Jopudding

Will need some advice on the following:

We will be coming from milan to switzerland. We plan to visit Jungfrau and is not sure where exactly we should stay so as to enable us to get to Jungfrau with shorter travelling time. I have plan to stay in Interlaken as i understand that Interlaken is a very central location to alot of places. However, some others have recommended other small villages/towns as interlaken is too commercialised. Our plan for the trip is as follows:

29 dec: Depart from milan to Switzerland in the morning. Estimated time of arrivial: 2j-4pm
join the night sledding trip that departs at 6pm.
30 dec: day trip to jungfrau
31 dec: free & easy in the village/town

Pls advise which town/village is a good place to stay in.
We understand train travelling in switzerland is very costly, we are not sure if we should get the swiss half pass as we only intend to be in switzerland for 3 days. But the half pass will reduce the jungfrau tickets by half. Or should we join a day tour to jungfrau?


Thanks alot.

Myer

I would probably stay in Interlaken but would consider going up the Schilthorn instead where you get a great view of all three mountains.

scatcat

I have stayed in Wengen three times. It is a small car-free village right in the tops of mountains. It is on the route to Jungfrau. Your hotel staff will advise you if the weather is clear to go up. If it is not clear, don't waste your money. It is expensive. I think it was 102 CH per person with only a 25% off with a Swiss Pass. The Schilthorn was beautiful also, and I went there when it was not clear.

Jopudding

Coming from Milan, is it inconvenient If we were to travel to wegen. Esp with a luggage in tow. Also, on the last day of our stay in Swiss, we will have to depart to Zurich airport.

swandav2000

Hi Jopudding,

Are you departing for Zürich late in the day on 31 Dec or on 1 Jan? If you have three nights, it is feasable to spend your time in Wengen, a really lovely spot. If you only have two nights, you may find Thun to be a more convenient base. Staying in Thun would require fewer train changes from Milan, and it's only about 1h20 from Zürich (a few trains are direct, requiring no changes).

Have fun!

s

swandav2000

Sorry, forgot to ask --

Do you already know about the Swiss rail site? You can use it to find the entire schedule of the train system (including from Milan) and the number of times you'll have to change trains. It's at

www.rail.ch

s

Melnq8

Why is it inconvenient? You'll be arriving in Interlaken at some point and all you'll need to do is switch trains. If luggage is a major deal, maybe consider leaving your luggage in a locker at the Interlaken train station.

Wengen or Grindelwald are the closest towns to the Jungfrau. Between the two, Wengen would be my choice. Or even Lauterbrunnen, which is a short train ride from Wengen. Lauterbrunnen is a tranportation hub of sorts and a good place to access many places within the BO.

Getting from Interlaken to Wengen is easy, even with luggage...just make sure you sit on the right end of the train, as the train splits at Zweilütschinen - - part goes to Grindelwald, part to Lauterbrunnen. The carriages are well marked, so it's hard to mess up.

swandav2000

Hi again,

I just checked the rail site, and there are a few trains daily from Milan to Thun that are direct and require 0 changes.

Trains from Milan to Wengen require 3 to 4 changes.

s

PalenQ

Great sites for info on Swiss trains, passes, Half-Fare Cards (which cost about $130 to start and then you get half off so it may not pay for your plans) - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com - if checking pass prices check prices both in US dollars and same pass bought in Switzerland in Swiss francs as there can be differences depending on exchange rates. You probably are best just buying tickets as you go - you can get an Early Bird Special on the Jungfraujoch train if you want to leave Interlaken or above town at an oscenely early time but can return on any train I believe.

P_M

You said on the 30th you are going to the Jungfrau and the next day will be an easy day. That's an OK plan if the weather is good on the 30th but be sure to check the forecast first. If you find the weather will be more favorable on the 31st then do the Jungfrau that day. The Jungfrau is very expansive and not worth doing if there is no visibility.

