The Jungfraujoch Railway

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Interlaken, which is situated on the Aare river between the beautiful turquoise lakes of Brienz and Thun, is the gateway to the Jungfrau region in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland. Cog railways run from the station at Interlaken Ost to the pretty alpine villages of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Mürren and Wengen.

From Grindelwald and Wengen the cog railways continue, to converge on Kleine Scheidegg which consists of a station and a few buildings spectacularly situated on the watershed between the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen valleys. Above Kleine Scheidegg tower the three peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.

The most spectacular train journey in the region (as well as the most expensive) is from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch which is situated on the col between the Mönch and the Jungfrau. The train leaves Kleine Scheidegg (2061 m) and climbs sharply to Eigergletscher Station (2320 m). It then enters a tunnel bored through the Eiger and Mönch to arrive an hour later at Jungfraujoch Station (3454 m) which claims to be the highest railway station in Europe.


The train stops twice in the tunnel to allow trains coming in the opposite direction to pass. At the lower stop, Eigerwand, passengers can alight from the train and look out from windows set in the Eiger North Face. At the upper stop, Eismeer, the view is across the Fiescher Glacier which flows towards Grindelwald.

The Jungfraujoch station is underground, but there are tunnels leading outside and a fast elevator to the “Sphinx” observatory and scientific laboratories (3571 m). A path across the permanent snowfields below the Mönch, with superb views towards the Aletsch glacier and back to the Jungfrau, leads to the Mönchsjochhütte (3650 m).

To get the most out of a trip to Jungfraujoch it is necessary to set out early. Good weather is essential, and if the Jungfrau is in cloud it is probably better to postpone the trip. A drop in temperature of 30 C is likely between Interlaken and Jungfraujoch so that warm clothing is required, as well as sunglasses and boots for walking on the snowfields. Although 3500 m is not particularly high, the effect of altitude is quite noticeable on the up-hill sections of the Mönchsjochhütte path.

There is a Web Cam at Jungfraujoch showing changing panoramic views of the Sphinx, the Aletsch Glacier, the snowfields and the Jungfrau.The railway company that runs the Jungfraujoch Railway also operates the Gornergrat Railway in Switzerland's Upper Valais region. This runs from Zermatt (1620 m) to Gornergrat (3130 m) and the journey is notable for its spectacular views of the Matterhorn.A range of 4000 m peaks from Monte Rosa, through Liskamm, Breithorn, Matterhorn to Dent d'Hérens is visible from Gornergrat Station.

There are several stations between Zermatt and Gornergrat and these are linked by paths as well as by the railway, so that it is possible to walk up to Gornergrat from Zermatt and take the train back or vice versa. It is also possible to walk selected sections; the walk from Riffelberg to Gornergrat is particularly spectacular.The pictures shown on this page were scanned from transparencies (Kodachrome 64 or Provia 100) at a resolution 1600×1072 pixel using a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual film scanner. The resolution was then reduced to 800×536 pixel.

Costs, money and banks

It's hard to generalize about what you're likely to spend travelling around Europe. Some countries - Norway, Switzerland and the UK - are among the priciest places to be in the world, while in others you can live like a lord on next to nothing - Turkey, for example. The collapse of the eastern European economy means that many of the countries there appear very inexpensive if you're coming from the west. However, the absorption of a number of the previously inexpensive countries of southern Europe into the EU means their costs are becoming much more in tune with the European mainstream.

Accommodation will be the largest single cost, and can really determine where you decide to travel. For example, it's hard to find a double hotel room anywhere in Scandinavia - perhaps the most expensive part of the Continent - for much under £40/$65 a night, whereas in most parts of southern Europe, and even in France, you might be paying under half that on average. Everywhere, though, even in Scandinavia, there is some form of bottom-line accommodation available, and there's always a youth hostel on hand. In general, reckon on a minimum budget of around £10/$15 a night per person in most parts of Europe.

