Jungfraujoch: Journey to the Roof of Europe

Originating in Interlaken, Switzerland, it’s called "A journey to the Top of Europe." The cogwheel-driven Jungfraubahnen trains drag themselves up the flanks of the Eiger, the Monch and Jungfrau, then tunnel through the hard rock underneath the snow and ice. From the ski-resort terminal at Kleine Scheidegg to the observatory at Jungfraujoch is 9.3 kilometers; barely two km. are above ground.

Twice en route -- first under the Eiger’s North Face and again overlooking a massive glacier on the Monch -- trains stop at lookout galleries for sheltered views outside. From the terminal, 3,454 meters (11,293 feet) above sea level, high-speed elevators lead to a visitors’ center with multiple restaurants, an observatory deck and research station, and access to the snowfields.

Deep inside the glacier, a multi-chambered Ice Palace, filled with whimsical sculptures, awaits your (careful) exploration.

Forming a land bridge between the ThunerSee and BrienzerSee, and directly under the gaze of three of Europe’s most impressive mountain peaks, Interlaken is a pleasant, likeable resort community despite the summer tourist onslaught. From it, a network of mountain railroads weave their way upward to the skier’s paradise of Scheidegg Pass. Interlaken would be a worthwhile destination even without the Jungfraujoch excursion.

Quick Tips:

There’s a very helpful tourist information center at Interlaken Ost, with a very well-filled literature rack to help when it’s closed. There’s also a large hotel-selection display with a computerized map and direct telephone connections to a wide selection of hotels and hostels. (The majority of the hotels, and the best bus connections, are at, or closer to, the east end. Unless you’re sure of your destination, stay on the train if it stops first at Interlaken West.)

A weather warning to consider: Interlaken’s location makes it prone to rainy periods; sometimes a cell of bad weather gets trapped over the city and sits there for days. I suggest padding your schedule with an extra day or two just in case.

Getting to Interlaken is almost as much fun as actually being there. Some of the most scenic rail lines in Europe converge there and the famed Glacier Express route is only a few hours away. The "Panorama Express" route from Montreaux through Gstad and Spiez and along the shore of the ThunerSee is one I especially recommend. The "Golden Pass" over the mountains between the BrienzerSee and Lucerne is another gorgeous ride.

Best Way To Get Around:

Public transit buses run between the East and West railstations and to the residential communities along the eastern shores of the ThunerSee, but service shuts down after 9:00 pm. Rail service, including lines to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, continues until Midnight or later.

Recommended Reading: The book below provided much of my fascination for, and information on, the Jungfrau Railway.
Gurtner, Verena: Jungfrau Express . . . With the Jungfrau Railway up to the Glaciers. Published by Orell Fussli, Meringen, Switzerland, Edition 8, 1986.

This is a small (60 rooms, five stories) hotel by big-city standards but relatively large for Interlaken. It’s an easy 8-10 minute walk from the Interlaken Ost railstation and three blocks from the city’s municipal swimming pool and sports center.

The hotel is family-operated, so if the front-desk person is busy somewhere else you may have a wait to check in. Otherwise, service is prompt, pleasant and attentive. They treat you as a guest rather than as a customer. It’s a place for the basics: Clean, comfortable room, oversize bed with traditional northern European comforter, private bath and shower that -- surprise -- offers full water pressure. There’s a comfortable, invitingly furnished lobby and lounging area featuring live TV monitoring of weather conditions at Jungfraujoch and other popular sites. You’ll have to walk to the municipal sports center, at SWF 8/day, for a swim or workout.

Interlaken abounds with appealing-looking restaurants, but having a superb restaurant on-site was a huge plus the night the rains came.

The Hotel Interlaken is rated at four stars under the five-star Swiss tourism agency system -- more generous with its stars than some independent rating organizations might be. However, given the sky-high prices caused by a strong Swiss Franc and weak dollar, I considered it very good value for the money. The room lacked air-conditioning -- something only very expensive Swiss hotels have, I’m told -- but since my room had several windows facing west toward the prevailing wind, I had no trouble sleeping at night despite near-record daytime temperatures.