I enjoyed the Shilthorn but I thought it paled in comparison with the Jungfrau. JMO, some will disagree

thomo7

I don't know anything about staying in Interlaken, but went to Jungfraujoch about 3 weeks ago. We were planning to stay in Murren but a lot of places were closed as it's 'maintenance' time for a lot of places I think, so we ended up staying in Lauterbrunnen. It was lovely. We found relatively cheap hostel accommodation and did the Jungfrau trip the next day. The lady at the hostel said the weather was expected to be good and because it wasn't too busy we didn't need to buy out tickets in advance. We (family of 2 adults and 2 children under 13) bought the early pass up(before 7am and taking the midday return train down) which was 138 chf(?) each and (as the hostel owner had suggested, as did a few fodorites!) junior passes for the children which meant that they were 30chf each instead of 66 chf.
It was a fantastic day (albeit with a bit of light headedness from the change in altitude) but fantastic views. We can't complare to Schilthorn as we didn't get there this time.
We also took the hiking path from Klein Schidigg downhill to Wengenalp station and picked up the train for the rest of the return trip. The next day we had an easy day with a walk from Lauterbrunnen right along the valley to Trummelbach falls. (We didn't go in to the falls as we didn't want to pay to go in and we had enjoyed the beautiful scenery all along the valley anyway!
don't know if thats any help but have a great trip...

nytraveler

You can pay to ascend the Jungfrau any day you want - but on many days it will be a wasted effort. Unless the weather is clear at the top of the mountains ( and it can be covered by clouds several days in a row) you will see very little either on the way up or from the top. You have to allow several days - it took us 3 - in Interlaken to make this worthwhile. In the meantime we explored a lot of other towns/lakes nearby - but that was in May - not winter.

Also be aware that it is much colder at the top of the mountain - and anyone who has any sort of lung problem - or who has ever smoked - is likely to be very uncomfortable up there - since there is much less oxygen in the air. I was a little lightheaded, but we had a snack in the restaurant and then felt better and toured the area. But some people who came up with us on the train went right back down again, since they could't catch their breath - or were very dizzy.

Irishwhistler90

My grandmother and I did the Jungfraujoch trip in May this year and we had to wait two days before the weather was any good. The day we arrived it was very overcast, the next day it was overcast and raining, then the day after that was an absolute stunner! On the rainy day we went on a boat cruise on Lake Thun, explored Thun's old town and castle etc. On our Jungfrau day we did that until lunchtime then caught the train to Brienz and explored the open-air museum "Ballenburg" for the remainder of the afternoon. The scenery was gorgeous! Make sure you do a full circle trip for the Jungfrau, so that you can admire the beautiful scenery of both valleys. We were staying in Grindelwald.

PalenQ

Irishwhistler reminds us that anyone planning to do the Jungfraujoch train should hop on it whenever the weather is fine as it may not be on more than a few days. Do not put it off if the sun is out! May be your last chance.

Jopudding

Do u guys think that we have time on our way to Jungfrau or back on our way down to stopby wengen? Read alot abt it being a very beautiful quaint carfree village! Or should we go the next day as a seperate day trip from Interlaken? How much time do we need in Wengen?

PalenQ

Wengen is a small village known more for its stupendous location and not for anyone in particular to see. An hour will be more than enough for most folks IMO.

Melnq8

If you get an early start, you should have plenty of time to visit Wengen on the return. Just keep in mind that it gets dark pretty early in December.

There are some wonderful walks in/around Wengen. I could spend days there and not run out of things to do, regardless of time of year. If you just want to poke around a bit and see the place though, you won't need a huge amount of time. If you want to take the Mannlichen cable car (assuming it's open) you'd be better allocating a full day to Wengen/surrounds.

PalenQ

In any case I would not make a special day trip to Wengen itself - perhaps there to do some of the walks or Mannlichen lift Melnq8 talks about but the village has little of special interest to warrant a whole day trip there but yes could be a swell day doing excursions from it by foot or lift or train or combo of all.

Jopudding

If we buy a round trip ticket to jungfrau, are we able to getoff at Wengen on our way back for a short walk before heading back to Interlaken. Will there be additional train fares?

PalenQ

Usually tickets in Switzerland IME allow for you to break your journey at any place but I would ask about this when buying your ticket. Anyway I think the components added up if you say have to buy a Jungfraujoch to Wengen ticket and then Wengen to Interlaken would be the same as buying a round trip ticket but not sure. Please let me know when you find out for sure.

I also believe that with a return ticket to Junfraujoch you can either go via Wengen or Grindelwald for the same price and some go up one way and down the other. I would suggest doing this as the Grindelwald amphitheater is very different from the view of the Lauterbrunnen Valley you see going up thru Wengen. And Grindelwald offers even many more hiking/walking possibilities right from town - short easy ones than Wengen I would suggest. And Grindelwald is a lovely town to traipse around in - much bigger than Wengen and to me at least more interesting and again rave rave views from anywhere in town.