To/From Schiltorn — Accessibility for those with Disabilities?

I do not believe there is any place to sit on the gondola, and they can get crushingly crowded with tour groups, so I’m not sure even bringing a collapsible seat would work. We had to literally stand guard around my son in his special needs stroller else he would have been overrun.

Continental, were you going to go to the BO (day trip?) just to go up the Schilthorn? Or were you planning to be staying in the valley somewhere for the other attractions? If the latter I think you can go up to Jungfraujoch in a seated train. If not staying in the valley, Luzern is a good place to be.

I went to Lauterbrünnen and Mürren in the middle of May four years ago. Back then, I didn’t have Spondylolisthesis. I remember how absolutely beautiful it all was. I just never went to the top of the Schiltorn.

I also wasn’t sure how crowded it would be in the middle of April but if there are no seats in the cable car, at this point, I can’t go to the Schiltorn anyway. I suspect that is the same thing for the Jungfrau. Maybe someday, I will be able to go to both.

I also appreciate the feedback from Deb especially how she had to guard her son from the mobs of people. My goodness. That was the warning I needed. Thank you.

I am still interested in going to Rigi Kulm and maybe Mt Pilatus as they are near Luzern.

I would think taking the rail on my six day trip would be a great way to see much of Switzerland without tasking too much on my back. I can walk but what I cannot do is stand for more than a few moments. I plan to do a day trip to Zürich and to Bern. One of the days I will be there is a Sunday so I thought maybe especially on a Sunday, that could be a day in which I take the train into the mountains as many places are closed on Sundays. I have a long time to plan that.

stan makes a good suggestion. We did not go up to Jungfrauhoch, but it is a train (with seats) the whole way. I would imagine April wouldn't have the mobs of tour groups that we saw in late June. Might be a good alternative to the Schilthorn gondola.

Unfortunately, the Jungfrau is too expensive and that is really a shame given I would be able to sit on a train. Thank you for the idea.

I've been on some gondolas up to the Schilthorn that had bench seating around the edge and across the front. I've also been on ones with no seats. I have a serious fear of heights so I do better if I can sit and have my head down and eyes closed. I've had to stand and hold on to the handles hanging from the ceiling of the car but that was because I needed to be in the middle of the car so I couldn't see out.

Also keep in mind that from Stechelberg up to the Shilthorn there are 4 segments so 4 different gondolas. Those are Stechelberg to Gimmelwald/Gimmelwald to Muerren/Muerren to Birg/Birg to the top. If you go up from Lauterbrunnen you'll have a gondola to Grutschalp then a small train across to Muerren, then walk thru town to the other end to catch the gondola up from there.

If you can do the journey it is totally worthwhile in my opinion. Just amazing.

I've never been up the Jungfrau but agree that might be easier as the cog train does have seating. It IS a lot more money, though!

Thanks Pam. If there is seating or even a bench around the periphery of a gondola or cable car from Mürren, that could work.

From Lauterbrünnen, I know I could take the funicular (a quick ride) and then cog rail to Mürren.

Since the Jungfrau is cost prohibitive, the Schiltorn is my only option.

Moreover, if I get the swiss travel pass, if I learn that the weather is bad on top of the Schiltorn, I think I have the freedom to go anywhere else I want with that pass with the exception of the Jungfrau.

What I’m thinking I need to do is talk to my chiropractor about the gondola or cable car particularly if there is no bench. In theory, couldn’t I sit on the floor against the side on a cushion I bring with me? Will there be crowds in mid April?

Yes the gondolas have a bench seat at either end of the car. Wouldn’t consider it luxury seating but it is a seat.

Actually from Lauterbrunnen it is a cable car, not a funicular. There is a funicular from Muerren up to Almendhubel.

There used to be a funicular but it looks like it stopped running in 2010.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauterbrunnen%E2%80%93M%C3%BCrren_Mountain_Railway

April might be OK as far as crowds on the gondolas but also keep in mind that all goods are transported up on the gondolas as well. I was in one one time with workmen, a wheelbarrow and I think bags of cement, lol. Plus dogs. NOT where I'd want to sit on the floor but I do understand it might be necessary.