The huge Best Western chain seems to lease its name to any place that offers rooms for the night and accepts credit cards. Some properties that carry the name don’t deserve such world-wide brand recognition. This one DOES.

The Hotel Interlaken accepts American Express, Master Card, Diners Club and Eurocard brand credit cards and rates vary according to season. I wouldn’t hesitate to book here again.

The Garden Restaurant at Hotel Interlaken

Entered from the hotel lobby, The Garden appears as a small but fairly elegant dining room. From the street, it looks more like your typical outdoor restaurant.

This unassuming place was -- surprisingly -- a culinary highlight of my16-day European tour.

Fillet of Sole, cooked well-done as I’d requested, arrived in a hot skillet atop a heavy metal platter for maximum heat retention. The server skillfully filleted and boned the fish at tableside, setting one half on a plate in front of me and leaving the other in the still-hot skillet until I was ready for it. The fish was bereft of any vegetables or other garnish save for some flavorful boiled potatoes but, since I’d been served a generous salad, the omission wasn’t fatal.

Lamb chops, on the other hand, came with a plentiful bounty of steamed carrots, red and green peppers, an herb-encrusted baked tomato, and a sheaf of green beans wrapped in bacon. They, too, were served on a hot skillet and platter, to be plated at the table. The chops had an aromatic, but butter-free, herb coating and were, for lamb, surprisingly fat-free.

The Garden takes its name from the large, roofed patio used for al fresco dining, which faces an attractive (and quiet) Japanese garden. It’s not fancy, but it’s comfortable. And the service is, in a word, elegant. The server who bones your fish or carves your chops may or may not be the one you started with -- it’s whichever member of the team happens to be handy. This concept of "team service" isn’t new, but I wish more restaurants would practice it.

The Garden has a semi-formal indoor dining room with starched tablecloths, fine napery and silverware and other fine-dining amenities. I ate indoors the night the rains came, and enjoyed it, but the informal atmosphere outside served me just as well. Save for an especially obnoxious motorcycist or two, The Garden’s outdoor dining area was relatively well-sheltered from street noise.

The hotel also has a Chinese restaurant, Lotus. You can order from a full Chinese menu here, and have it served in The Garden, should you desire. Otherwise, the menu is mainly traditional Swiss/German. (This is the German-speaking section of the country, but not to worry. Dishes were described in German, English, French and Italian.)

Many reasonably-priced Swiss wines were available by the glass. Full bar service was available.

If The Garden at the Hotel Interlaken is at all convenient to your own hotel, I heartily recommend having at least one dinner there.

Also Recommended The Riverfront Buffet at Hotel du Lac, behind Interlaken Ost station. I had a superb dinner here in 2002, but weather kept me from returning (and reviewing it) in 2003. This is a buffet-only dining room with large picture windows overlooking the river that connects Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. If you’re willing to put dinner off until 7:30pm, when serving begins here, this would be another excellent choice.

After seeing huge avalanches wipe out everyhing in their path, backers gave up plans for a surface railway up the Jungfrau. But even with 19th-Century technology, the road could be built in tunnels. To make it affordable, they would build in stages --- each stage ending in a vistors’ gallery that would generate revenue while work went on further up.

For safety, the promoters also decided against reaching the summit, settling instead on a saddle-like formation between Jungfrau and the Monch. There, tourists could frolic relatively unsupervised, sheltered from the worst of the mountain winds and with room for restaurants and other amenities. And, they’d have a far more attractive view of the mountain than they would from the summit.

The Jungfraujoch adventure begins routinely enough: a conventional train with a boxy electric locomotive, gliding through Interlaken’s public-school campus before heading up a winding, narrow river valley crossed by antique bridges. The real mountain railroading begins at Lauterbrunnen, where we switch to smaller, narrow-gauge cars with a rack-and-cogwheel drive that can surmount grades of 20% or more. Which we do --- ascending sharply up the lower reaches of the Eiger/Monch/Jungfrau trio. Off to our right, a slender but amazingly high waterfall catches the eye. Its origin is nearly out of sight above; its foot several hundred feet below us. One wants to jump off the train and photograph it.

