Several reasons for coming here, apart from the stunning scenery, the Jungfrau has the highest railway station (dead end) in Europe, The highest Cave and the most expensive day out I’ve had! But it was worth it! As the forecast was for just 2 fine sunny days I made an early morning dash to arrive by midday and get up to the “Top of Europe” by early afternoon. The Journey up from Lauterbrunnen to the top of the Jungfrau takes 2 hours, and you have to change trains at a station called Klein Scheidegg. Leaving the green valley below it was not long before snow was all around. At Klein Scheidegg you get a bonus as you have a magnificent view of; the North face of the Eiger (ogre), the Monch (Monk) and the Jungfrau (Virgin). From Klein S. the majority of the journey is in a tunnel that took 3000 mostly Italian men nearly 16 years to blast their way through to the top station at 3534mts, 11333ft. The train stops twice at galleries where some stunning views are to be had. “The Top of Europe” is a tourist trap of course (2 million people a year) it is very well done so that on bad days you could still go away happy! When the sun shines, as it did for me, the views are to die for and about 12 climbers a year do! I was able to do a short walk on the Aletsch Glacier and watch crazy people fly down a zip wire for £15 each (I was jealous). From various strategic points it is possible to see, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy and France. The guide book points out that many have tried and most fail at one thing and that is to record the splendor of the mountains in pictures. I took nearly 400 photos and I have to agree I failed, so if you really want to know what it is like you’ll have to make a journey here. From Klein S. it is possible to complete a circuit back to you start, which I did the next day, via Grindelwald. The waterfall is just above where I am camped. the change from Morning to evening is due to the water refreezing at night.There are another 72 in this valley and I'll explore more before moving on.
