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jungfrau excursion???

Forgive my spelling...but, How does one find info on this on-line? Do we buy tickets in advance? We will be in Wengen and want to take this trip b/c we heard it is great. Thanks.

Go to www.google.com, type in "jungfrau" in the search box, and you get a list of websites that have info about the area, including a company that has tour packages at http://www.jungfrautours.ch/ Good luck! Karen

http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/english/pages/RE/RE_AgJh.htm ist the link to the Jungfraujoch. Have a nice stay in Switzerland.

Hi Rob, We did this trip in August last year and just turned up to the railway station in Interlaken the day before and purchased tickets. There was no problem with availability. We left at around 8am from Interlaken and came back down at around 3.30 pm. I think you do need to set aside the whole day for it as it was around 1.5 hours each way, though less of course from Wengen. One good thing we found in doing the trip from Interlaken is that we could go up via Wengen and down via Grindelwald which was fun. You are right, it is a great trip!

Trains from Wengen to Jungfraujoch run hourly or so. You have to change trains once, at Kleine Scheidegg. You don't have to buy the ticket in advance, you can buy it at the counter before the departure. The trip will be quite expensive, so if you're doing further trips by public transport consider about buying a discount pass. If you have any other questions you can contact me.

The trip to the Jungfraujoch is indeed a memorable, if expensive, excursion. I have done it once, and backed off of it twice because of the weather. If the day is cloudy, there is little point in going because you can see virtually nothing. The trip from Wengen is relatively short. You take the Wegeneralp Bahn to Kleine Scheidegg (little mountain pass literally translated) where you switch to a train that can handle the steep gradient up to the station below the observation tower, called the Sphinx. The altitude gain is relatively severe, and the train stops twice for viewing through holes cut into the side of the mountain so that you can acclimate a little. The trip is relatively pricey, but only the last leg from Kleine Scheidegg is the the one that really runs the cost up. Before you dash out and sink your money in a pass, you must figure out if it will pay you to do it. There are essentially two passes to consider. One is the Swiss Card, available over Internet or at the Zurich airport station and other entry points. Oddly enough, you cannot buy the Swiss Card in Bern, even though passengers coming in from Paris change trains in Bern for Interlaken Ost and the area around Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The Swiss Card gives 50% off of virtually everything, plus a free ride in and out of your destination city. The other pass is the Berner Oberland Regional Pass. I figured up that you can take the 4 most expensive rides in the area and about break even. That is, the cost of purchasing the pass and paying for part of the rides will equal what the rides would cost with no pass. The four biggies are: the gondola from Grindelwald to First, Wilderswil to Schnyige Platte, Stechelberg to the top of the Schilthorn, and the Jungfraujoch excursion. With the regional pass, you pay half of the cost of the final leg of the Schilthorn trip and the Jungfrau trip. Everything else on a free day (of which you get 3 with the 7 day pass) is at no added expense. One of the risks that you run when you take a mountain vacation trip is the weather. We have had good days and bad in the Berner Oberland, but after 4 trips, I think we have experienced about half very cloudy days and less than half very clear ones. The remainder were so so, some clear sky and some heavy clouds. The weather is a gamble, and you go there hoping for the best.

Rob, Totally agree that you should not buy tickets in advance. We stayed in Grindelwald and stopped at the tourist office each morning. Finally, a clear day was predicted and we went to the train station and purchased tickets that morning. What a beautiful trip. The view is breathtaking. Have fun.

No one has mentioned warm clothing. We took the Jungfrau trip in July (years ago, with our children). We didn't want to carry heavy coats around Europe for three weeks just for this one day, so we layered everything we had, ending with jackets. We mostly wore tennis shoes. We were warm enough except for our feet--they were frozen most of the time at the top of the mountain. I'll never forget seeing a group of Japanese tourists (women) in open-toed shoes walking out in 3-4 inches of show to one view spot. We were better off than they were. It was cold even "indoors."

I am planning on being in the area next July for about 5 days. Is the weather as unpredictable then? Is there a lot of snow on the ground then? Hiking boots or tennis shoes?

Comfortable hiking boots are a good bet year round.

For Chuck. If you go to the Jungfraujoch, you will find snow because the observation building is above the snowline. The wind is often a factor as well. If you plan to venture outside of the building, you will need good footgear and clothing to meet the conditions. No open toed stuff!! One of the dramatic highlights of the visit is to walk the snow trail (groomed) to the hikers' shelter on the flank of the Mönch. The hut is known as the Mönchsjochhütte to the locals. It is a large dormitory for hikers and holds about 125 people. Food and drink are available. I think any type of warm footgear is essential. Boots with lug soles are best. I had my hiking poles as well, but poles without a snow basket are not much good on the snow track. One word of caution, if you are on the lee side of the ridge, the wind is relatively calm most of the time. But as soon as you walk out of the shelter of the ridge, the wind can be whistling at 30 to 40 knots. The wind chill effect is considerable. I did not mention warm clothes because I assumed people would know that at 11,000 feet the temperatures can be quite cold!! There is year round snow up there!! One other suggestion. Go early in the day, and unless your schedule is locked in, avoid Saturday and Sunday. The place gets crowded on sunny Sundays.