Pilatus or Jungfrau
 

Hi, If you had to decide between one night in either lucern/day trip to pilatus or Interlaken/Jungfrau. what would it be?

I will be traveling feb. I will be in arosa the other 4 days.

I have One day available what would be the nicest must sees not to miss. I am flying in to zurich

thank YOu

sarah

Well the trip up to the Jungfrau and the views from there are more exciting. But - and we were there in June - the top is often fogged or snowed in - and then you can see nothing. Pilatus is lower - and the views great - but the whole process is shorter - less exciting - but lower means it's less likely to be fogged/snowed in.

Having only one day to do either is quite risky. We have been to Lucerne and Interlaken several times and it seems to me Jungfrau was fogged in about 1/2 the time - Pilatus somewhat less so. I wouldn;t go unless you have alternate plans if the weather doesn;t cooperate - or if you're training from Zurich check the weather before you leave.

The Jungfrau is a very expensive trip:
172.60 chf, or about $145 undiscounted.
The risk with both of them is poor visibility.
Clouds look the same regardless of altitude. I guess at either peak you can stand on snow and look at them.

When are you going? I am not sure I want either of them in Feb or March when the temperature outside is -30 F or more with the windchill.
Granted at the Jungfrau you don't have to go outside, but you have to be outside at Kleine Scheidegg to change trains.

Just FYI, Pilatus in Winter can be done only by the ropeways from & to Kriens. The cog wheel train should be closed till April. I imagine it would quite cold in those small cabines (that you may not mind after staying in Arosa). Jungfrau trains are heated. I hope you will have a great wheather. Last week, I enjoyed walking-sledging down Kleinescheidegg to Wengen on the sunny route where coldness was not a problem.

-30 F!!! I have been researching both excursions for our trip this March and for some reason, this information has escaped me. We have some flexibility in our schedule to account for the possibility of fog/bad weather, but...I will need to read more as that's incredibly cold, especially for someone from CA.

I've been to Kleine Scheidegg (several times)and the Jungfraujoch (once) in March, and it's hard for me to imagine that the temperature at either location gets to minus 30 F. Kleine Scheidegg in March is usually a pretty good place to sit outside with a Rugenbrau and soak up a little sun. I'm not saying it hasn't been that cold ever, but I would say that something closer to plus 30 F is more the norm for a daytime high that time of year. Up on the Jungfraujoch, of course, it's much colder - I recall it being about plus 12 F, and blowing a near gale, when I was there.

If you're not prepared for cold temps do not do the Junfraujoch. We did it in July - and while it was in the high 70's in Interlaken it was below freezing at the top (they run a ski school all summer). Even inside it was in the 40's. And a lot of the things there are to do - ice sculptures, sled dog ride - etc definitely require warm clothing.

Pilatus is much lower - and the temp difference vs Lucerne was not so great - but in the winter I can guarantee it's well below freezing.

I mean, after all - this is midwinter in the Alps - how warm did you think it would be,.

The temperature would not make me reconsider going to either place, I will just have to rethink what I will pack.

Of course I expected it to be cold, I just have never actually experienced temps that much below zero.

Sorry to muddy the waters, but if you are in Lucerne and it's a nice day, I suggest taking the lake boat to Vitznau and the train to the top of the Rigi.

The Jungfraujoch is more spectacular as an engineering feat than for its view, in my opinion.