Trek to Jungfrau Photo Gallery - Part 2
Eigergletscher to Top of Europe


Source : Jungfrau - Top of Europe website

The Jungfrau Railway takes you to Europe's highest railway station at over 3450m above sea level. This incredible feat of engineering goes through a 7.3km tunnel stretch in the mountains and rises 1400m.

Swiss industrialist Adolf Guyer-Zeller wanted to make Jungfrau more accessible and made the decision in 1893 to build a railway. Construction started in July 1896 and the railway opened on Swiss National Day in 1912. Today, a one-way trip takes 35 minutes in modern rolling stock.

While there isn't much of a view along this stretch of railway, the anticipation of what's ahead was already exciting enough as we climbed, and climbed, and climbed.

The train platform at Eigergletscher station has huge windows offering lovely views of the mountains. Walk all the way down to the other end of the platform so you can score a desirable seat away from the crowds.

The ride up is comfortable although you can feel an obvious slant as we climb up through the tunnel and the ears start popping. Trains stop at Eismeer along the way for 5 minutes and passengers can head to the small station's windows to see the mountains and ice.

Jungfraujoch station at the "Top of Europe" is the highest railway station in Europe. At 3454m above sea level, be wary of altitude sickness and take things easy. The station is huge and has a lot of activities to keep you there for more than the views. I was primarily interested in the view though, so went searching for the 2 outdoor areas to take in the scenery. My first stop was the Sphinx observatory, which is a long but entirely indoor walk with an additional elevator ride up 108m.

I could spot the other open area further down where all the people were standing within the enclosure.

The Aletsch Glacier stretches for as far as the eye can see on the other side. I would also recommend seeing it from Bettmeralp on the southern end for a different perspective.

Satisfied, I headed back to the tunnels to the Plateau, where there is a huge outdoor platform with a flag pole that many visitors like to photograph.

There are a few other attractions here such as ice sculptures and a chocolate shop, but I was only interested in views and could do shopping back in town.

Part 1 - Eiger Express | Part 3 - Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen

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