It was totally overrun with hordes of tour groups today. There were so many people up there you could barely walk. Travel through the Ice Palace was severely affected by selfie sticks in every direction.
People, be considerate and use your brain! Nobody wants your selfie stick in their face.
A lot of people turn their brains off while on vacation.
A lot of people turned their brains off with the advent of cell phones.
It was overcrowded the last time we were there, in 2002, even without the selfie sticks. We have not been back and I do not recommend it to friends.
Tim, thank you for posting your experience. Sorry it was so overcrowded, especially after the time/effort it takes to get there.
I would really like to go there someday, but you have me rethinking (at least the time of year). Will be curious to hear from others who may have had better luck at other times of the year (recently, as I am guessing crowds have gotten worse over the years).
I hope you and yours at least had some good, clear weather.
Safe travels.
EDIT: Lola above was posting while I was typing. Jeez...overcrowded even in 2002!!!! Rethinking on this end.................
I went in early October 2017. We certainly were not alone there, but I wouldn't call it "overrun" at that time by any stretch of the imagination. The Ice Palace was actually fairly empty. So, Maggie, maybe early October?
It was also pretty empty on my visit of Friday, March 16, 2018 (a date when ski season was still going pretty well, though maybe more so in Zermatt and St. Moritz).
That's why I spend a nice alpine day on the trails instead of the peaks.
I was looking at the webcam today it the weather looked wonderful after several days of clouds, so perhaps a combination of early-in-the-season and pent-up demand.
Tim,
It was quite crowded the last time I was there (September?), so I expect this is normal, especially in prime tourist season. It's unfortunate that officials at the Jungfraujoch won't ban those annoying selfie sticks, as some other sites have done. People who use those stupid things are only concerned about themselves and seem to have no consideration for others who are trying to enjoy the same places.
Would it make a difference if we go up very early in the morning? And is the Schilthorn just as bad? We'll be there next week. (Alas, I have no selfie stick.)
Go as early as possible like the first lift or train scheduled.
The crowds arrive after 10 am. You will see them on the way down.
"And is the Schilthorn just as bad?"
The Schilthorn can be somewhat crowded at times also, but in my experience nowhere near as bad as the Jungfrau.
The relatively good thing about overcrowding at the Jungrafujoch ('Top of Europe') is that other Swiss mountains don't get anywhere as much traffic (Titlis, Schilthorn, Piz Goria, Klein Mattehorn (aka Glacier Paradise), Glacier 3000....)
And sadly to say the Schilthorn was just as crowded. Hordes of tour groups line up in Stechelberg (more than I've ever seen) and the gondola is packed from there to Gimmelwald, Murren and on up to Schilthorn. We had to pull some of the people back who would just squeeze in between our little group of students and overrun us like locusts to get in front. It was truly a humbling site. I love Murren, and this just pains me to see what it is becoming.
There is a particular stump along the main road in Murren where passers by would sometimes stop to make a photo. Now the grass has been trampled to mud, and people stop and take 50 pictures of themselves and THEN change into a different outfit for MORE pictures of themselves. When others attempted to take a picture they were barked at by the groups taking 50 pics of themselves.
What has this place become?? I fear it may be another Cinque Terre in the making.
Tim,
It's disappointing and somewhat sad to hear about the current state of affairs in Mürren and area. I have to wonder if this was inevitable in the age of "industrial tourism". I can't blame others for wanting to see the same area that I enjoy so much, but it would be nice if they were more considerate in the way they travel.
If or when I'm able to visit that area again, I'll make sure to travel in the off season to hopefully minimize the crowds.
And this is exactly why we skipped Junagfrau and visited Schiltron. Although it was a lil crowded, but nothing as compared to Junagfrau.....
