Train up to Jungfraujoch, Europe’s tallest railway station

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
6
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
5
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
6
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
10
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
77 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
71st/454
Top 20%
continent
Europe
country
Switzerland
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$330 ($275-$350 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
April
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Cable cars Mountains Train journey
All Tags
Adventure Altitude Cliffs Forests Glacial lakes Glaciers UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

After visiting more than 100+ countries, I would say the mountains around Interlaken are, along with those next to Machu Picchu in Peru and the Dolomites in Italy, the most beautiful in the world.  Real wow factor that I don’t think is beaten anywhere. 

Typically people experience this via hiking, a cable car and driving – something I did a few years ago (see Hiking around Interlaken).  But for the extra wow, go for the train up to the Jungfraujoch:

✅ At 3454m / 11,332ft it is the tallest railway station in Europe.

✅ You get the best views of the best spots as you ascend the Eiger and the Jungfrau.

✅ The glacier at the top is awe-inspiring.

✅ The station complex at the top itself is actually surprisingly engaging – ice caves, history, view points.

✅ And you get to go on a bit of an adventure as you chose between various railway and cable car options.

 

Hey, we got caught with bad weather and still thought it was one of the highlights of Switzerland and the whole Alps.

 

Train up to Jungfraujoch, Europe’s tallest railway station - route map for cable cars and trains

Highlights

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1. The cable car from Eigergletscher to Grindelwald. Some of the best views anywhere in the world

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2. The train ride from Interlakken Ost to Kleine Scheidegg. Again, some of the best views in the world!

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3. The adventure of it all - you have to do multiple changes on different types of trains and passing various types of small Swiss villages on the way. Really cool

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4. The Jungfraujoch station itself - walking invite snow, learning the history, walking the tunnels. It’s all done very well

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5. The Ice Palace - very cool to experience

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6. The errr, great views from the top

Top Tips

 

There isn’t a set way to get up

Whilst there is only one way to get from the Eigergletscher at 2320m (the train), what goes before it is far more mixed and I was surprised just how unclear this was before we started. 

My advice is to do a combo of train and cable car – ultimately they are broadly the same price-  and have a look at the map above for the route that makes the most sense from where you start. 

We started in Interlakken Ost, got the train to Kleine Scheidegg, train to Eigergletscher, train to Jungfraujoch, train back to Eigergletscher, then the cablecar to Grindelwald Terminal and then the train back to Interlakken.  I’d really recommend this because the immediate train routes to and from Interlakken were STUNNING and the cable car down was the most beautiful I’ve experienced.

 

Check the weather before you go

We got fully snowed out so practically no views from the top.  We still had a great time as the trains and cable cars before it were great and so was so much of the stuff to do at the top – but of course would have been better with clear skies.

 

Its expensive

CHF224 / €240 / $275 per person.  If you wanted to scrimp, avoid the last leg and would be reasonable – as I mention, the views before this were incredible.

 

The station at the top is really cool

It isn’t just the views (we didn’t see any!), but the ice cave, walking in the snow, learning the history and generally walking through the major tunnels of the station were surprisingly well done.

 

Whole trip takes around 6 hours

We got something like the 0720 train and were back in Interlakken around 1330.

 

Interlaken views of the lake

We were back for afternoon walks by the lake by 1330.

 

Should you book seats? 

When you book online – which is fairly straightforward and you should do – you’re given the extra options of booking seats and the VIP carriage. IMO VIP totally not worth it as it’s the views you’re there for.  Booking seats worth it if you’re going at a busy time (season or time of day).  We were there in April early morning and no problem at all with seats.

 

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Wow Mountain Adventures

Hiking and zip-lining in the Colca Canyon
⭐⭐⭐

4WDing across the Hajar Mountains via Hatt
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3 days relaxing and diving by the beautiful Lake Atitlan
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Climbing the summit of Cotopaxi Volcano
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking the 4 day / 3 night Inca Trail
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking Zhangjiajie National Park
⭐⭐⭐⭐

3 days / 2 nights hiking the Quilatoa Loop
⭐⭐⭐

Hiking Bhutan’s Druk Path at the end of winter
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking near the hot springs of Altyn Arashan near Karakol
⭐⭐⭐

Driving through Transylvania’s Fortified Saxon villages and exploring Bran Castle
⭐⭐⭐

Paragliding in Queenstown
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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