<<dugi - So was the Jungfraujoch worth it?>>

Yes it was and it looked like this!

https://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...&hsimp=yhs-001

neckervd: "The particularity of Jungfraujoch is that it is considered as a bit of Canton Berne despite the fact that neither the railway station nor the restaurant or the Sphinx observatory are in the Canton of Berne."

That's really very interesting. I'm sure most people don't know that.

Years ago we opted for the Schilthorn because much of the Jungfraujoch train is in the mountain and I'd rather see the three mountains than be in the fog on top of one.

The ride up the Schilthorn is spectacular and in a cable car. The view is also amazing. You're directly facing the Jungfrau.

Myer, It's funny but I was not impressed with Schiltorn mainly because it was just a view. I loved Schnigge Platte because there was so much land up there to walk around in plus the views. And the ride up was much more spectacular than the one to the Schiltorn. Amazing. Well, that's my opinion!

Myer, It's funny but I was not impressed with Schiltorn mainly because it was just a view. I loved Schnigge Platte because there was so much land up there to walk around in plus the views. And the ride up was much more spectacular than the one to the Schiltorn. Amazing. Well, that's my opinion!

I liked the Schilthorn and Piz Gloria - in part because I have seen the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service so many times and much of it was shot here when Piz Gloria, the revolving restaurant was being constructed - but it also lacks the overhwelming crowds of the Jungfrau and has similar ice grottoes and a viewing platform (the heliocoptor landing place in the Bonds' film) that is really out in the middle of nowhere - so so remote.

If you liked Schynige Platte better than Schilthorn, then you should probably skip Jungfraujoch. Frankly, for me the highlight of the ride up to Jungfraujoch is the part Lauterbrunnen - Kleine Scheidegg. From there on it's mostly in the tunnel - no views, rather clautstrophic (with crowded cars in particular!) The ice grotto/sculptures are not more exciting than on Kleinmatterhorn or Titlis. And a walk on the glacier ... well, it's not more spectacular than on the other glaciers elsewhere. I liked the walk to Mönchsjoch hut, which has a spectacular setting, but it's quite long with about 2 hours round trip.

We did this in the spur of the moment on a glorious sunny day after the hike from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg, always the gorgeous view in front of us (Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains). It was still a bit cheaper back then (1998 if I recall correctly), inflation included, and I still think it was not worth the money. But in the end everyone must decide for their own.

"I was not impressed with Schiltorn mainly because it was just a view. I loved Schnigge Platte because there was so much land up there to walk around in plus the views. And the ride up was much more spectacular than the one to the Schiltorn. Amazing. Well, that's my opinion!"

That's my opinion too!
May be you would be more impressed by places like
Gornergrat
Montenvers
Ni d'Aigle
Lake Emosson
Bernina Divolezza
Murtel - Fuorcla Surlej
etc.
BTW: Good hikers hike from Schilthorn to Rote Herd - Tellipass - Gspaltenhorn Hut or Griesalp.......
or just down to Murren.

neckervd - We will be in Interlaken which is two hours from Zermatt by train and will definitely look into Gornergrat. We are not good hikers. Just casual ones.

Pal - We've seen that movie too and so yes, it's fun being up there when you know that's where it took place. But otherwise, not entranced.

Ingo - How long and difficult is the hike from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg?
BTW - Thank you for all your Dresden information. We loved Dresden. We were there last Feb. and it was actually in the 40s, which was warner than here in NYC.

Maennlichen - Kleine Scheidegg:
Large 5kms/3 miles long panoramic trail, all more or less at the same altitude. Very popular with Swiss families with kids, strollers, dogs, etc. as well as with elderly people with knee problems or so who are no longer able to do somewhat strenous hikes.

Yes that Ridge Walk Mannlichen- Kl. Scheidegg is the easiest and one of the most awesome in Switzerland! Take a gondola up to The Mannlichen from Wengen or Grindelwald and trains back down to either from Kl. Scheidegg.

So is it about a 2 hour walk?

