Jungfraujoch was high on my bucket list since so many years and finally, I visited it this year with my husband in July. It is the highest point in Europe, at an altitude of 3,466m and absolutely breathtaking !! We started our journey from Zurich-->Interlaken-->Lauterbrunnen-->Klein Schedeigg-->Jungfrau which is quite a long journey( 4.5 hrs to be precise) and so we decided to start at 5 a.m. And, you must make a stop in "Lauterbrunnen,a truly magical place" before going further up to Jungfrau.
The Jungfrau experience starts the minute you board the cogwheel train from Klein Schedeigg and since we had reserved our seats before, we were among the first ones to board the train.
It is a 45 minutes journey from there to the top of Jungfrau and an expensive one(tips on that later). The views are spectacular but most part of the journey is in a long tunnel through the mountains( don't worry,it is not as claustrophobic as it sounds). Sit on the right side in the direction of the train to get the most amazing views 😍.
Jungfraubahn in itself is an engineering marvel and has quite an interesting history of its own!! Laying a 9.3 km of track by drilling through the Eiger and Monch mountains with an ascent of 3000m can't be easy, right? It took almost 16 years for 300 men to build this track and finally it was ready for public in 1912.
The cogwheel train stops at two stations in the tunnel, at Eigerwand and Eismeer. The stations have restroom facilities and panormic windows from where you can enjoy the views for few minutes.
We finally reached at the top station which is again inside the mountain and walked our way up to the observation deck through the tunnels and a lift which carries you to the top floor. The view from the deck is simply magnificent all around with the views of Klein Scheidegg on one side and the Aletsch Glacier on the other.
The Aletsch Galcier is about 23 km long and is the largest glacier in the Alps. Walking on the glaciers can be quite risky sometimes because of bad weather conditions and unknown crevasses. One wrong step and you are gone!! I saw one from the deck and it looked dangerous 😲!!
After looking out from the observation deck we ventured out in the glacier itself. People indulge in various summer activities in the snow playground like sledging, snowboarding, skiing and ziplining. We didn't do any of these as we planned to do a hike on the glacier to the Mönchsjoch hut which I will discuss below in detail.
Before we started our hike, there was one dream of mine which I had to finally turn into reality!! Being an Indian and having grown up watching all those romantic Bollywood movies, I always dreamt of getting a picture in Saree(a traditional Indian dress) in the Swiss alps and yes at this point if you are wondering if I actually carried a Saree with me to the top, yes I did!! People who were hiking stopped to look what was happening and looked quite amazed. I almost felt like a celebrity when so many people started photographing me and few people even appreciated my efforts and said I looked amazing( I was of course all blush blush at that moment).🤩🤩 This whole thing was truly one of the best moments of my life.
Hike to the Mönchsjoch hut
After this dreamy moment it was time for us to to hike to the famous Mönchsjoch hut. This was something I was most excited about my visit to the Jungfrau.The hut is at an elevation of 3650 m- pretty much 12000 feet above sea level and is the highest occupied hut in Switzerland. It is situated in the middle of the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage.
The 1 hour hike is pretty uphill starting from the snow park and leads across permanently snow covered glaciers. We didn't find many people on the hike because most of the visitors turn back after a few hundred meters.Also, the altitude can take a real toll on you depending from person to person so you might consider keeping some medicine with you which we actually forgot to carry with us. I am generally fine at high altitudes but this time even I was a little breathless.
Some useful tips here -
Do not leave the marked trail at any time since the trail itself is crevasse free but the surrounding glaciers are not!!
Sunglasses are must to avoid snow blindness.I literally couldn't keep my eyes open, it's so white.
Carry at least 1.5 liter of water per person.
Dress up in several layers as the weather can go crazy within minutes.
Solid waterproof hiking shoes are must.
Finally, we reached there and the views were totally arresting and worth the hike, 😲 I had that feeling of accomplishment like a real mountaineer and how I wished if I could wake up to this view every morning of my life. If you are thinking about cleaning up your lungs and getting all the fresh oxygen, this is the place to go!!!
We then headed our way to the heated hut to fulfill our hunger. It is a little tricky climb up to the hut once you finally reach it - literally a sheet of slippery ice up a ramp in order just to get to the restaurant hut, so be careful if you are heading there. You can expect a meal for two around 40CHF which is no more expensive than what you get in most of Switzerland but frankly we did not like the food there but it was good enough to sustain our bodies for the return journey. We spent almost an hour in the hut relaxing and soaking in the amazing views the hut offered.
After having lunch we started our downhill return journey and made it to the snow fun park and main building on time. We passed through the Alpine Sensation which is a moving walkway exhibiting a 360-degree audiovisual panorama and connects the hall below the Sphinx observatory to the Ice Palace.
We finally reached the underground train station and looked at the time table!! We were just in time for the next train to Klein Scheidegg and quickly joined the huge crowd waiting to go down. It was 4 p.m. and at this time there are lots of people waiting to go down rather than coming up. By this time my head had also started exploding with headache 🤯( which I don't regret because the experience was worth it) and I am thankful it happened only after we enjoyed every bit of our time up there doing everything we planned for. It was a long day and definitely a super amazing one!!
Here is a short video of all the fun we had in Switzerland 🙂
Tips for visiting Jungfrau-
Always check the weather forecast before going. There is no point in going to the mountains if the weather is not clear & sunny as the views will totally be obscured by clouds. You can check it here "Live Webcam".
Even on a sunny day, try to go to the top as soon as possible as clouds can easily take over in the later part of the day. Also, the snow gets softer and slushy during the day so it becomes a little difficult to hike.
Dress up in layers since the valleys are warmer and Jungfrau is very very cold even in summers.
It an insanely expensive trip to Jungfrau from Wengen (234 CHF per person return trip) but well worth it. You must consider buying a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half fare card if you are in Switzerland for 3 or more days and plan to travel extensively. This will give you huge discount on your ticket to Jungfrau.
You can always reserve a seat in the cogwheel train from Klein Scheidegg to Jungfrau which costs only 10 CHF for a return trip. This means you won't have to wait in long lines to get into the train. Reservation is in addition to the ticket, so don't get confused!!
Sit on the right side in the direction of cogwheel train to get the most amazing views.
Carry your own snacks and water as it is quite expensive at the top.
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Thank you so much for your words :-) And, yes you should definitely plan soon, there are so many hiking options in the Jungfrau region :-)
hey Garima...an amazing insight you have given.. to this place in Europe.. I just can't wait to hike now... You are a gem of a Traveller ... And needless to say ..the bollywood saree.. was cherry on the top...keep it up...!