Food and drink costs also vary wildly, although again in most parts of Europe you can assume that a restaurant meal will cost on average £5-10/$8-15 a head, with prices at the top end of the scale in Scandinavia, at the bottom end in eastern and southern Europe. Transport costs are something you can pin down more exactly if you have a rail pass or are renting a car. Nowhere, though, are transport costs a major burden, except perhaps in Britain where public transport is less heavily subsidized than elsewhere. Local city transport, too, is usually good, clean and efficient, and is normally fairly cheap, even in the pricier countries of northern Europe. It's hard to pinpoint an average daily budget for touring the Continent, but a bottom-line survival figure - camping, self-catering, hitching, etc - might be around £15/$25 a day per person; building in an investment for a rail pass, staying in hostels and eating out occasionally would bring this up to perhaps £20/$30 a day; while staying in private rooms or hotels and eating out once a day would mean a personal daily budget of at least £25/$40. Obviously in the more expensive countries of northern Europe you might be spending more than this, but on a wide tour this would be balanced out by spending less in southern and eastern Europe, where everything is that much cheaper.

When and where you are travelling also makes a difference. Accommodation rates tend to go up across the board in July and August, when everyone is on vacation - although paradoxically there are good deals in Scandinavia during these months. Also bear in mind that in capital cities and major resorts in the peak season everything will be a grade more expensive than anywhere else, especially if you're there when something special is going on, for example in Munich during the Beer Festival, Pamplona for the running of the bulls, Siena during the Palio. These are, in any case, times when you will be lucky to find a room at all without having booked.

As for ways of cutting costs , there are plenty. It makes sense, obviously, to spend less on transport by investing in some kind of rail pass, and if you're renting a car to do so for a week or more, thereby qualifying for cheaper rates. Always try to plan in advance. Although it's good to be flexible, buying one-off rail tickets and renting cars by the day can add a huge amount to your travel budget. The most obvious way to save on accommodation is to use hostels and/or camp; you can also save by planning to make some of your longer trips at night, when the cost of a couchette may undercut the cost of a night's accommodation. It's best not to be too spartan when it comes to food costs, but doing a certain amount of self-catering, especially at lunchtime when it's just as easy (and probably nicer) to have a picnic lunch rather than eat in a restaurant or café, will save money. Bear in mind, also, that if you're a student an ISIC card is well worth investing in. It can get you reduced (usually 50 percent, sometimes free) entry to museums and other sights - costs which can eat their way into your budget alarmingly if you're doing a lot of sightseeing - as well as qualifying you for other discounts in certain cities; it can also save you money on some transport costs, notably ferries, and especially if you are over 26. For Americans there's also a health benefit, providing up to $3000 in emergency medical coverage and $100 a day for 60 days in hospital, plus a 24-hour hotline to call in the event of a medical, legal or financial emergency. If you are not a student but under 26, the Go-25 Card (or FIYTO) costs the same as the ISIC and can in some countries give much the same sort of reductions. Teachers qualify for the International Teacher Identity Card , offering similar discounts. All these cards are available from youth travel specialists such as Council Travel, STA, Usit and Travel CUTS. Basically, it's worth flashing one or the other at every opportunity to see what you can get.

The Euro
On 1 January 1999, eleven EU countries - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, subsequently joined by Greece - fixed their exchange rates to a new currency, the euro ( € ) , which has gradually taken over as the single currency for all of them. Euro notes and coins replaced francs, Deutschmarks, lire and the like from 1 January 2002 onward. The remaining three EU countries (the UK, Denmark and Sweden) are expected to join Euroland eventually, though their politicians may have a hard time convincing voters that this is a good idea, especially if the new currency continues to perform badly against the dollar, the yen or the pound sterling. The British government has promised a referendum before joining; Denmark had one and voted against; but attitudes in those countries are expected to change as the euro becomes established.

Prices
For countries in Europe we've quoted prices in local currency wherever possible, except in those countries where the weakness of the currency and the inflation rate combine to make this a meaningless exercise. In these cases - parts of eastern Europe and Turkey - we've used either US dollars, pounds sterling or Deutschmarks, depending on which hard currency is most commonly used within that country.

Wiring money
Having money wired from home is never cheap, and should be considered as a last resort. Funds can be sent to most countries via MoneyGram or Western Union. Both companies' fees depend on the amount being transferred, but as an example, wiring £700/$1000 will cost around £40/$60. The funds should be available for collection (usually in local currency) from the company's local agent within minutes of being sent; you can do this in person at the company's nearest office (in the UK all post offices are agents for MoneyGram), or over the phone using your credit card with Western Union. It's also possible, and slightly cheaper, to have money wired from a bank in your home country to one in Europe, but this is much slower (a couple of weeks is not unheard of) and less reliable; if you go down this route, the person wiring the funds will need to know the routing number of the destination bank. From the UK, a compromise option is Thomas Cook's Telegraphic Transfer service, available through their high street branches, which costs £15 plus one percent of the amount to be sent (minimum charge £25), and takes 1-2 days to arrive.

