Hello!
We will be staying in Grindelwald at the end of June/beginning of July. We plan to do the Jungfraujoch trip on one of the days (weather dependent). I have a few questions....
1) How far in advance do we make our seat reservations? I know they are required but want to make sure we are sure of the weather before making the commitment.
2) I assume that it is best to go up earlier in the morning and would plan to get an early start. If we were to spend the morning at the Top of Europe, would it be feasible to fit in something else on the way back down? I was thinking of trying to at least do the Royal Walk at Mannlichen, but possibly work in the Mannlichen-Kleine Scheidegg Panorama trail depending on our energy levels, and then head back to Grindelwald. The down side of doing it this way (from what I can tell), would be that the mountain views would be at our back on this hike and hiking in the other direction would be better. However, if we did the reverse journey, we would have to save Jungfraujoch for later in the day and I'm not sure that is the best option for weather or crowds.
Thanks for any tips you might have on this day of our itinerary!
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2875 posts
It’s about a 40-minute train ride from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen, and another 40 minutes from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg. The Jungfraujoch train ride from Kleine Scheidegg to the top takes about 35 minutes. You’ll want to spend some time at the top before descending back down to Kleine Scheidegg. So, figure on a couple hours for the Jungfraujoch trip itself. That leaves you with plenty of time for the hike from Kleine Scheidegg to Mannlichen.
At the end of June, the weather can be very iffy with rain making it smart to defer actually buying your Jungfraujoch ticket until you wake up to clear skies. And, yes, your best bet is early morning because— even on mostly clear days—clouds can begin moving in by noon.
Posted by
Toronto, Canada
24 posts
Hi,
So I was in Switzerland in Nov/Dec 2023, and did a day trip from Zurich to Jungfraujoch. Given you are in Grindelwald, it's totally doable as a day trip. I didn't make any reservations before arriving, as weather in December was unpredictable. But I checked the weather forecast daily and once I know the next day is sunny, I planned the early morning trip. And just bought the train ticket the day of. I think I was down the summit by like 2pm? So you should be able to do something else the day of. You are going in busier season than me, so I am not sure about seat reservation availability.
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2769 posts
We were based in Wengen and took the first train up, arriving just after 9. We left around noon, took the Eiger Express to Grindelwald Terminal, then train to Grindelwald. Had lunch, then went to first and rode the mountain carts. So it’s definitely possible to do more than Jungfraujoch on one day.
I would recommend you do the reverse from Grindelwald: Eiger Express up, then train down to Wengen. Then lift up to Mannlichen. Then you can do the Panorama trail to Kleinne Scheidigg. From there you can either return to Grindelwald by train, or go to Wengen and then on to Lauterbrunnen before returning to Grindelwald. The issue is that you will probably have extra clothes for Jungfraujoch. You might want to store these in a locker at Wengen.
Posted by
Nashville, TN
943 posts
It’s ironic, because everyone has the same idea to go early like it’s a big insider secret, so it’s actually way more crowded in the mornings now because all the crowds are trying to beat the crowds. If you go up mid-late afternoon the trains are typically not as full. Leaving at the end of the day will be full, but going up won’t.
The viewing areas will be crowded every single second the place is open - no getting around that. All your photos are going to have other people in them and I’ve literally seen people being pushed in the snow to get their own photos. I’ve been many times and hate it more every time I go :) Next time we have visitors who want to go I’m going to send them up without us :)
Go from Grindelwald to Mannlichen, enjoy your Royal walk and panoramic walk to KS leisurely, have lunch and then go up to Jungfraujoch after 2 pm. No reason to do the nice stuff in the wrong way to try to avoid unavoidable crowds.
Posted by
Wengen
3026 posts
Its not just to beat the crowds that you go early. Visibility is also usually better in the morning. But look at the weather forecast. They are pretty good at predicting when the clouds will start. Weather in summer often follows a predictable pattern: clear in the morning, then clouds increase during the afternoon, with thunderstorms possible in the later afternoon and evening.
Buy your tickets the night before. And yes, if you start out early you can combine stuff. For example you could do Grindelwald - Jungfraujoch. Then have lunch at Eigergletscher (in the old station), Then down to Wengen, Lauterbrunnen and then back to Grindelwald. There are lots of interesting ways you can string trains, cable cars and hikes together.
Posted by
Switzerland
228 posts
it’s actually way more crowded in the mornings now because all the crowds are trying to beat the crowds
Why mountain peaks are always less busy first thing in the morning:
It has nothing to do with it being a secret - there is a cumulative effect; let’s say that the 50 people can go up in the train at a time.
- Pre-opening: number of people at summit = 0
- First train arrives = 50 people at summit
- Second train arrives = 100 people
- Third train = 150 people
This goes on for the first two hours, which is the shortest amount of time recommended to spend at the Jungfraujoch. After that people will slowly start to go back down, but still far fewer people leave than those who arrive.
The best time to avoid crowds on any mountain is within the first few trips up.
As WengenK said, weather is almost always better in the morning as well, that is something you can confirm using the MeteoSwiss website or app. You can even enter Jungfraujoch as a location to see the forecast for that exact location.
Hiking on any trail that is accessed by a mountain railway or gondola is exactly the same. Go before too many people have had the chance to get up there and you will have few to no crowds. I have experienced this again and again and can confirm that it is so, no matter what time of year.
Posted by
Nashville, TN
943 posts
I don’t dispute any of the logic above, but I can speak from personal experience. The times I’ve gone up there without a packed train have been in the afternoon. The first train up is going to pack the viewing platforms because each round of people going up is way more than enough to fill out the popular areas, so there never is a time when you have the place with only 10 people the way you would in areas with a smaller train or cable car capacity. It’s just not going to happen.
And yes, the weather can certainly be better in the morning as a general rule, but I’ve also found many times where the weather was clouded over everywhere in the region but Jungfraujoch, as it was above the clouds and perfectly sunny. Or times where it was foggy and cloudy in the morning and then ended up beautiful in the afternoon. The weather has a general overall pattern but it absolutely does not follow a rule.
It’s certainly possible to go up in the morning along with everyone else. You’re going to absolutely be on completely full trains with packed viewing areas, even if you go on the first train. It’s also going to be packed all day long, so rearranging my whole day and doing things in a worse or less logical way to make it up there first thing, I personally would not do. My perspective is only to say that going first thing isn’t the only possible option.