by train, bus and boat. - Chiral Dynamics 2009

26
Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau
Jungfrau Railway
Schynige Platte
Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
And you’re part of it.
It’s known as the Jungfrau region, this mountain
paradise in the Bernese Oberland. Yet it
should actually be called the Eiger, Mönch
and Jungfrau region. The three mountain
giants are practically omnipresent here, as a
grandiose backdrop. You can already see
them on the horizon from Interlaken, the
starting point of the Jungfrau Railways.
From there to Lauterbrunnen they occasionally
become obscured. The Lauterbrunnen
valley runs deep within the Alpine massif.
Thundering down high rock walls amid a mist
of spray, the Staubbach waterfall near Lauterbrunnen,
demonstrates this to us impressively.
A visit is well worth while, before you
disappear to higher regions, at the actual foot
of the Jungfrau massif. For example in the
direction of Kleine Scheidegg, where the
Eiger north face confronts you in such a
manner that it’s easy to feel a slight shiver.
The railways of the Jungfrau region will take
you there. The track that extends up directly
into the Eiger face and disappears into a
tunnel there, belongs to the one and only,
the world-famous Jungfrau Railway. Its
upper terminus lies at an altitude of 3 454
metres a.s.l. on the Jungfraujoch, the “Top
of Europe”, in a tunnel under the sea of ice.
Cruising in
the Bernese Oberland.
Interlaken means “between the lakes”. The starting point for our
excursions into the Jungfrau region lies between Lake Thun and
Brienz. Thun lies at the lower end of Lake Thun and, at the upper
end of Lake Brienz, none other than Brienz. And, in between, the
shimmering blue lakes beckon you to cast off on a cruise. The localities
in the Oberland might squabble as to which of them offers the
finest views of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. The true connoisseur
enjoys seeing their majesties rise up above the bright green hills and
dark green firs from the other shore of the lake. And when the boat
is also one of the two historic paddlewheel steamers, the connoisseur
will be blessed with the best of fortunes. The Swiss Pass simply
allows him to step onboard and be taken wherever he wishes.
www.bls.ch/schiff
You’d rather not venture up to quite that altitude?
Starting out from Wilderswil, the first
station after Interlaken, the Schynige Platte
Railway travels up to a rambler’s paradise
at 1 967 metres a.s.l.. And a further 100 kilometres
of walking trails through the glorious
Alpine world wait to be discovered in Grindelwald-First.
The gondola lift will take
you comfortably from Grindelwald First.
On the other side of the Lauterbrunnen valley,
the railway will take you from Lauterbrunnen
up to Mürren. The Eiger, Mönch
and Jungfrau welcome you here from the
other side of the valley, and the Schilthorn
cableway waits to spirit you up to James
Bond’s “Piz Gloria”, on the Schilthorn.
www.myjungfrau.ch
www.jungfraubahn.ch
Swiss Travel System Conditions.
Swiss Pass: free travel until
Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren.
50% discount on the connecting ticket
to Kleine Scheidegg, Schynige Platte,
Schilthorn and First.
25% discount from Kleine Scheidegg
to the Jungfraujoch.
Swiss Card: 50% discount on the
entire network of railways and
cableways in the Jungfrau region.
Seat reservations are not possible
for individual travellers.
Lake Thun with Mt. Niesen