If you have no money in your account, and there is no one you can persuade to send you any, then the options are inevitably limited. You can either find some casual, cash-in-hand work, sell blood (not possible in all European countries), or, as a last resort, throw yourself on the mercy of your nearest consulate. They won't be very sympathetic or even helpful, but they may cash a cheque drawn on a home bank and supported by a cheque card. They might, if there's nothing else for it, repatriate you, though bear in mind your passport will be confiscated as soon as you set foot in your home country and you'll have to pay back all costs incurred (at top-whack rates). They never lend money.

Travelling in Europe

It's easy enough to travel in Europe, and a number of special deals and passes can make it fairly economical too. Air links are extensive, but also expensive, give or take the odd charter deal in season, and with the exception of Britain, where flying is the cheapest way to reach much of the Continent. In any case, you really appreciate the diversity of Europe best at ground level, by way of the enormous and generally efficient web of rail, road and ferry connections that covers the Continent

By train
Though to some extent it depends on where you intend to spend most of your time, train is without doubt the best way to make a tour of Europe. The rail network in most countries is comprehensive, in some cases exceptionally so, and the Continent boasts some of the most scenic rail journeys you could make anywhere in the world. Train travel is relatively cheap, too, even in the richer parts of northwest Europe, where, apart from Britain (whose rail system is in a state of virtual collapse following privatization), trains are heavily subsidized, and prices are brought down further by the multiplicity of passes and discount cards available, both Europe-wide ( InterRail for those based in Europe or the British Isles, Eurail for anyone based elsewhere) and on an individual country basis. In some countries you'll find it makes more sense to travel by bus, but if you're travelling further afield buying a rail pass may still pay dividends. We've covered the various passes here, as well as the most important international routes and most useful addresses; supplementary details, including frequencies and journey times of domestic services, are given throughout the Europe guide in each country's "Travel details" section.
If you intend to do a lot of rail travel, the Thomas Cook European Timetable is an essential investment, detailing the main lines throughout Europe, as well as ferry connections, and is updated monthly. Thomas Cook also publish a rail map of Europe.

By bus
For most people on a tour of Europe, a bus is something you take when there is no train. There are some countries (Greece, Turkey and Morocco are the most obvious examples) where the trains are slow or infrequent, and the bus network more widespread. In other countries, Spain and Portugal for example, the buses are cheaper, more efficient and genereally a more comfortable option. But on the whole in Europe you'll find yourself using buses for the odd trip here and there, usually locally, since on long-distance journeys between major European cities it's generally slower, more uncomfortable and not particularly cheap, especially if you have a rail pass. If you have a limited itinerary, however, a bus pass or circular bus ticket can undercut a rail pass, especially for over-26s. The Eurolines pass is valid for unlimited travel between 47 cities in Europe and the British Isles (though, with certain exceptions, it is not supposed to be used for journeys that do not cross international frontiers). It costs £90 (£109 for over-26s) for 15 days between 16 September and 31 May, and £120/145 between 1 June and 15 September. For 30-day passes, those prices are £129/162 and £179/222, and for a 60-day pass they are £162/205 and £195/259. Alternatively, Busabout run services for their own pass holders every two or four days between April and October (May to September in Spain and Portugal), taking in the major cities of nine European countries, with add-on connections to two more, plus a link to London and through tickets from elsewhere in Britain and Ireland. Two-week Busabout passes are £149 for youth or student card-holders, £169 for others, rising to £209/229 for 21 days, £279/309 for a month, £429/479 for two months, £529/589 for three, and £629/699 for the whole season. There are also Flexipasses for any 10 or 15 days in two months (£229/255 and £329/369 respectively), 20 days in 3 months (£429/479), or 30 days in 4 months (£599/659), with additional days at £25/30. Busabout passes are available at travel agents in Britain, North America or Australasia (for further enquiries call: in the US tel 1-800/664 4046, in Canada tel 416/322 8468, in the UK tel 020/7950 1661, in Australia tel 02/9657 3333 and in New Zealand tel 09/309 8824, or check Busabout's Web site at www.busabout.com ).