Depends on how fast you walk of course - 3 miles on a flat trail could be two hours at a slow pace - quicker at a normal walking pace. It is slightly uphill from The Mannlichen to Kl. Scheidegg I believe.

indy_dad has an excellent description of the Walk Mannlichen- Kl. Scheidegg in his blog linked to his trip report. See day 3.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-oberland.cfm

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07...en-hiking.html

"Today was to be an easy day. We did the arguably most popular walk due to its high views/effort ratio and left the afternoon free for some, um, Extreme (for us) Sports.

We took the gondola from Wengen up to Mannlichen and then took the easy, slightly downhill, stroll (#33) to Kleine Scheidegg (much easier than walking up from Wengen!). From KS, we road down to Grindewald and then took the gondola up to First/Bort for some fun."

"The walk was easy and the views as promised. 3.3 miles, downhill as shown above, in about 90 minutes with plenty of photo stops. "

I'd say 2 hours is a good estimate (many photo stops). Unlike Pal believes, it is all in all slightly downhill from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg :-)

However, I would first make the short detour up to Männlichen summit for the best views before starting this hike. Adds maybe another 15 minutes plus time for taking photos/enjoying the views.

It is better to do the Männlichen walk going towards the Kleine Scheidegg because of the tremendous views of the Eiger, Mönch und Jungfrau.

All - Great information.

right - it's slightly downhill from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg - about 850 feet in altitude drop spread over 3.3 miles. On a bike you could probqably never have to pedal!

I went up to jungfraujoch my first trip to switz. and most of the time i was wishing i could get out and hike.

took me 30 years to get back to do the mannlichen - kleine scheidegg hike, and oh, was that lovely.

I think the sled dogs at Jungfraujoch are now gone I emailed the staff because my kids were interested. But they say the dog sledding is gone.

Dianedancer - seems you got lots of good advice already on pros/cons but one more thing I would mention from my experience is that you will enjoy it MUCH more if you can manage to go early as possible in the morning before many tour groups/others arrive. We love the region and visited three summers in a row exploring various areas - the two visits we didn't do the Jungfrau trip due to a combination of weather and wondering similar to you whether it would be worth it (plus we had young kids). We finally decided to go last summer (kids were 4 & 6) and took the first morning train up from Wengen as we were staying there. We were really happy that we went as it was a very different experience than anything else we had done in the region. First, you get to make a quick stop at a station on the way to the top and look out the side of the mountain which I found very interesting. When you get to the top my first impression was "oh boy, here is the touristy gift/watch shop" but then once we got past that and were able to go out onto the observation platform and take in a very different view of the mountain range and snowy terrain, it was quite fascinating (and very cold/windy). Then we enjoyed walking through the exhibits and the ice sculptures/caves and finally walking out on the snow where they have a small sledding hill set up. There were a number of people but it was not crowded at all. HOWEVER, by the time we finished wandering around through the exhibits and outside (which took maybe 1.5 hours in total)and came back into the main visitor center area, there were hordes more people and it quickly became much less fun and I had to keep tight control of my kids due to masses of tour groups so we were really happy to be leaving by that point. I am quite confident that if I had to sit in a crowded train all the way up and fight the crowds at the top, it would have been a far less enjoyable experience for me but admittedly, I have very low tolerance for crowds.

BTW, we took our kids and my mom (65 years) on the walk from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg (KS) and we all loved it. Took us about 2 hours with a 4 year old. Although it is a busy trail, it is nice and wide and the views are glorious. It's pretty much flat/downhill towards KS until the last bit where you go up a slight incline just before you head down to KS.

The only time I was up there, a young boy threw up in the train on the way down. There was no way to escape the smell until I found some perfume in my purse and put it under my nose. It was a long ride down.

NorCal and kleeblatt - When did you go? We will be there in the third week of September. Figure there won't be many children. So maybe we would only have to worry about the adults throwing up ; )

Not sure about leaving really early as we will be with another couple and I doubt highly that they would be up for a 6:30AM trip. I wonder truly if we would!

We were there much later but the train was pretty packed. This was many years ago (8?) and we went in October. The third week of September should be a good time to be in Switzerland. The views are crystal clear, the cows are coming down from the alps and there are many local festivals going on.

Updating...having done both the Schilthorn and Jungfrau 2 years ago, my vote goes to Aiguille Du Midi near Chamonix France. DH preferred Schilthorn over Jungfrau.