Day trip to Top of Europe, Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

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Jungfraujoch(Top of Europe), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located 11,333 feet (3,454 meters) above sea level and it is an amazing ride up to the Europe’s highest railway station. Jungfraujoch refers to the “saddle” between the two peaks of Mount Jungfrau and Mount Mönch; you can enjoy views of the majestic Mount Jungfrau and a 360 degree panoramic views of entire area.

For anyone staying in either Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen or Wengen area, take a scenic rail journey through Switzerland’s magnificent Bernese Oberland,and the train past Wengen/Grindelwald to the end of the line till Kleine Scheidegg. Then ride a cogwheel railway, built through the Swiss Alps peak to reach Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe. The train trip and the time you will spend at Jungfraujoch, including jaw-dropping Alpine panorama, are unforgettable and well worth the cost on a beautiful day.

How to reach Jungfraujoch

The only way to reach Jungfraujoch is to get on a cogwheel train from Kleine Scheidegg. Now to approach Kleine Scheidegg you can either take the ride through Lauterbrunnen <-> Wengen <-> Kleine Scheidegg or the Grindelwald <-> Kleine Scheidegg trains.We recommend to go up via one route and go down via the other. That way you see the most of this stunning alpine area. Trust us, both routes that approach Kleine Scheidegg are very scenic.Most people start their trip to the Jungfraujoch in Interlaken, but you can board the train at any station along the way.
Fortunately, you do not need to reserve seats on this train, and can decide to go on the spur of the moment when the weather is right. But in summer, the tickets might get sold out quickly, so if the weather is good in summer, go ahead and get your reservations and our recommendation is to get up early to avoid the crowds. It gets really packed up at the top as the day progresses and the wait time to get down also increases.

We took an early morning train from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg and the crowds were very less. Staying at Wengen is an added advantage as it is the closest station to Kleine Scheidegg, so the total travel time is the least from this location.

TIP: Swiss travel pass only covers till Wengen or Grindelwald. To travel beyond these stations to Kleine Scheidegg & Jungfraujoch has to be bought separately(you will get a 25% discount of total ticket price, with the swiss travel pass)

Stops enroute Jungfraujoch - Eismeer Station

The cogwheel train from Kleine Scheidegg stops at one station before the final stop at Jungfraujoch. You will enjoy great views all the way until the station Eigergletscher. If not, don’t worry because later the train enters the tunnel and there is nothing interesting to look at anyway.

This is a difference between going to Jungfrau or any other mountains in Switzerland. In other places, you take a cable car to the top. This makes Jungfraujoch a unique place where the railway tunnel is built inside the mountains.

During the journey to top, the train will halt for 5 minutes at Eismeer Station. Bluish, furrowed ice blocks under a blanket of eternal snow, and in the distance the panorama of four thousand metre peaks. This is how the Eismeer station, bored into the mountain Eiger on the Jungfrau Railway, appears at 3,160 metres above sea level.

Be ready to marvel at the high alpine wonderland of eternal ice, snow and rock once you reach the top.Visit the Sphinx Observation Terrace and Plateau for breathtaking panoramic views of snow-capped peaks, neighboring countries and the Aletsch Glacier. Walk through the tunnels of the Ice Palace at the heart of the glacier.

Kick start morning with some caffeine at Jungfraujoch

Once you get down at the final stop, you can head to the first attraction by riding the elevator upto the Sphinx Observatory. Or you can take a caffeine break before rest of your day as we did.

There is a coffee bar at the top, where we got some hot chocolate and chai lattes. They did have some sandwiches as well but we had packed our own breakfast sandwiches, so we just stuck to the early morning dose of caffeines from the coffee bar.

Even from the coffee bar, we could stare at the glacier world of Aletsch Glacier and the Jungfrau peaks, so we took our own time zipping the coffee gazing at this wonder of nature.

There are other restaurants in case you plan to do lunch etc. It can be quite expensive as per other blogs but we did not check these out, so we aren’t sure about the cost. Check out other restaurants at Jungfraujoch here

Vistas at Jungfraujoch

We visited Jungfraujoch in the first week of October, so few of the summer only attractions were closed, but most of the main tourist attractions were still open.

All the below attractions entry fee is included in the ticket fare.

1. Sphinx Observatory

After our morning coffee, we headed upto Sphinx Observatory. There is an elevator from the station to the observatory.

Sphinx Observatory(named after the rocky summit on which it is located, the Sphinx) is one of the highest observatories in the world. You cannot enter the observatory but the open viewing deck accessible to the public is adjacent to the observatory and it offers close up views of the Jungfrau, Mönch, and Eiger peaks. The look out has also views over Aletsch Glacier and past the snow-capped Alpine peaks toward France and Italy.

It is quite windy and cold as you step outside, as it is at high elevation, so clothe up in layers when you visit. A Columbia Arcadia II Waterproof Jacket and HotHands Hand Warmers are lifesavers up here.

