Hello friends !
I shall kick off blogging about our Europe trip (Switzerland + Italy 2016) by starting with this post on Jungfraujoch !
It's really not easy to find information about Switzerland travel in general. So I hope sharing my experience here can let you know more about this place ! I will blog specifically on our travel route using Swiss Pass in another post ! (***all pics unedited, not even colour) it was a cloudy day on our day!
WHERE, WHAT?
<The Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe is the highlight of any
Swiss holiday. The highest railway station in Europe is located 3,454 metres
above sea level. The visitors gain access to a high-Alpine wonderland of ice, snow and rock, which they can admire from the viewing platforms on
the Aletsch Glacier or in the Ice Palace .
More information on : http://www.jungfrau.ch/en/tourism/destinations/jungfraujoch-top-of-europe/experiences/
TICKETS:
| Price | Qty | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Railway Ticket Wengen - Jungfraujoch, via Kleine Scheidegg
2. Klasse, Retour, Adult, Swiss Travel Pass
XXXXX, 13/06/2016 |
CHF 128.00
| 1 | CHF 128.00 |
| Mountain Railway Ticket Wengen - Jungfraujoch, via Kleine Scheidegg
2. Klasse, Retour, Adult, Swiss Travel Pass
XXXXXXX, 13/06/2016 |
CHF 128.00
| 1 | CHF 128.00 |
| Grand Total | CHF 256.00 | ||
We purchased Swiss Pass (Youth / 8 days) for our stay in Switzerland. Swiss Pass holders are entitled to a discount on the Jungfraujoch Mountain Railway ! Depending on where you take the Jungfrau train from , the cost would be different. Our return tickets (WENGEN - JUNGFRAU) was CHF 128 each.
We took the train from WENGEN station , (WENGEN is the last/highest stop that is still covered by Swiss Pass travel), any stop higher than WENGEN, you'll need a separate ticket.
We purchased our tickets beforehand online on the official Jungfraujoch website ! If you have purchased a Swiss Pass, or other travel discount cards, there will be option for you to choose before check out, so you will be able to see the discount being applied :) We purchased online as we didn't want to queue up and our date was FIXED. Just remember to bring a physical print out hard copy for them to validate, together with your Swiss Pass.
Bring your Swiss Pass and Passport always by your side ! Its OK to buy on the stop, if your schedule allows, remember to check the weather before choosing which day to go . We didn't have the luxury of time so our date was fixed and it was quite cloudy ....... when it's cloudy, it's not as nice as expected ! Haha..
SOME TIPS:
- Bring extra camera batteries! , Bring extra heat tech !
- Bring some own food in your back pack! Food is very expensive..
- Most importantly, dress warm if you don't wanna freeze or end up buying expensive clothing from their shop up there (waterproof boots, ski pants will be good if you are intending to sit or play in the snow), its going to be negative degrees up there , We went in June and its (-4C) !
JOURNEY TO THE TOP:
Well I really miss those amazing majestic train journeys, Switzerland is our favorite country yet !
Changing trains @ Kleine Scheidegg Station ! (2061 m above sea level)
ON THE JUNGFRAUBAHN ! (Jungfrau Railways) The journey to the top is about less than 1 hour!
This building is actually a train stop ! With restaurant and a small inn :)
Inside the train , there is this moving map showing us exactly where we were...
Another option to stop here; nothing much, just a viewing gallery.. but it would be epic views in good weather !
Yay !!!! Finally reached !!!! Be careful of altitude sickness, walk slowly and breathe !!!! Cos its 3,466 metres (11,371 ft) , its really really HIGHHHHH !!!
Pardon the shag faces etc, cos its really not very easy to take pictures in negative 4 degs -.- the corridors are not heated, its really cold !!!!
Ok here's a map of the entire Jungfraujoch .
Some places are weather dependent, so if the weather is not good, it will not be open. Our day was the no-good weather cloudy day -.- but anyways just happy to conquer this place and be here !! Hahaa..
Some places are weather dependent, so if the weather is not good, it will not be open. Our day was the no-good weather cloudy day -.- but anyways just happy to conquer this place and be here !! Hahaa..
source: Google
source: Google
We couldn't go out to the Glacier part as it was closed. In Summer there was this Snow Fun park that we could do sledding etc, but IT WAS CLOSED .. :( and I thought June was Summer.. but it's not... The rest we did went ! See below !
