Everyone wants to see Jungfraujoch (3454m). It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip that you need to experience first-hand. There’s a reason why two million people a year visit Europe’s highest train station. The icy wilderness of swirling glaciers and 4000m turrets that unfolds at the top is staggeringly beautiful.
The last stage of the train journey from Kleine Scheidegg burrows through the heart of the Eiger before arriving at the sci-fi Sphinx meteorological station. Opened in 1912, the tunnel took 3000 men 16 years to drill. Along the way, you stop at Eigerwand and Eismeer, where panoramic windows offer tantalising glimpses across rivers of crevassed ice.
Good weather is essential for this journey; check on www.jungfrau.ch or call 033 828 79 31. Don’t forget to take warm clothing, sunglasses and sunscreen, as there’s snow and glare up here all year. Within the Sphinx weather station, where trains disgorge passengers, there’s an Ice Palace gallery of otherworldly ice sculptures, restaurants, indoor viewpoints and a souvenir shop, where you can purchase your very own chunk of Eiger to grace the mantelpiece.
From Interlaken Ost, the journey time is 2½ hours each way and the return fare is Sfr197.60. The last train back sets off at 5.45pm in summer and 4.45pm in winter. However, from May through to October there’s a cheaper Good Morning Ticket costing Sfr145 if you take the first train (which departs at 6.35am from Interlaken Ost) and leave the summit by 1pm. Costing the same, the Good Afternoon Ticket is only valid for the 3.30pm train from Kleine Scheidegg.
Getting these early trains is easier if your starting place is deeper in the region. Stay overnight at Kleine Scheidegg to take advantage of the excursion-fare train at 8am. From here, a return Good Morning Ticket is Sfr95.
