Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch

July 2022 - choosing the road via Switzerland was mainly due to visiting this magnificent Natural Wonder. There are two different approaches visiting this Site. Either from north via Grindelwald to experience the high Mountains Jungfrau, Eiger and Mönch, or coming from south to have a marvelous view at the Aletsch Glacier. We decided for the latter. We found a nice campground in Betten and still got the Aletschentdeckerpass (55CHF) which gives you unlimited rides in one day. Of you buy the Swiss Coupon Pass in advance you even get 2 for 1 and our children were included anyway.

Next morning we woke up early and took the train to Fiesch where we could directly take two cabelcars up to the Eggishorn. A few steps and you have a magnificent view at the upper part of the glacier. And the three significant peaks. The echoe of the wind whistling through the glacier Valley and the silence apart from this intensified the experience.

Back to Fiescheralp we hiked the few km to Bettmeralp which took is way longer than anticipated with our 3 year old daughter and especially on this outrageously hot day. The many cows we saw are probably also not When we finally arrived in Bettmeralp we were not only dehydrated but also badly sunburned. After some chocolate and rivella we took the next opportunity on top of the Bettmerhorn. From there there the views and character of the glacier were different again and especially the Matterhorn …

My wife and I visited Jungfrau in August 2017. We managed to luck out with our visit, with super clear skies and reasonable temperatures both in the valley and up top. Given the prices and the crowds, I would strongly recommend purchasing the "Good Morning" ticket, which offers a substantial discount (down to about 120 CHF per person). You need to be on one of the first two trains up in the morning (departing Grindelweld at 7:25 or 7:40), and then descend again from the mountain by around 1:30pm.

Staying in Grindelweld, we managed to make it up on the first train, skipped over the first parts of the tour and were on the first elevator to the top of the observatory, meaning that we had it entirely to ourselves for about 10 minutes. Fantastic! Though it did fill up with obnoxious tour groups after about 45 minutes.

I would also strongly recommend doing the glacier walk out to the far viewpoint, as you get a completely different view of the area. Although it's shown as 45 minutes, it's probably closer to an hour unless you're an experienced snow walker. We took an hour, though our miniature dachshund (teckel) slowed us down quite a bit!

All in all, a great day and we were very glad of doing the research to get the cheaper tickets, making it up before some of the crowds, and descending early afternoon for a rest and a well deserved beer.

See below for my full …

Following Kintante's recommendation in the forum, I set out to go to Eggishorn. Leaving my apartment in Hamburg at 5 a.m. I stood on the top of the mountain at 1 p.m., a flight, two train rides and two cable cars in between. And there it was. Or better there it wasn't: The glacier was hidden from view by heavy fog. And the mountains were covered in thick snow ...

The previous day when I checked the hiking trails and the weather I was already given a warning: snow and rain. I had packed accordingly. Still, I was not prepared for how little I would actually be able to make out of my visit. The view was limited to 20m and the trails were not discernible. While I hiked a bit in direction of the viewing platform, I eventually turned around as I couldn't make out the path and simply didn't feel safe.

After I had resigned myself to the fact, that I would neither see the glacier nor be able to hike in the high mountains, I took the next cable car down to the valley. From there I went back to Brig and took the train the Kandersteg.

The scenery around Kandersteg is nice with plenty of waterfalls coming down the mountains. And due to the lower altitude the scenery wasn't hidden in heavy fog. Same applies to snow. Instead I got heavy rain.

While I have counted this as visit, I have …

When I was a child, we always went on holiday to the Allgäu Alps. Living near the German border, my parents only spoke German as a foreign language and felt the most comfortable in German-speaking countries. We went there so often that we even were designated by the local tourist organization with a special pin celebrating 10 (or 15?) visits. So I have seen my fair share of Alpine landscape and know the omnipresent sound of cowbells. Although I must confess that when I got older I skipped all the hiking and my parents often left me at the hotel with a book to read.

This background might be the reason that I left it so long to visit the Swiss Alps WHS. But also the site’s inaccessibility played a part: the WHS originally encompassed only the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, which is quite costly to visit and doesn’t lend itself to a short weekend break. Since 2007 however, the core zone has been extended across a wider area in the Bernese Alps. Additional access points to the east and west have come into play.

I choose Kandersteg as my base, a town some 2.5 hours from Zürich Airport. From here a cable car takes you for 18SFR to the Oeschinen Lake, which lies already within the inscribed area. At a gloriously sunny Friday in late June, I arrived at the top cable car station around 10 am. From that point, a number of hikes are signposted, of which I …