Starting from the train station , we went on to explore the other parts of this place..
Outside the train area, a small snack bar.., seriously expensive. tips : bring some of your own food in your backpack. this is so important !!!!!!! We brought some chips :)
Weather and wind speed, its really cold ok... spam heat tech !!!!
its very crowded like a market, full of chinese and indians , they even have an indian restaurant to cater to the indian tour groups.... expect it to be a touristy place ...
Walkway tunnel .. these tunnels are actual tunnels caves dug by the explorers and founders of this place.. very amazing actually !~ the loop is one big round, so just walk accordingly and you'll be able to explore the whole place !
he said his ears are falling off so I think he needed the hat more than me.. the wind is strong !
1) SCREENING ROOM:
Mountain story on a screen - it shows Jungfraujoch from helicopter view, which was nice !!
2) THE SPHINX : Taking the elevator up to the SPHINX Observatory, where we are supposed to enjoy a 360 view with panoramic windows haha..
cloudy cloudy day :(
Snow on the windows .. on a clear day it will be all clear and nice !!!
it was snowing :)
No view cos it was so cloudy :( oh wells .
That's why, if your schedule allows, do check the weather on the top before deciding to come or not ! Make the most of your money haha, cos its quite expensive to come up here . We couldn't change our dates so no choice.
We continued walking through the caves walkway ..
so it's supposed to look like this , we just took some photos with the poster >,<
hahaha I think we are so funny. come up here and take photos with the poster -.-
3) SELF SERVE RESTAURANT: anyways we got hungry real fast so we went to the self serve restaurant to grab some food.. as mentioned above one of the tips, BRING YOUR OWN FOOD, IF YOU CAN... its damm expensive the food here... There are only 3 options here , a self serve restaurant, snack bar and high class restaurant, so no choice ... hungry people can get angry lol...
FYI cos I can't live without chilli for every meal , so if you are asian like me, bring your packet chilli everywhere !!!! Hahaha...
Heart cries - CHF 40 for this 2 plate of things.. -.- make sure every grain of rice is eaten ..
4) ALPINE SENSATION??: After our meal, we continued exploring !
I suppose this place is called Alpine Sensation ? I'm not sure. Anyway it looks pretty !
Very interesting and beautiful snow globe with many moving details inside !
5) ICE PALACE !!!!
Note that the ICE PALACE is colder than the other areas, because its entirely made of ice.. the floors are all ice and it's slippery ! Walk slowly ~
Inside the ICE PALACE , entirely ICE !!! Its so cold here..
Wheee Top of Europe !!
The floor is really quite slippery !
6) THE BEST - THE PLATEAU
The wind was strong but we were so glad to come out here !
It felt so surreal to be surrounding by these majestic mountains , eternal snow !
don't sit on the snow unless you are wearing waterproof/ski pants.. I was wearing ski pants and it felt cold 0.0 but happy to get this shot hahaa..
its really damm hard to take pictures in cold conditions hahaaa..
loved it up here :)
7 ) SOUVENIRS AND LINDT CHOCOLATE HEAVEN
There were some souvenir shops and of course everyone would get Lindt Chocolate up here, they have a chocolate gallery :)
We should have bought a bottle of this, BUY THE AIR !!! HAHAHA..
But i swear coming up here really can purify your lungs, its like the cleanest cold, crisp, pure air that you can ever breathe in , and im not kidding lol...
Lindt Chocolate Shop , flooded with tourists..
After Lindt , we have pretty much explored everything so we decided to go down..
Its not that good to stay at this high altitude for long time, so a typical visit would be around 4 hours (exclude train time)..
Just used a pretty cool app to show our altitude and pressures at that time hehe :)
Lindt Chocolate Shop gave us these chocolates for free ! Hehe, it was nice..
We had to queue up early for the trains as the queues get pretty long rather quickly, as there is only one way up or down.. haha.. and also the tour group people.. so queue up in advance to get a seat !
Feels wonderful to relive the memories by writing this post ! Hope this helps some of you planning to go ! Cheers , xo
