Europe's highest railway station, reached by a cog train tunnelled through the Eiger. At the top: ice, thin air and the Aletsch glacier curving away for 23 kilometres.
The Jungfrau railway opened in 1912 after sixteen years of tunnelling. It climbs from Kleine Scheidegg through the Eiger and the Mönch to the saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau.
The station sits at 3,454 metres. A lift rises to the Sphinx terrace and observatory, where the Great Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps at 23 kilometres, sweeps south between the peaks.
Inside the mountain are an ice palace carved into the glacier, and a plateau where you can step out onto the snow. The whole area is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage site.
It is the region's most expensive ticket, so go only on a clear day and go early. Rail passes earn a discount, and the Eiger Express gondola from Grindelwald shortens the trip.
Leave on the first trains and be down by early afternoon.
By the Eiger Express gondola or the Wengernalp railway.
The cog train climbs inside the mountain, with a stop at a window in the north face.
Ride the lift to the terrace for the Aletsch glacier and the peaks.
Walk the tunnels cut in the ice, then step out onto the snow plateau.
On the way down, hop off and walk the Eiger Trail or to Kleine Scheidegg.
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Buy on the Jungfrau railways' site or at stations; reserve a seat on the top section in summer.
Check the summit webcams before you buy; cloud at the top means you see nothing.
Allow two to three hours at the top; most people rush and feel the altitude.
Bernese Oberland practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
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