Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn

Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn

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hot66

Original Poster:

696 posts

224 months

Saturday 6th June 2009
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Hi

I'm travelling down to Interlaken soon in my old Porka & have agreed one 'sightseeing' day with the wife smile

Having not been before, which trip would you suggest is the best ? Cable car to the Schilthorn followed by breakfast at the 'james Bond' restaurant, or train up to the Jungfraujoch and a meal in the restaurant there ?

UltimaCH

3,162 posts

196 months

Saturday 6th June 2009
quotequote all
hot66 said:
Hi

I'm travelling down to Interlaken soon in my old Porky & have agreed one 'sightseeing' day with the wife smile

Having not been before, which trip would you suggest is the best ? Cable car to the Schilthorn followed by breakfast at the 'james Bond' restaurant, or train up to the Jungfraujoch and a meal in the restaurant there ?
Well, the two look good, but the choice can be decided if you want something with modern technology (Schilthorn) or a more a trip on a journey which began probably around 100 years ago with technology of that period. The train climbs up the mountain in a tunnel up to the top. If the weather is fine, the view from up top is breathtaking with on of the biggest glacier in the Alps. Beware though of the tourists....!

rt911

697 posts

210 months

Saturday 6th June 2009
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The Schilthorn is bloody good

The Jungfraujoch is f*****g good, and a bit more....

Tourists are a pain in the arse & numbers are limited to the joch, although reserved tickets are available..

if you do the joch I recommend starting from the Grindelwald side, bit more to do & more sunny, although if you leave the car at Interlaken or Wilderswil or Zweilutschen you can do a round trip via Wengen & Lauterbrunnen, just a bit more money!

Triumph Trollomite

5,048 posts

88 months

Monday 6th January 2020
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Can you drive up to Grindelwald?

I'm planning a stop over on the way to florence to take the family up.

I believe swiss travel passes offer good discounts but it is baffling, can anyone advise?

Whitean3

2,191 posts

205 months

Friday 17th January 2020
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Triumph Trollomite said:
Can you drive up to Grindelwald?

I'm planning a stop over on the way to florence to take the family up.

I believe swiss travel passes offer good discounts but it is baffling, can anyone advise?
Yes, Grindelwald is easy to get to. The actual town is a bit grim (in my opinion), but if you're aiming to go up the Jungfraujoch, you can park up in the large carpark at Grindelwald Grund and get straight on the cog railway. Parking is about 5 CHF per day.

The train ticket, on the other hand, is ridiculously expensive. No idea if there are offers on, it's the bit from Kleine Scheidegg up to Jungfraujoch that is the really pricey part.

Triumph Trollomite

5,048 posts

88 months

Friday 17th January 2020
quotequote all
Thanks, last time we parked in interlaken. The ticket is steep but so is the track (sorry!)

We are planning on the James Bond experience this time instead. Just cheaper and something new.

popeyewhite

21,365 posts

127 months

Friday 17th January 2020
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Jungfrau via Wengen is amazing.

Triumph Trollomite

5,048 posts

88 months

Friday 17th January 2020
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popeyewhite said:
Jungfrau via Wengen is amazing.
Is that the waterfalls?

Whitean3

2,191 posts

205 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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Triumph Trollomite said:
popeyewhite said:
Jungfrau via Wengen is amazing.
Is that the waterfalls?
No- the waterfalls are at Lauterbrunnen on the opposite side of the valley.

Ayahuasca

27,428 posts

286 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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Jaegermeister

GroundZero

2,085 posts

61 months

Thursday 23rd July 2020
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OP - Don't know if you are still after replies on your question, but I've done both trips and both are great for different reasons.

Jungfraujoch rates as probably one of the best days of my life. We had perfect weather and we got one of the early trains from Wilderswil station, the early trains are a must do if you want to avoid the crush of people at the top and enjoy the beauty of the place.

The journey up and down can be done as a loop. I would recommend starting at Wilderswil heading for Lauterbrunnen and sit on the right hand side of the train on the way up. This will offer you an increasingly dramatic view every second as the train climbs.

At the top there are a number of things you can do. Which can take a number of hours (but if on an early train I think you get something like 3 hours at the top before you must make your way down again). 3 hours is enough time to be fair, but if you want longer (for example if you want to go trekking along the glacier), then a later ticket will be what you want.

Return journey back would then be down to Grindlewald, again sit on the right hand side for fantastic views up from the base of the Eiger.


The Schilthorn on the other hand offers arguably better views from the very top on a clear day. From the top you have views over towards Jungfrau and Eiger along with a full panoramic including Interlaken lakes on the other side.
Schilthorn offers fantastic cable car rides up to the top and back and there is a really good "mountain cliff" walkway which is a must do.

Two options to start the journey up to the Schilthorn, either take the cable car up from the base of Lauterbrunnen valley at Stechelberg or take the train from Grutschalp (which also requires an initial cable car but from Lauterbrunnen village).

We took the cable car from Stechelberg and only do this if you are not afraid of heights wink
Gladly I'm ok with that (albeit my Wife wasn't and actually sat down on the floor in the middle of the cable car!), but the views are stunning.
Its the first cable car ride up to Murren that is the 'height' issue for some people, the remaining cable car rides are no problem as you skim the mountain profile on the way up and down.


I would recommend doing both, but on different visits.
Prices are fairly steep (excuse the pun), but this is Switzerland after all, and the prices would likely be 3 or 4 times that if the attraction was in the UK, so you do get value for money on either trip in comparison to UK prices.