Well the day started out overcast and rainy, but we had hope that it would clear up. We left on the first of 4 trains to make our way to Jungfrajoch. Our first train took us to Interlaken (means “between lakes”) which is situated on a river/channel connecting two lakes. The train ride swept along a bank on one side of the 1st lake, giving us great views over the lake and the mountains behind.
Our 2nd train took us from Interlaken Ost, to Laturbrunnen, this time alongside a river flowing down through the valley. At Laturbrunnen, we changed onto a 3rd train to start our ascent. This train was propelled upwards by the use of a gear track running in between the normal rail tracks, and the engine car dragged the train up the mountain (all powered electrically). This train offered us some spectacular views over the valley below before we disappeared into the mist and clouds.
Finally at Kleine Scheidegg, we changed onto our 4th train for the journey to Jungfrajoch – Europe’s Highest Train Station. Most of this journey would take part in a long tunnel through the mountains, with two stops along the way, so we could peer out windows in the side of the mountain side.
Upon reaching the top, we were greeted by views of …. nothing, as it was cloudy and snowing (one might possibly say sometimes it was a small blizzard). It was -6*C outside with a wind speed of about 35km/h. For those of you who want to know what it looked like, here’s a 360 I took on the Plateau –
We walked around the rest of the visitors centre at the top (a large complex of tunnels under the mountatin, which includes 2 cafes/restaurants, a hotel and observatory), visited their ice palace which is actually carved into the glacier itself, found some great free Wifi access (work better than the Internet at the hotel in Bern, which we’re paying for. Why is it I can get a great internet connection 3500mtrs up a mountain, but my hotel in central Bern is not free and doesn’t work as well….) and had some yummy vegetable soup for lunch. After a couple hours, with no sign of the clouds clearing, we decided to call it a day and begin the long journey back down. We were disappointed that we didn’t get to see the spectacular views, but the train trip down (and up) was worth it, with some great photo opportunities, and we’ve both put this destination on our “to see” list for next time we come to Switzerland.
On our way back we were greeted with some sunshine, so took a couple more photos, before finally arriving back in Bern ready for some dinner and bed. Looking forward to visiting Geneva tomorrow, as it’s suppose to be sunny weather (hopefully)
Cheerio, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Ciao, Chau
Funnily enough, this is the same view we had from Mount Pilatus in Switzerland!