Today we made the big decision not to go up to Jungfrauloch, despite it being one of the main goals of coming to Switzerland. We instead opted for the alternative of going up the other side of the valley to the top of the Schilthorn, for a much more reasonably-priced high altitude experience. Depending on our endurance we hoped to also get up to Kleine Scheidegg, close to the Eiger, later in the day.
The Schilthorn is across a deep valley from the Eiger. The train from Interlaken quickly delivered us to the town of Lauterbrunnen in the valley, and from that train we crossed the road to a funicular which carried us up the hill to the level of the village of Murren, built on a grassy ledge on the mountain at about 1,600 metres. Another train took us along the side of the mountain to Murren, which is a very pretty place with fantastic views looking up at the Eiger. We walked through Murren to the cableway which climbs from there to Birg (2,600 metres), where we transferred to a second gondola for the last leg up to Schilthorn at 2,970 metres (9,744 feet).
There is of course a restaurant on top of the Schilthorn, and fortunately a somewhat cheaper snack bar too. There is also a sort of "James Bond experience", capitalizing on the fact that the film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was filmed here many years ago (1968?). We had good weather and great views of the Eiger and Jungfrau, and it was not even particularly cold. Very lucky.
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| The train to Mullen. The windows were wide open. |
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| The big three - Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau. |
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| Big chalet-style hotels in Murren. |
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| The Eiger. |
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| Some locals were planting out their veges. |
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| In the gondola climbing up from Murren to Birg. |
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| At Birg, the midway stop en route to the Schilthorn. |
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| The 100-person gondola returning to Murren. |
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| The mountains with Murren visible far below. |
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| Sue tackles the "Thrill Walk" at Birg. |
The Thrill Walk is a walkway attached to the side of the rock wall at Birg, above a large drop. The walkway is of see-through steel mesh, so that's a bit thrilling. Then there are clear glass sections for more excitement, and finally a single-cable section with a net to catch you if you slip! |
| Clear glass - no problem! |
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| Balancing on the cable - not so easy! |
From Birg the final cableway takes you to the Schilthorn summit. As we approached it was clear there is a major construction job going on up there. They are building a new lift to increase the capacity. I don't know how they get all the heavy machinery and materials up there. A very big helicopter perhaps?
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| Approaching the terminus on the Schilthorn. |
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| Exiting the gondola at the top. |
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| The viewing platform, and construction machinery. |
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| The Eiger, with the Birg station visible below. |
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| A zoomed-in view of Birg from above. |
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| There are numerous reminders that James Bond was here. |
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| Approaching Birg, where the rock reveals some complex geology. |
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| Us and 98 other passengers in the gondola. |
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| We stopped in Murren on the way back, for a snack. |
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| That salad doesn't sound right! How bad can it be? |
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| When you order soup, they say "would you like a sausage with that?". |
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| Pretty wildflowers are everywhere. |
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| The Eiger above the streets of Murren. |
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| I like these Swiss fire hydrants. |
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| Sue was very excited when the train passed these cows with bells! |
We retraced our steps back down to Lauterbrunnen, and decided we still had enough gas in the tank to go back up the other side of the valley toward the Eiger. We boarded yet another train, this one to Kleine Scheiwegg via Engen. It clawed its way up a steep path, past great views across the valley at Murren and several waterfalls, and eventually out of the trees and up toward the snow.
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| Another train, this one up toward the Eiger. |
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| We passed quite a few hikers doing it all on two legs. |
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| At the top, at Kleine Scheiwegg. |
