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JUNGFRAUJOCH
Scenic Rail Ride to Top of Alps - Eiger and the Jungfrau

Okay, who would think to put a window halfway up the shear rocky cliff face of a mountain? How did it get there and who are those people looking out. In the 1975 movie, the Eiger Sanction, a final mountain climbing sequence with Clint Eastwood hanging from the notorious north face of the Eiger is rescued from holes in the mountain. The holes were left from tunnels of the Jungfrau rail line dug through mighty mountain, and the people looking out the window are you - if you take the scenic train ride on the Jungfrau Bahn. Walt Disney built a roller coaster through a fake mountain for his Matterhorn at Disneyland, but the Jungfrau rail line in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland is a railroad through a real Alps mountain, a cogwheel rack railway to the Jungfraujoch, billed as the highest railway station in Europe.

The Jungfrau (maiden), the Mönch and Eiger are three peaks joined in one mountain ridge massif of the Berner Oberland Alps south of Interlaken. The snow covered Jungfrau peak can easily be seen from the center of Interlaken with its grand age hotels looking through a cut in the valley, framed in the sunlight through the crags. The Eiger and Monch stand majestically above the village of Grindelwald. A journey by rail takes over a half million visitors a year from the Interlaken Ost rail station to Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald connecting to the train to Klein Sheidegg, then on the Jungfrau Bahn to the the Jungfraujoch rail station with its veiws of the eternal snowy peaks and the Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland’s longest glacier.

Conceived by German engineer and industrial visionary Adolf Guyer-Zeller, begun in 1894 and completed in 1912, the Jungfrau Bahn Railway line travels for most of its length entirely inside the mountain, mostly through the Monch and Eiger, before reaching its terminus below the spitz peak between the Eiger and Jungfrau called “The Sphinx”. The Jungfraubahn railway, a Unesco World Heritage site for its engineering feat, climbs on a cog assisted track from the station at Kleine Scheidegg for about a mile before entering the mountain and then completely inside the rock to the Jungfraujoch station at 11,333 feet altitude. The train makes two stops inside the mountain, only on the way up, for about five minutes at each station. The Eigernordwand station offers a chance to look out the face of the Eiger mountain through thick observation windows at snowy rockey crags. Further on is the Eismeer railway station looking out on the Schreckhorn peak. On the train journey through the tunnels - since there isn’t a lot of actual scenery - a film program of the history of the railway and mountain climbers plays on tv screens in the rail cars.

Arriving at the Jungfraujoch station, visitors with directionally disoriented confused faces follow signs through constant temperature rock tunnels to a couple of destinations. At one end, an elevator goes up to the Sphinx. A viewing platform below the Sphinx observatory dome and atmosphere research center looks out on the glacial snows and high alps vistas, ideal for obligatory photo taking against mountain backdrops. Another tunnel leads to the Ice Palace, a collection of eternally frozen sculpted ice animals, a “sculpture garden”in a grotto of colorfully lit ice caves. At the other end of the complex is the "Top of Europe" Glacier Restaurant for sit down dining where the mountain views can be enjoyed from the warm comfort of indoors. There is also a snack bar, as well as the gift shop with lots of branded clothing items and souvenirs, and a small historical museum display upstairs. Another level allows you to step outside onto the plateau for a snowy walkabout and view of the Sphinx. Snow is guaranteed through the year. In the summer, Husky pulled Dog Sled rides are offered and snow boarding and snow disks at the snow park. Other than summer the weather outside can change rapidly, a little more brutal, if you want to experience a blizzard at 9500 meters, but when the sun is out and the weather clear the views can be stunning, otherwise enjoy from the comfort of the restaurant.

Plan on a minimum 3 hours for a trip to the Jungfraujoch from Interlaken and back, though a good half a day is more leasurely. The trip may be crowded with tourist groups (Japanese tour companies love the Jungfrau). The tour groups usually have their own reserved rail car, but the elevators can get a little crowded. It is possible to stop along the way at Lauterbrunnen or Kleine Sheidegg with its curiously out of place giant American Indian Tee-Pee bar restaurant. There is also a hotel at Kleine Sheidegg. A ticket for the Jungfraujoch includes the connections needed from Interlaken and you can take one route up through Lauterbrunnen on one leg and through Grindelwald on another leg. You could also combine the Jungfrau Bahn scenic rail ride with the aerial cable ride to the Schilthorn mountain top revolving restaurant, the one made famous from the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (see Schilthorn Piz Gloria). Its possible to do both in one day if one had the desire, through separate days would be better if you have more time. These scenic trips are not cheap, but a memorable experience and are half-price if you have a Swiss Pass (see Swiss Rail Pass Value). © Bargain Travel Europe

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SEE ALSO:

INTERLAKEN PARAGLIDING
Sky Soaring Thrills in Switzerland

KLEIN MATTERHORN CABLE CAR
Breathless Alps Mountain Views

SWISS CHOCOLATE TRAIN
A Sweet Ride from Montreux to Gruyères

SHERLOCK HOLMES MUSEUM - MEIRINGEN
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Reichenbach Falls

MOUNT PILATUS
Scenic Cog Railway and Aerial Cable to Mountain Top Hotels

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