Is it a gondola between Mürren & the summit of the Schiltorn or a cable car? At least with a gondola, I have a chance of sitting on the bench. I always bring a cushion with me.

I will avoid the floor given the info Pam gave.

Actually the trip from beginning to end is gondola although some people refer to that as a cable car. A funicular is actually like a train climbing the steep tracks.

The whole trek of the Schilthorn begins at Stechelberg -> Gimmelwald -> Murren -> Birg -> Schilthorn and it's all on gondolas changing at each station.

I suggest you write the companies (customer service) to arrange something you might need. The gondola operator can let you in first, before the rest of the crowd, and then you'd have a small bench seat. Or you bring a collapsible seat and the operator puts it just by the side of his/her small podium. I am sure they can arrange that.

Andre...that is a great suggestion. I will say that on the way back down in an uncrowded car the operator was very solicitous to me. I was sitting by the door and had my head down, eyes closed. He came over to me and asked (in English) if I was ill. I told him no...just afraid of heights. He smiled and said many feel sick at the summit from the elevation and he wanted to make sure I was OK. Probably just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to throw up in his car!

I will reach out to the companies. Thank you.

As an aside, when we went to Mürren 4 years ago, we never took a gondola. From Lauterbrünnen, we took a quick funicular (maybe 5-10 minutes) and then took a cog rail train directly into Mürren. We never went to Gimmelwald. What happened to those 2 modes of transportation?

The funicular from Lauterbrunnen is now a gondola. It deposits you at the station for the small narrow gauge rail line to Muerren. With Swiss efficiency the train is waiting, lol!!

I think I remember something about the mountainside being too unstable for the funicular to continue running.

We did Mürren > Birg and spent some time in Birg to ensure adjustment to the altitude (sat outside and drank water) then continued to Schiltorn summit.

The train to Mürren from the top of what was the funicular between Lauterbrunnen station and Grütschalp is and always was an adhesion train line. That means a normal train which uses gravity to adhere to the rails so it can go. It was never a rack and pinion or cogwheel train, which uses a special third rail with teeth to match with a gear under the train to give traction on steep bits. It is narrow gauge and goes around steep corners and is very near the cliff edge in places but is basically level so needs no cogwheel.

The funicular between Lauterbrunnen station and Grütschalp was replaced in 2010.

I used the route when it was funicular, it is now fun to spot the bits of track remaining on the mountainside from the gondola.

I clearly misused the word cog. My apologies. I did remember that it was a train. I thought I was on a funicular because my trip to Mürren was only a few years ago. Obviously it wasn’t.

I’m now reconsidering the Jungfrau. I have 8 months to save money. This thread has convinced me that going by train will work with my disability.

According to the SBB website, there is only about a 25CHF difference between buying a roundtrip ticket 2 months in advance & one day in advance. So I might as well wait last minute to look at the weather conditions .

I have a few questions: Can I buy a roundtrip ticket between Luzern and Jungfraujoch at the train station in Luzern on the morning of the trip? The train leaves just after 07:00. Will the ticket office be open early to buy the roundtrip ticket? Will it be the same price as what I see on the SBB website for buying at the last minute?

Thanks.

The booking office opens at 7am, virtually every day of the year.

Can't you use one of the many ticket machines? They don't close. Or get your ticket the evening before? Booking office open until 22:00. Or use your smartphone and the app?

Yes the price remains the same.

Here's the information about the station in Luzern:- https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/railway-stations/lucerne-station/shopping/shop-detail.html/geo-billettschalter-9617

There is a youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7joxgxsIjTI which shows the super neat coolo machine which moves freight between the train and gondola at the top of the former funicular. If you watch until the gondola arrives (about 1:45 in) you can see the pink pig and small child sitting on the bench at the end of the gondola cabin. And an older lady in the middle and another child at the other side. The bench is covered in carpet but the floor is not. This is representative of the gondolas on the route up to Schilthorn.

