Winter World Above The Clouds

The Jungfraujoch, or maiden’s saddle, has been reachable by train since the early twentieth century. The observatory commands a special view of the Aletsch Glacier, the Jungfrau, Mönch and the surrounding area; on a beautiful day it is quite something to see. Unfortunately, this time we had to contend with bad weather and strong winds. Our last visit was in 2020.

Eiger North Wall – Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

Getting There

We left Wengen using the Wengernalpbahn train to Kleine Scheidegg. With our Bernese Oberlander Pass, we purchased tickets for half price.

Going To Kleine Scheidegg – Wengernalpbahn – Wengen, Switzerland

Going To Kleine Scheidegg, Leaving Wengen – Wengernalpbahn – Wengen, Switzerland

Oberland Pass Map

Below are the transportation routes that can be used free of charge (solid lines) and those routes at half price (dotted) with the pass.

Kleine Scheidegg

Known as the small pass between the farmers in Grindelwald and its valley and the rest of Switzerland, the Kleine Scheidegg became more important than it’s sister route the Grosse Scheidegg when tourism and the railroad to the mountains became an attraction.

Eiger Glacier – Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

Jungfrau, Blüemlisalp and Gspaltenhorn – Lauterbrunnen Valley – Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

Blüemlisalp and Gspaltenhorn in Clouds – Lauterbrunnen Valley – Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

Jungfrau in Clouds – Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

It is a terminal train station, since all trains from here use different gauge track and are very specialized, thus changing trains to reach your destination is necessary.

Station Kleine Scheidegg – Wengernalpbahn – Wengen, Switzerland

Leaving Kleine Scheidegg – Jungfraubahn – Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

The view from here of the Eiger is worth noting. When the weather is good it provides an excellent view of the north face that rivals that obtained from Grindelwald.

Hotel Bellevue – North Wall and West Face, Eiger – Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

North Wall and West Face, Eiger – Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

Jungfraujoch

The so called Top Of Europe, or Jungfraujoch, is reached by the Jungfraubahn, which is the highest operating European train at over ten thousand feet. When you arrive the first thing you may notice is the thin air and difficulty breathing.

Outside the observatory the weather was frightful with forty-five mile and hour winds and blowing snow.

Beautiful Weather – Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

Aletsch Glacier

We were there long enough to see some breaks in the clouds and were able to see the Aletsch Glacier, or sea of ice, as it is called.

Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen is again a typical alpine resort town with one main street dotted with shops and little else. It is the town you park you vehicle if you are staying in Wengen (since no vehicles are allowed).

The main street leads through the town from the train station and continues all the way to the end of the valley, however only after many name changes along the way.

Schiltwaldbachfall – Village Reformed Church – – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Staubbach Falls – Spiss – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Mettlenalp – Spiss – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Almenhubel – Spiss – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Once outside town the road narrows a bit, but offers a good path to have a long lazy hike down the valley. Cars are few, even though there are several camping sites along the way and parking lots for vehicles.

Staubbach Falls – Main Street – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Buchenbachfall – Spiss – Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

The Weisse Lütschine river flows the length of the valley as it gathers up many small tributaries that add to its volume along the way. During our walk you could hear its constant roar in the background.

Restaurants

Once we returned to Wengen, we had reservations and ate dinner at the following restaurant.

Berghaus Restaurant

This resort and hotel restaurant is small and offers traditional German and Swiss dishes. The author can recommend the Apple Strudel, it was very tasty, not ruined by sugar like in the States.