When discussing the Jungfrau peak and mountain, located in Switzerland near Interlaken, the phrase “The Most” is consistently used.
The highest mountain railway, the most visited peak of the Alps, the most accessible observatory to visit.
In general, everything is “the most”.
That’s why I couldn’t resist.
Of course, I wanted to visit an altitude of 3570 without special training, backpacks, and equipment.
In addition, to walk in the snow, ride down snowy hills in the summer, when there is grass at the bottom of the mountains, and the heat is +25.
I wanted to ride the highest mountain train, visit the most accessible high-altitude observatory, and visit the highest passenger railway station in the world.
That’s why Mount Jungfrau is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
And all this happened.
How to get to Jungfrau?
Only by train.
The route starts from the Swiss resort town of Interlaken, which is located between two lakes – Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.
The train departs from the station – Interlaken Ost
Scheme of the railway route to the Jungfrau mountain:
Detailed train route to Jungfrau:
- Interlaken East
- Wilderswil
- Zweilutschinen
- Lauterbrunen
- Wengwald
- Wengen
- Allmend
- Wengernalp
- KlieneScheidegg
- Eigergletscher (the last station, which is outside the mountains and tunnels in nature)
- Eigerwand (in the mountains)
- Eismeer (in the mountains, viewing platform)
- Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe (summit of the Jungfrau mountain, final station)
You can book a ticket and find out the price on the official website of the railway here: fahrplan.sbb.ch
Don’t forget to specify the departure station – Interlaken Ost and the arrival station – Jungfraujoch.
Such a one-way trip costs about 50 to 100 Swiss francs per person.
The price depends on the class.
On average, for a family of 3 – 2 adults and a child, the trip costs about 450 Swiss francs.
A bit expensive?
But after I got to the top, I realized what I paid for. 🙂
The trip lasts more than 2 hours. Here is an example of the route:
By the way, you can save a little and get off at an intermediate station.
My Swiss friend highly recommended that I drive to the town of Lauterbrunen, leave the car at the station, and go by train.
By the way, the parking lot itself is located not far from the station and is connected to the station by a direct tunnel.
GPS coordinates of the parking lot are 46°35’54.6″N 7°54’31.2″E
In addition, you will be able to admire the beautiful views of waterfalls in the mountains.
As someone who frequently traveled by train, I couldn’t understand how it was possible to climb a train to a height of over 3,000 meters on ordinary railway tracks.
It turned out that the high-mountain railway here is quite unusual.
The carriages are ordinary, with wooden seats. But trust my experience – you will turn your head so much to look around that you will even forget what kind of seats you are sitting on – soft or hard.
A little closer, when I approached the track, I understood everything. Trains cling to the teeth that are laid out between the sleepers.
Now it is clear how a train can climb to a height of more than 3 thousand meters and not slide down. A toothed clutch holds it.
By the way, if you are going to visit Jungfrau, don’t forget to take 3 essential things:
- Sunburn cream. Yes, yes… looking at the red, sunburned faces of tourists returning from the mountain – I realized that this is an essential thing at such a height!
- Sunproof glasses. Preferably expensive ones, with the option of an ultraviolet filter. Since the sun burns strongly there at the top.
- And a winter jacket. You ask me why this is in the summer? Because the temperature at the top of the mountain (about 3500 m) and in the rocks in the tunnels is about 10–15 degrees.
If you are equipped, go ahead!
During the train ride, I looked at interesting landscapes. Mountains were everywhere. And the most interesting thing is that there was a feeling of unreality – you are riding in a train, and on all sides are mountain peaks.
Higher and higher the houses became smaller and smaller.
Soon, we arrived at the transfer station. All the tourists transferred to another train, and we went on
Interestingly, the Swiss railway does not use diesel. Trains use electric traction and are powered by wires. Electricity is everywhere along the road.
It is exciting to observe the contrast – green grass and snow on the rocks.
The higher we climbed, the darker it became, the more snow and less grass.
