Jungfrau -The Top of Europe

June 6th

 In my previous blog entry, I mentioned that we are staying in Grindelwald instead of Interlaken.  I like Grindelwald better than Interlaken because it is more scenic and quiet.  You have a much better view of the Eiger Mountain and the Alpine village below.

The Jungfrau, which means "maiden" in German, is one of the main summits in the Bernese Alps situated in western Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and Monch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and is an amazing sight.

Our experience with The Top of Europe

First, let me say that the experience we had today cannot adequately be captured with photos or text, but since I took over 200 photos, I will attempt to convey some of the magnificence of this extraordinary experience of our journey from Grindelwald to the top of the Jungfrau.

Before we left home, Dan found out about a 3-day pass and a 6-day pass on the Jungfrau Railway system.  You can't see much detail from this map, but you can see that there are many places you can visit with your pass.  The pass includes the cable-ways, boats on the two lakes, and buses as well.  There are so many excursions and hikes, you could stay here months and not see everything.  The 6 day pass is $250. per person.

We only scratched the surface of what you can see in this area over a period of two days and one morning.   Our first excursion was to see "The Top of Europe", the Jungfrau.   We took the train from Grindelwald to Klein Scheidegg where we changed trains to take another train to the top of the Jungfrau.


We caught the train right outside our hotel, The Derby, in Grindelwald.  It's one of those quiet trains, so no worries about loud noise at night.

We caught the 9:17 AM train that would take us to the Jungfrau.  This train ride would be about 32 minutes and then we would transfer to another train that would take another 52 minutes to the top.

Dan's looking at a brochure of what to expect along the way and when we get there.

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The views from the first train

More views from first train

Changing trains at Klein Scheidegg

We were never that cold.  It was much colder in Paris.

View from intermediate station and glaciers

Jungfraujoch is Europe's highest altitude railway at 3454 meters above sea level.   The train runs partly through a tunnel hewn out of rock, where two intermediate stations have breathtaking views from the middle of the Eiger North Wall and over the glaciers. 

Once we arrived at the Jungfraujoch station, we followed signs that said "Tour" to take us through all the "attractions" on the Jungfrau. 

We finally arrived at the top.  Follow the signs that say "Tour" they told us.

First we walked out on a big deck to see the "Sphinx" vantage terrace at 3571 meters above sea level.

The views were amazing, but the place has been "Disneyfied" with lots of attractions.  When we first arrived, it was early so not too crowded.  By 12:30 or so, the place was hopping with people from all over the world.  And it's early in the season, so I can imagine what it would be like in another month.  The information I read about said that in high season, up to 5,000 people visit per day. 

They have five restuarants and a bar.

They sold watches too.

You can experience the history of building the railway.  That is quite a story too.

The ice cave was really cold.  The floor was ice, but too cold to be slippery.

The only time we were cold was in the ice cave.

Lots of carvings in the ice cave. 

In the ice cave-posing booth.

Seriously Disneyfied.

After the ice cave, we went outside to warm up.  Yes, it was warm outside.  We had to take off our jackets.  The next area we went to was the "Plateau".  Basically it's an area you can walk outside in the snow overlooking the alps.

Walking out on the plateau was a little tricky to get the hang of walking on snow with sneakers.

We walked to the top of the plateau.

Great view from the plateau too

It was warm (relatively).  People were in their T-shirts.

Dan's having fun

lunch

We took a walk on a snow-covered path.  With the altitude and the snow, it was really difficult to see even with sunglasses.  Dan took off his sunglasses for a photo and had to put them back on.  You really can't open your eyes without shades.

 I felt a little dizzy at times because of the altitude.  But, not bad.  Could still hike.

There was another area where we could take a hike.

Kept the shades on.

Time to return.

The alpine villages are beautiful. 

Back to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Lots more to do.  Grindelwald First will be tomorrow.   More on that in the next blog entry.