TIP: One of the main features of the view from the Jungfraujoch is the Aletsch glacier. BUT, if you want to see the classic view of the huge river of ice and get a real idea of its scale, then you would do better to go to Riederalp or Bettmeralp.

Alpine Sensation

After spending some time, soaking in the views and taking some pictures at the Sphinx Observatory, we headed down towards our next attraction that was in our list, the Ice Palace. So to get to Ice Palace you need to go through a long corridor called the Alpine Sensation.

A shudder runs down the spine of whoever enters the 250 metre long corridor between the Sphinx Hall and Ice Palace. Not only because of the frosty temperatures, but also because of the sacrifices made by the miners to open up the Jungfraujoch to the railway. 30 memorial tablets bear witness to this. The music on the way also gives you goosebumps: It brings back to life the beginnings of the Jungfraubahn, together with the images from the time of the tourism visionaries.

The Ice Palace

Mountain guides created the aisles and halls in the 1930s with picks and saws in the middle of the Jungfraufirn. Today, artists create the ice – with a great deal of flair. On a mirror-smooth tour through a frosty world, visitors will discover their works of art in nooks and crannies. An eagle, penguin or bear, as though they had just turned to ice, appear quite natural. Even at minus three Celsius, they are melting.The more transient something is, the more beautiful. This is especially true of the Ice Palace and its treasures.

Plateau

If you want photos in snow but don’t want to walk all the way to Snow Fun Park, head out to The Plateau. It is a big open platform with the views on both sides of Jungfrau and a Swiss flag.

Mönchsjochhütte

From the Jungfraujoch, you can walk to the Mönchsjochhütte – the highest occupied hut in Switzerland. The walk takes around 45 minutes and you can check the website to see if the hut is open.

NOTE: This was closed during our visit and we did not visit

Snow park

We were barely able to spend time outside as it was very windy and cold even though the sun was out. Snow park had already closed out for the season but we did step onto snow at the Plateau.

NOTE: This attraction was also closed for the season during our visit.

Jungfrau Panorama

It is just a short 360-degree panorama movie that you can watch on the way to or from Sphinx observatory. But if it is a beautiful day , then you can skip this and step outside to see the entire panoramic view.

Souvenir shopping

There is a Lindt Chocolate Shop and couple of souvenir shops called the “Top of Europe” shops. We got a fridge magnet(a souvenir we collect from all places we visit) and bought some chocolates from the Lindt outlet. So in case you feel like doing some souvenir shopping at the Top of Europe, splurge in.

Wrap up and head out!

So that was an epic trip and we were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day. To board train back to Kleine Scheidegg, we had to wait in line for around 30 minutes but it wasn’t that bad considering the fact that inflow of people had increased very much compared to morning. We did spend some time walking around Kleine Scheidegg, enjoying the beautiful sunny day and admiring the beautiful view of all the three majestic peaks before we boarded another train down to Wengen.

So was the trip Jungfraujoch worth the money?

Even though we were a bit skeptical about the trip at first, we are happy that we did it. There were couple of reasons that we were skeptical about it, as the weather forecast when we reached Switzerland was not great and then the price to visit was not cheap. We would for sure would love to do it again in future as well, probably in summer to venture more out into the snow fields.The cost of maintaining the Jungfraujoch station and the railway line is definitely high, so that can be attributed to high price of the ticket and most of the things are expensive in Switzerland anyway.

If you find tickets a bit too expensive but still can afford it, we highly recommend to take on this trip. You will probably forget about money soon after you board the train and spend the wonderful day on Top of Europe. If the tickets are really out of your budget, don’t worry! Switzerland is full of other incredibly beautiful places that you can visit for less money. Even if you can’t go up to the top of Jungfrau, you can see this mountain from everywhere in Jungfrau region.

Read more about Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from Zurich 2020 - https://www.viator.com/tours/Zurich/Jungfraujoch-Top-of-Europe-Day-Trip-from-Zurich/d577-2460JUNG?mcid=56757

Wengen village train station

Alps view from wengen village

About clothing.

Jungfraujoch, on the other hand, is thousands of metres higher even than Wengen, and is snow-covered and cold year-round. If you will be spending time outdoors at Jungfraujoch (it is optional after getting off the train, though most people do go outside at least briefly and we did as well) and if it’s sunny, make sure you have a good sunscreen with you. Be sure to wear sunscreen on all exposed skin. Read more about our journey to top of europe in our blog here.

During high season it might be difficult to find rooms in Wengen area and it can be quite expensive as well.
Trip to Jungfrau is expensive and is an extra cost in addition to Swiss travel pass or any other pass
Get the Swiss travel pass, in case you are in the area for more than 3-4 days and wants to travel across Switzerland.
DO NOT buy tickets for Jungfraujoch early, always look at the weather forecast for next day before getting the tickets.
Without a Swiss travel pass,riding the trains in Switzerland would get very expensive
Connect through various mountain villages via aerial trams and other transports to explore the entire area.

Would you require any help or information for your travel planning or visit to Jungfraujoch, please feel free to send us an email.