I visited this WHS in September 2014. The 4000+ metre mountains were immediately visible from as far as Lauterbrunnen or Interlaken. I drove to Grindelwald where I had my hotel and ample parking opportunities. Grindelwald is just beneath the Eiger mountain (3970m) but the peaks of Wetterhorn (3701m) and Schreckhorn (4078m) are also clearly visible from town. There are several uphill trails to take in the scenery but if you're just a beginner taking the trains up and choosing a trail down could be a pleasant and less tiring option. The lavish greenery dotted with brown cows changes to rocky landscape, ice glaciers and snow capped mountain peaks as you arrive at Kleine Scheidegg (2061m). After checking the weather forecast several times and being lucky enough to visit on a sunny weekend, I opted to go for the Jungfraubahn Top of Europe experience which cost me 177 swiss francs for a return ticket, making it the most expensive WHS I have ever visited. Since I was staying in Grindelwald, I only had to change one train which was fine. The first train from Grindelwald left around 07:15 meaning that I got to Jungfraujoch before 09:00 (around 1hr 45mins including panoramic view stops). At Kleine Scheidegg, I changed trains to the actual Jungfraubahn after gazing at the Eigergletscher. The fact that I moved around and spent most of the train stops outside helped me avoid altitude sickness. The Jungfraubahn stops twice for panoramic view stops before reaching Jungfraujoch. First stop is …

I visited several parts of this site. From Kandersteg I took the cable car to view the Oeschinensee, a high lake surrounded by mountains. From Goppenstein I took a bus up the Lotschental, past the Bietschhorn to Fafleralp and hiked up to the Lang Glacier. From Grindelwald I had magnificent views of the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau, all in their pristine beauty.

But the core of this site, the Aletsch Glacier remained elusive. I could have taken the train from Grindelwald to the Jungfraujoch and viewed it from there, but the cost of this was prohibitive.

So I tried a cheaper route: from Brig station I took a bus to Blatten from where I took a cable car to Belalp. A 20 minute walk from the cable car station brought me to the Belalp Hotel and a nearby church and lookout. To my dismay cloud filled the valley below. By studying the maps at the lookout and found the direction where the Aletsch Glacier should be. As I watched the cloud began to clear and a river appeared way below. Then it cleared more and the glacier appeared, curving up towards distant mountains. After a few moments it disappeared again, and I returned to the cable car to the accompaniment of cow bells.

Staying at the very touristy town of Interlacken (or smaller and yet more touristy Grindelwald) I drove up several mountains. The Trümmelbach waterfalls are nice to visit. There's also a train leaving Grindelwald to the top of the Jungfrau Joch which is the highest train station in the world. It costs a fortune (as so many other things in Switzerland) and I found it underwhelming, mostly because the scenery looks much more exciting from below than from the summit where you can only see the icy summits around.

The Jungfrau-region is very fascinating, both on distance when viewed from distances up to 150 km (!) and closeby, ranging from 25 km (Interlaken and environment) up to Grosse Scheidegg and even closer. A hike to the Jungfraujoch can only be done by skilled mountain-climbers, but the railway provides a great means to reach this vantage point from where a wonderful vista unfolds itself over the Grosse Aletschgletscher, the largest glacier of the Alps. After 15 years of hiking in this area I never grow tired of enjoying this natural majesty, shooting many pictures every year of landscapes, geological structures, plants (up to 3000 species in Switzerland), and animals that can be seen in abundance here.

To my surprise the picture depicted here (April 17, 2006) I see the Silberhorn, only a small part of the Jungfrau mountain, which towers the region with its top of 4158 m (13,642 ft).

I was managed to wake up early enough and prepare to take the train at Grindelwald. It's quite freezing in Switzerland's September.

There were 2 trains we need to transfer in order to go to Jungfraujoch. Inside of the station, a video was shown to introduce how this railroad was constructed and completed. It was just amazing to see how people can accomplish such a diffifult task. We went to the top of the station and enjoyed the panaramic view. The nature of glacier, needless to say, is breathtaking. Unfortunately, it was too windy and cold to stay too long outdoor.

I bought a postcard from the highest post office and sent it to myself as a souvenir; to remember this beautiful place forever.

This glacierfield is the largest one in the European Alps and quite impressive. You can take a special train up to the Jungfrau and you have to change trains twice and you climb up the mountain higher and higher over the course of 3 hours. The last part of the train trip is actually through the mountain and then you end up at the highest railway station of Europe at 3454 meters high; the Jungfraujoch. Since you climb up so fast most people will have a little bit of altitude sickness. At the station you can go outside to see the glacier and shoot some pictures of the view and there are ice caves that are cut out of the glacier.

The whole thing is quite touristy and pretty expensive, but if you have never been high up on the mountains and never seen glaciers before it might be worth it.

If you do get the chance, to go up to Jungfraujoch: The Top of Europe. SBB will take you up to the bottom of the mountain, and then a special train - which is very expensive at CHF150- will take you up to the observatory known as Top of Europe. I was fortunate to get a very special deal, where I commuted all the way from Geneva at about CHF189. There are scientific experiments being undertaken up there, including global warming, pollution, oxygen levels and so on. The view is amazing, absolutely stunning views of glaciers and green, especially in May and September. This is Switzerland at its very best. You can ski, use discs as surfboards in the perpetual snow at 10,000ft. Take in the Eispalast, a beautiful museum of ice carvings, and two levels of viewing, the Sphinx area being the better one. The restaurant is not bad either. This was one of my most memorable trips.