Jungfraujoch

Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe, is a saddle high in the Bernese Alps reached by a feat of engineering: a cog railway that climbs through a tunnel bored into the heart of the Eiger to the highest railway station on the continent, at 3,454 metres. There, amid the peaks of the UNESCO Jungfrau region, lie an ice palace, viewpoints over the great Aletsch Glacier and a world of eternal snow.

History

Joch means saddle in Swiss and Austro-Bavarian German and is recorded as a place name in the 14th century, while the Jungfrau, the maiden, above it is most likely named after the Jungfrauenberg, the Wengernalp pasture owned by the nuns of Interlaken monastery; it was romanticised as a goddess only in the late 18th and 19th centuries, and after Johann Rudolf Meyer's first ascent in 1811 it was jokingly called Mrs Meyer. Since 1912 the Jungfrau railway has brought visitors up from Kleine Scheidegg through a tunnel in the Eiger and Mönch to the station at 3,454 metres, the highest in Europe, and the saddle lies within the Jungfrau-Aletsch area (Wikipedia, Jungfraujoch).

What you'll find

• The railway journey - the cog railway tunnelling up through the Eiger.
• The Aletsch Glacier - the view over the longest glacier in the Alps.
• The Ice Palace - the carved chambers within the glacier.
• The Sphinx viewpoint - the observation terrace among the high peaks.

When to go

Year-round, as it is a world of ice at any season; June to September offers the clearest weather and open high trails. Check the mountain webcams and weather before you go, and book ahead, as the railway is costly and popular.

Things to know

It is one of the most expensive excursions in Europe, and on a cloudy day you pay a fortune to see white-out fog, so check the summit webcams first. The high altitude can leave some breathless. It is spectacular on a clear day, underwhelming in cloud.

Nearby

Interlaken, Grindelwald and the Lauterbrunnen valley are the bases; the Bernese Oberland spreads around.

Key facts