Driving
In order to drive in Europe you need a full and up-to-date driver's licence . EC-approved licences, such as those now issued in Britain and Ireland, are valid throughout the EU, and in theory elsewhere in Europe too. North American and Australasian licences are also in theory valid for driving in most of Europe (in Italy, Austria and Spain you need to carry a translation of this, available from your national motoring organization), but it is better to carry an International Driving Licence, especially if you want to rent a car. These are required in some East European countries and are available from national motoring organizations for a small fee; you'll need to show your driver's licence, passport, one passport photo and proof of age (18 or over). You should also carry your vehicle registration document at all times (if the named owner is not present on the trip you'll need a letter from them authorizing use of the vehicle) and, if taking your own vehicle, be insured. Your existing insurance policy may already provide third-party cover for a certain period in Europe (this is frequently the case with British policies), but for some countries you will need to take out a supplementary policy. As proof of insurance cover, it's sensible to get hold of an International Green Card from your insurers - and it's obligatory in certain countries anyway. In case of breakdown, you can take out, at extra cost, extended cover with automobile associations, although the motoring organizations of most countries operate some kind of reciprocal breakdown agreement with members of most foreign motoring organizations, so if you are a member it's wise to have your membership documents with you as well. Your national organization can provide a list of countries with reciprocal arrangements. A nationality plate should be displayed on the rear of your vehicle, and a warning triangle (which must be displayed if you stop on the road) and first-aid kit are either required or advised throughout Europe. A fire extinguisher is obligatory in Estonia, Lithuania, Greece and Turkey. All the countries of mainland Europe drive on the right-hand side of the road, so your headlights should be adjusted accordingly, and priority to traffic coming from the right is a common rule of the road. Pretty much every country included in The Rough Guide to Europe has a decent network of main roads; only when you get onto minor roads do the differences between southern, eastern and northwestern Europe become really apparent. In most of Europe motorways are free, but in some countries tolls are levied: in Greece, Spain and Portugal these are fairly cheap; in France they cost more but the primary roads there are invariably excellent; in Italy the cost can be substantial if you're travelling long distances. Fuel prices vary from around 52¢/36p for a litre of unleaded in Poland, or 75¢/52p in Greece, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic, to a hefty $1.20/84p in the UK and almost as much in Norway and Finland; petrol is also pricey in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, while in Eastern Europe it is generally cheaper. Leaded petrol is being withdrawn in most European countries, and is already unavailable in a few. Diesel is usually only slightly cheaper than gasoline; in Britain, amazingly, it actually costs more.

The alternative to taking your own car is to rent one on the spot. Compared to rates in North America, this can be expensive, and you may find it cheaper to arrange things in advance through one of the multinational chains, or by opting for some kind of fly-drive deal. If you do rent a car in Europe, rates for a small hatchback start at £140/$200 a week (depending on the country and the time of year) if you book in advance, usually more if you rent on the spot; we've given more precise details in the relevant sections of the guide but in general costs are higher in Scandinavia and northern Europe, lower in eastern and southern Europe. Unlimited mileage deals (as opposed to those where you pay a charge per kilometre) work out better value and give more flexibility. To rent a car you'll need to present your driving licence, sometimes an international driver's permit, and should be at least 21 years of age with more than one year's driving experience, though these regulations can vary some countries like Italy will not rent out a car if you don't have a credit card to put down a returnable deposit; if in doubt, check in advance with the car rental company or your home motoring organization. Note also that some firms don't allow you to take their cars across country borders

Climate and when to go to Europe

Europe's climate is as variable as everything else about the Continent. In northwestern Europe - Benelux, Denmark, southwestern Norway, most of France and parts of Germany, as well as the British Isles - the climate is basically a cool temperate one, with the chance of rain all year round and no great extremes of either cold or hot weather. There is no bad time to travel in most of this part of the Continent, although the winter months between November and March can be damp and miserable - especially in the upland regions - and obviously the summer period between May and September sees the most reliable and driest weather.

In eastern Europe , on the other hand, basically to the right of a north-south line drawn roughly through the heart of Germany and extending down as far as the western edge of Bulgaria (taking in eastern Germany, Poland, central Russia, the Baltic states, southern Sweden, the Czech and Slovak republics, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary and Romania), the climatic conditions are more extreme, with freezing winters and sometimes sweltering summers. Here the transitional spring and autumn seasons are the most pleasant time to travel; deep midwinter, especially, can be very unpleasant, although it doesn't have the dampness you associate with the northwestern European climate.

