Switzerland Jungfraujoch

Mia waiting to board the train to Jungfraujoch

Time for a ride on the highest train in Europe.  The Swiss don't see mountains as a problem with getting where they want to go.  Want to get somewhere, go through the mountains and up.  So they built the train to Jungfraujoch through the Eiger mountain side. 

We gradually ascended taking several trains, frist the train from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg (2061m), had a coffee/tea stop and then the next train up to the Eiger Gletchser (2320m) where there is a very close view of the Glacier. It has receded 20m per year over the last thirty years and is now up the wall above the station instead of below it. Markers showed the rapid retreat of the Glacier.

Then into the mountain.  A full size train travels 6 km inside the mountain.  It makes stops to look out through windows.  Very strange but spectacular.  The first stop is at Eigerwand (2865m) where you look out of the north face of the mountain, down into the Grindelwald valley and out over to Interlaken.  The next halt at Eismeer (3160m) looks out over the the glacier. Then on up to the Jungfraujoch (in the saddle between the Jungfrau and Monch) where they have built an amazing multi level complex with 5 restauarant, shops, train station, tunnels everywhere and all at 3454m.

We rugged up as it was around 0 degrees and a little windy. Then outside to see the amazing panorama of the Jungfrau and  Monch, the valley floor on one side and the galcier on the other.

Next the Ice Palace. Ice sculptures in tunnels that are refrigerated by heat pump. (The whole of the Jungfraujoch complex is naturally heated and/or uses heat pumps). Lots of fun. Strangely the icy floor was not that slippery.

Out again for snow play. Ellie and Dave went in the highest flying fox in Europe. A little pricey for a 20 seconds ride but how could they resist. Jenny, Joel and Mia went tobogganing on all sorts of toboggans - flat ones, ride on ones, plastic bike ones and a tube park too.  George and Kathy had a stroll on the galcier path.

By then we were all exhausted so we retraced our steps on the train back to our apartment, where we enjoyed the view of the mountains above us we had just been up.

It was so amazing to be somewhere so high but so accessible.  

Looking out of the mountain through windows

The panorama

The Ice Palace