The Swiss are thoroughly prepared for all cataclysms. I saw snow-clearing trains and hangars, which are probably there as a backup for the winter period.
For passengers to control the trip process, there was a monitor in each carriage that showed us the current route of the high-mountain train.
The last station, which was in nature, was Eigergletscher.
After that, you drove into the thickness of the mountains and continued to climb through the tunnels. Only my watch with an accelerometer told me that we were still moving up.
At one of the intermediate stations – Eismeer, tourists were allowed to get off the train and admire the panorama.
It was unforgettable. We were above the clouds!
By the way, in this tunnel, there is a toilet if you can no longer withstand the long trip.
On the left is an observation deck (it is behind glass), on the right – toilets.
The train waited for the tourists for about 10 minutes and then moved on.
A little more, and we arrived at the highest operating train station in the world.
Judging by the abundance of tourists, it is probably the most numerous. 🙂
We couldn’t wait to climb to the highest point, and we went to look for a high-speed elevator to get to the observation deck of the observatory through the thickness of the mountains.
The observation deck was full of people. Mostly not Europeans, but Chinese or Japanese. In general, people of Asian nationality. Maybe a tour from Japan came. 🙂
Here is where you can get your camera and take pictures. The views there are amazing.
The most popular place was the background with the mountain logo. To get there, you had to queue.
All the famous watch brands were here. The most popular slogan here is “Only we have the highest / high-rise watch store in Europe”.
At the observation deck I met the “locals” – beggar birds were not afraid of people and obediently waited for food. How did they fly here? It’s a mystery to me.
We went down lower in the elevator, and then the most interesting thing began.
There was a whole system of passages in the rocks.
We also found a giant New Year’s ball in one of the tunnels.
I saw familiar faces! In one of the tunnels, I saw Vitali Klitschko. It turns out that he held exhibition boxing matches here too – on the very roof of Europe.
We had to walk through fascinating tunnels. On the one hand, these are paths, tracks that take tourists to the next attraction of Jungfrau, and on the other, this is a museum of the people who created this man-made miracle.
I can’t imagine how many years, without special equipment, they dug tunnels and made a railway. Respect and reverence for these builders arise on every corner!
Very soon, having passed through a series of tunnels, we found ourselves on the street. Or more precisely, on the top of the mountain, at the very peak.
Just 2 hours ago, we were walking on the grass and wearing T-shirts, but now we quickly put on jackets and glasses. The sun was blinding mercilessly, the snow was shining and reflecting like a white sheet of paper, and there was not a cloud in the sky.
There was an observatory up on the mountain, and here there were hills and a lot of snow.
And we went skiing.
I would recommend taking a pill – it was hard to roll over on it and it was safe to ride. The track is long and steep, with turns.
And to get back up the hill again, you can use a moving belt.
At first, I thought it was a luxury, but at an altitude of almost 3,500 meters, after 3-5 climbs, I realized that I was short of air.
The air was so thin that no matter how much I wanted to breathe, there was not enough.
So I had to slow down my pace artificially.
After such “rides,” we decided to ride a rope. It was an interesting thing. And there was a long line of people wanting to do it. The route starts from the cliff itself and the rope crosses two mountains.
To somehow relax, we went to see the ice castle and sculptures. Our path went through a glacier. A tunnel was also cut in it.
At the end of our walk, interesting figures of birds made of fragile material were waiting for us – it was frozen water.
Exhausted and impressed, we slowly walked to our station in the rock.
Satisfied and tired, we went back by train.
My conclusion: is Jungfrau worth the money?
Yes, if you are not an athlete-climber, try to find yourself on the top of this mountain as an ordinary person, without years of preliminary training and climbing.
A whole wagon of impressions. In addition, you will be transported here in comfort!
Definitely, you need to visit, at least once in your life!
And to remind you, I offer my video compilation of a visit to Jungfrau
Additional information about Jungfrau:
Wikipedia article – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungfrau
Official website – www.jungfrau.ch/en/tourism