Southern Europe , principally the countries that border the Mediterranean and associated seas - southern France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and western Turkey - has the most hospitable climate in Europe, with a general pattern of warm, dry summers and mild winters. Travel is possible at any time of year here, although the peak summer months can be very hot and very busy and the deep winter ones can see some rain.

There are, too, marked regional variations within these three broad groupings. As they're such large countries, inland Spain and France can, for example, see a continental type of weather as extreme as any in central Europe, and the Alpine areas of Italy, Austria and Switzerland - and other mountain areas like the Pyrenees, Apennines and parts of the Balkans - have a climate mainly influenced by altitude, which means extremes of cold, short summers, and long winters that always see snow. There are also, of course, the northern regions of Russia and Scandinavia, which have an Arctic climate - again, bitterly cold, though with some surprisingly warm temperatures during the short summer when much of the region is warmed by the Gulf Stream. Winter sees the sun barely rise at all in these areas, while high summer can mean almost perpetual daylight.

There are obviously other considerations when deciding when to go . If you're planning to visit fairly touristed areas, especially beach resorts in the Mediterranean, avoid July and August, when the weather can be too hot and the crowds at their most congested. Bear in mind, also, that in a number of countries in Europe everyone takes their vacation at the same time (this is certainly true in France, Spain and Italy where everyone goes away in August). Find out the holiday month beforehand for the countries where you intend to travel, since you can expect the crush to be especially bad in the resorts; in the cities the only other people around will be fellow tourists, which can be miserable. In northern Scandinavia the climatic extremes are such that you'll find opening times severely restricted, even road and rail lines closed, outside the May-September period, making travel futile and sometimes impossible outside these months. In mountainous areas things stay open for the winter sports season, which lasts from December through to April, though outside the main resorts you'll again find many things closed. Mid-April to mid-June can be a quiet period in many mountain resorts, and you may have much of the mountains to yourselves.

Europe

The collapse of the division between eastern and western Europe at the end of the 1980s, and the ever closer ties among the fifteen countries of the European Union - increasingly a political and cultural as well as economic union - made Europe a buzzword in the early 1990s, implying shared values and, despite all the wrangling, a broad consensus of political beliefs. Some of this is inevitably a superficial analysis, but although true European unity still remains a distant dream, developments such as the introduction of the euro, the creation of the frontier-free Schengen Group and the opening of the Channel Tunnel have done much to bring it closer.

Conventionally, the geographical boundaries of Europe are the Ural Mountains in the east, the Atlantic Coast in the north and west, and the Mediterranean in the south. However, within these rough parameters Europe is massively diverse. The environment changes radically within very short distances, with bleak mountain ranges never far from broad, fertile plains, and deep, ancient forests close to scattered lake systems or river gorges. Politically and ethnically, too, it is an extraordinary patchwork: Slavic peoples are scattered through central Europe from Poland in the north to Serbia and Bulgaria in the south; the Finnish and Estonian languages bear no resemblance to the tongues of their Baltic and Scandinavian neighbours, but more to that of Hungary, over 1000km south; meanwhile Romansch, akin to ancient Latin, is spoken in the valleys of south-eastern Switzerland, while the Basques of the Western Pyrenees have a language unrelated to any others known. These differences have become more political of late with the rise of nationalism that coincided with the fall of Communism, and borders are even now being redrawn, not always peacefully, and usually along ethnic lines defined by language, race or religion.

Where you head for obviously depends on your tastes and the kind of vacation you want: you can sample mountain air and winter sports in the Alps of France, Austria or Switzerland, lie on a beach in the swanky resorts of the south of France or Italy, or view architecture and works of art in the great cities of London, Paris, Florence or Amsterdam. Suffice to say, the lifting of restrictions on travel in eastern Europe, with only a handful of countries still requiring visas and nothing like the bureaucratic regulations there were before, means that the Continent really is there for the travelling - something manifest in the increasingly good-value rail passes which cover most of the countries in Europe. Although you may want to make a long hop or two by air, rail is indeed the way to see the Continent, highlighting the diversity of the place when you travel in a few hours from the cool temperatures of northern Europe to the rich and sultry climes of the Mediterranean. In fact, with the richness and diversity of its culture, climate, landscapes and peoples, there is no more exciting place to travel.