Switzerland trip report so far: Back from Europe! First Impressions and Takeaways, How We Accidentally Saw the Tour de France Live, Switzerland Part 1: Murren, Schilthorn, Allmendhubel and Paragliding, Wengen, our car-free Swiss Alps home base
One of the main attractions in the Bernese Oberland area of Switzerland is Jungfraujoch, known as the Top of Europe. Jungfraujoch is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it has Europe’s longest glacier and Europe’s highest rail station.
Visiting Jungfraujoch isn’t cheap, though. Even with our 25% Swiss Travel Pass discount, we spent almost $700 for the six of us (and two of my kids were free!). However, after visiting, I’m glad we shelled out the money for the experience.
Getting There
We purchased our tickets at the Wengen train station the day before. The agent recommended we take the 8:14 a.m. train, as it wouldn’t be as crowded and we would not need to worry about spending an extra $10 to reserve seats. The journey to Jungfraujoch for us was Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg to Eigergletscher to Jungfraujoch. Anything higher than Wengen is not included in the Swiss Travel Pass.
The journey from Wenger to Kleine Scheidegg is gorgeous. As we ascended, we could see Wengen down below.
The train had large windows.
We saw lots of cows and waterfalls.
Everything was timed just perfectly. Once we got off at Kleine Scheidegg, we hopped on the red train to continue our journey.
We climbed a short distance to Eigergletscher, where the cable car from Grindelwald joins. Our final leg of the train was mostly in tunnels inside the mountains. The train made one 5-minute stop so that we could look at the glacier through some windows in the mountain.
Almost 90 minutes after we departed Wengen, we arrived at the highest train station in Europe, which was inside the mountain.
Things to Do at Jungfraujoch
Jungfraujoch is organized very well. We received a booklet that explained all of the different areas. All we had to do was follow the numbers in order to see everything.
We started at the outside viewing platform to see the glacier. It was 38 degrees and sunny.
The sky was clear, and the glacier went on and on. We couldn’t see the end of it.
My kids loved picking up snow near the platform. There is snow up here year-round.
Our tour took us down to the base of the observatory via elevator. This is where we could really get out in the snow.
Helicopters landed on the glacier. People with serious glacier-hiking equipment ventured out.
There were a few zip lines outside. We didn’t try those, but my kids wanted to go snow sledding. Since we live in Texas, they hardly ever see snow, so this was a treat. It was $15 per person to rent the sleds, and they had a total blast.
There were sled and tubes as well as conveyors to take riders back to the top of the hills.
After the kids were too wet and cold to continue in the snow, we headed back indoors to continue the tour. Inside, there were several interesting displays about the construction of the rail line.
I loved this tiny replica of a town that had moving trains and gondolas:
Eventually, we made it to the ice tunnels. I have no idea how I managed to get through those without falling.
Throughout the tunnels, we saw some amazing ice sculptures (like a grand piano) and some whimsical ones as well.
Near the end, there were shops (of course!) and restaurants. My favorite shop was the Lindt chocolate shop. It had every imaginable flavor of chocolate and cute tins. I was in heaven!
Before heading out, we took one last look outside on top of the mountain:
I didn’t time our visit, but we were at Jungfraujoch at least two hours.
Lunch at Kleine Scheidegg
Instead of eating inside Jungfraujoch, we decided to grab lunch at Kleine Scheidegg on the way back to Wengen. This tiny town is basically a train station with a few hotels and restaurants. But, it has the most gorgeous views!
We had the best Swiss German food at one of the restaurants with a fantastic view.
If (or when) we go back, I’d love to explore Kleine Scheidegg more and try some of the hiking paths.
Overall Thoughts
Visiting Jungfraujoch is expensive. But, getting there is beautiful, and there are so many things to do and see once you’re at the top. I’m not sure it’s worth the money on an overcast day, however. I can’t imagine going there and not seeing the gigantic glacier. But on a sunny day, Jungfraujoch is gorgeous. Visiting Jungfraujoch was such a unique experience, and I’m so glad we went.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
BEST time to go to the top is always in the morning regardless as to what may or may not be coming in weather wise. Typically, due to the warming effects that the mountains have on their surroundings, the clouds don’t start to build until late morning or early afternoon.
@Patrick Great advice.
Enjoy reading your trip reports its giving us some ideas for our Europe trip next year. Interested in how you got from Paris to Wegen and what was that experience like ?
@Rich We pre-booked tickets on a train from Gare du Nord in Paris to Basel, Switzerland. It was a direct high speed train that took around 3 hours. Once we were in Basel, we used our Swiss Travel Passes. We went from Basel to Interlaken Ost (about 2 hours), Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen (30 minutes), then Lauterbrunnen to Wengen (11 minutes). We had minimal wait times while changing trains. In total, it took us a little over 6 hours to get from Paris to Wengen by 4 trains. It would have taken longer to fly to Switzerland because there would still be a few train rides involved. I was a bit nervous making that many train changes, but it really wasn’t that bad. The stations are labeled very well.
Nancy, did I read correctly that your family spent $700 for a 2-hour activity that did not include a meal?
@Chris Yep, when you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous. Ha ha. Although I just recalculated it was actually $600 (not $700) ($150 per adult) and our total time including the train rides was about 5 hours. Two hours was just our time at the top.
“I’m not sure it’s worth the money on an overcast day, however. I can’t imagine going there and not seeing the gigantic glacier. But on a sunny day, Jungfraujoch is gorgeous.”
I had the exact same thought. To make that journey and spend all that money and the weather be unfavorable… ouch.
From my understanding weather forecasts in the area are very unreliable. I’m gathering that if I were to check the forecast late in the afternoon for the next day, we should be good to go?
Thanks for sharing your trip details. It’s really helping me plan our trip and has me changing some aspects of our journey as I learn more and more.
@projectx The day we arrived in Switzerland, it was cloudy and overcast. According to the weather forecast, we would have only one sunny day and the rest of the week would be cloudy and rainy. We chose to go to Schilthorn for our one rainy day (because it was cheaper). As the week went on, the weather was usually better than what the forecast said. The day after Schilthorn it was supposed to be sunny in the morning, so that’s when we went to Jungfraujoch. It was actually sunny the entire day. The next day was supposed to rain all day, but it was fairly sunny in the morning, and we managed to do a hike and lunch before it started raining mid-afternoon. I’m guessing that because of all the peaks and valleys in the area, it’s hard to predict where the clouds will move. It’s a good idea to give yourself an extra day or two in the area to move things around in case of the weather. Trummelbach Falls is supposed to be a great rainy day activity.
How long did you stay in this area?
Based on our current flights I’m looking at 5 nights in either Wengen or Grindelwald. However I’m hoping some more saver award dates open up so I can change our dates a bit and add a 6th night.
We stayed 5 nights. 🙂