I would like to hear some experiences about the trip from Lauterbrunnen to "The Top of Europe" - going up the Jungfrau - ice palace, dog sleds, lunch options, hiking along the way, trains, etc. We are going in late April. Weather probabilities?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Flip a coin on the weather for clouded over or not. If you're in the area a few days, you'll probably be okay to go one day or the other.
My experience is from Grindlewald and don't recall a penalty for buying a ticket at the last moment. First train of the day is much cheaper however.
Lunch was kind of like a cheap diner, but it was early for us and we just had coffee or a beer. Dog sled rides were short and expensive, skipped those also. I think ice palace was free, but unremarkable.
Since we left from Grindlewald, don't recall opportunity for hiking.
For information: Junfrau is the mountain, joch is the saddle below the peak, you don't go the very top.
Despite the tourist junk, the trip and an hour or so at the top were absolutely worth the steep price. I did it as a kid and had to take my kids back.
Recommendation: do it early, come back down.
Then ride the gondola to First in the late afternoon with the sun on the north face of the Eiger -- one of the greatest experiences of my life.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I wouldn't be too influenced by the weather in Innsbruck since it's a couple hundred miles to the east and generally influenced by a separate weather system.
Weather in Interlaken might be interesting since it's only ten miles away.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
695 posts
Peggy, we also want early in the morning, so we did not have lunch there. You can not predict the weather, hopefully if you are there a few days you should be lucky. The trip to the top is well worth the money, we did not do the dog sleds, but went to the ice palace and enjoyed it, overall we had a great time!
Posted by
OP
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
26 posts
Thanks for the encouraging words, everybody!
Has anyone out there done the dog sled rides?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17439 posts
Peggy, they do not do the dogsled rides any more. See this article:
http://www.jungfrauzeitung.ch/artikel/97806/
Take the walk out to the Monchsjochhutte if the weather is nice (you'll have to be dressed for a hike in the snow).
Posted by
OP
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
26 posts
That's too bad! I had a relative who was a dog-team doctor in Alaska in the 1900's, and was looking forward to the dog-sled experience. Guess we'll just have to go to Alaska.