On the mountain’s lower reaches, below the tree line, flowery Alpine meadows dominate the landscape. However, the country quickly becomes more and more rugged. Clambering on uphill, around ridiculously sharp curves, we continue toward Kleine Scheidegg, another hotel community now recognized as an international skiers’ destination. Many ride the train to here, then walk down.

Another train change at Kleine Scheideg, to cars especially built for the final push into the mountains. Have your camera ready: We’ll go barely 2 kilometers before Eigergletscher Station --- last stop before the train goes underground. The train windows open, there’s a sharp curve to the right that will put the afternoon sun in just the right position, and the restaurant makes a marvelous photo against the mountain backdrop.

The trip from Kleine Scheidegg takes about 50 minutes, including five-minute photo stops at the two observation galleries en route. You’ll notice that the tunnels have no liner or other reinforcement; the rock underneath the glacial ice is so hard and dry that pick and chisel marks left more than a century ago are still there.

The first tourist station inside the mountain opened in 1903; trains reached Eismeer in 1905 and the present terminal in 1912. This is an expensive trip: 127 Francs (U.S. $92) with Eurailpass discount, but will likely be the highlight of your European vacation. Allow at least seven hours for the full round trip from Interlaken.

By the late 19th-century, Interlaken was already a major tourist attraction. On a fast-flowing river connecting two magnificent Alpine lakes, and focal point of an arc formed by the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountain peaks, it drew affluent visitors from as far as Tuscany and the Tyrol. Narrow-gauge, steam-powered railroads would haul them to posh resort hotels in the villages of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Wengen.

Now, Interlaken gets an estimated half-million visitors a year just for the train to Jungfraujoch. In midsummer, the crush of tourists at the two rail stations and along the main street can be maddening. However, if you know where to look, Interlaken can also be a place for tranquil riverside walks, mountain trail explorations, or a relaxing evening cruise on the ThunerSee or BrienzerSee; the latter free if you have a Swiss Pass or Eurailpass.

Accommodations range from the classic (and expensive) "Grand Hotels" to one- or two-star tourist inns, with a wide choice of mid-range three- and four-star hotels in between. Further out, youth hostels can be found. If your hotel doesn’t have a pool, you can use the large municipal swimming pool and sports center for 8 Swiss francs per day.

The main street, stretching about a mile and a half between the East and West rail stations, is lined with the usual touristic souvenir and gift shops. But walk a short distance north, across the railroad, and Interlaken becomes a different place altogether: Pleasant walking and biking paths along the river lead to the chalets and stone buildings of a traditional Swiss mountain village. An old mill and dam complete the rustic picture. A high, wooded cliff on the far bank looks forbidding, but there are actually some relatively easy --- or at least moderate -- trails along its flanks. The Castle, a campus-like collection of old stone government buildings, is another site for a pleasant away-from-the-tourists stroll. Things I’d do next time I visit Interlaken:

- Carry a Swiss Pass and hop on and off the various mountain trains, fare free, in search of photo opportunities.

- Ride one of the lake boats to Spiez, Thun or Brienz, returning by rail.

- Ride the Harder Kulm Funicular to what’s said to be a magnificent lookout 1,322 meters above sea level (755 meters above Interlaken.

- Walk as far as I could along one of the beautifully-maintained paths leading east from the city.

The Harder Kulm is just one of many funicular and cable railways in the Jungfrau area; I mention it because it’s so convenient: just across the river from the Grand Hotel Beau Rivage and the East (Ost) railstation.

The Jungfrau Region tourist map shows at least eight other rack railways, funiculars and aerial tramways serving various mountain villages and ski centers. Electronically write info@jungfraujoch.ch for a copy of "Wandern Jungfraubahnen" or go to www.jungfraubahn.ch.

Because it’s so easy to reach by rail (or boat), Interlaken is a superb base for several days of Swiss Alpine exploration.