I hope you work out something that's good for you...

Thank you Nigel.

I appreciate the YouTube video of the Mürren gondola. I do see where they were seated. If that gondola is the type that is used to connect Mürren with the Schiltorn summit, I think it offers a possibility for me.

I didn’t even think about using a ticket machine. I am very glad to hear that I can buy round-trip tickets between Luzern & Jungfraujoch via the ticket machine.

Yes, I certainly could buy the day before. I was thinking about waiting as last-minute as possible to look at the weather conditions. Perhaps the weather conditions would not change within 12-24 hours?

I don’t want to buy using the SBB app when I am traveling because I don’t want to enter my credit card info on open Wi-Fi. I don’t even know how secure the Wi-Fi is in whichever hotel I stay. So the ticket machine sounds great.

I see an itinerary on the SBB app that is Luzern - Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrünnen - Kleine Scheidegg - Jungfraujoch — all trains. I like that.

I also see that the point-to-point roundtrip ticket is CHF 300.80. Does that mean I can pick whichever train route I want back to Luzern including perhaps staying an hour for example in Kleine Scheidegg, Lauterbrünnen or Interlaken and take later same-day trains to Luzern?

Thank you.

You store your credit card info inside the app...you don’t ship out the credit card and type it in on the fly. Neither do you have to use WiFi...just use your own data.

Your ticket will be based on the itinerary you choose. You cannot deviate to a different route but you can stop off along the way as you travel on the route you purchased.

I don’t use data when I am overseas. Are you familiar with the SBB app and know that my credit card information is already stored thereby not necessary to input once again if I buy additional train tickets last minute when I am already in Switzerland?

As for the ticket being good on the itinerary I select, I am confused. When I choose the itinerary from Luzern to the destination, I am then sent to a page to pick the payment option in which I select the icon for Roundtrip first. The SBB app then takes me to where I would buy the round-trip ticket. I don’t see where to input the itinerary for the return portion back to Luzern. So how can I deviate from a return route when I never selected a specific return route at the time of purchase? I only selected a specific outbound route from Luzern.

Jungfrau sounds like a better idea. We were just in the area, and Schilthorn would be difficult if you can’t stand. In addition, it appears that the Schilthorn will only be covered 50% with the Swiss travel pass in 2020 (according to the folks at myswissalps.com.

You might want to do the math and consider whether a half price fare card would save you money. Its 120CHF but you get half off all fares for a month. The trip up to the Jungfraujoch alone would pay for the cost. You would also get a discount on saver day passes.

If you are staying in Lucerne, I would recommend a trip up Rigi. I believe it is covered 100% with the save day pass, as is the boat there from Lucerne. The trip by train from Vitznau would allow you to remain seated the whole way up, and you wouldn’t have to change vehicles. Lovely views from the top.

I also plan on going to the Mt Rigi summit as I see that it is included in the saver day pass. The boat ride to Viznau & the cog rail to the Summit look fantastic. I am thinking of going on the Sunday of my trip since most things are closed. I do hope that the snack bar that is at the train station on the summit will be open.

As for the half fare card, I can buy it for CHF 120 and then pay half fare for a round-trip between Luzern & Jungfraujoch? I looked at the SBB website and it says that the CHF120 is for those between 16-25. Do you have a link that says otherwise? I’m older than 25.

Here you go:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-halffare-card.html

It seems like it would work well for you.

Thank you!

One more thought- if you are staying all 6 nights in Luzern, a Tell Pass might work for you, depending on what you intend to do. Unlike the Swiss Travel Pass, it covers Pilatus and Titlis 100%, as well as a bunch of other lifts/trains in central Switzerland.

Link: https://www.tellpass.ch/en/

You can get just a few days, but they must be used consecutively.

I am staying all 6 nights in Luzern and wondered about the Tell Pass. Thanks. With the Saver Day Pass, I may have a better deal there but like you said, it doesn't include PIlatus & Titlis.