ticket (Fr.149), valid if you travel up on the first train of the day (6.30am from Interlaken), and leave the summit by noon.
Walking some sections of the journey, up or down, is perfectly feasible in summer, and can also save plenty, with fares from intermediate points along the route considerably lower. Excellent transport networks and vista-rich footpaths linking all stations mean that with judicious use of a hiking map and timetable you can see and do a great deal in a day and still get back to Interlaken by bedtime.