One day travel up to the Jungfrau

We are travelling by car to interlaken for 1 day and would like to visit jungfrau. We are 2 adults and one 11 year old child. Please advise the best and the cheapest route up to the jungfrau!

Hi Dashy,

Welcome to MySwissAlps! A rail pass won't be worth it if you only stay for one day. You can buy a Good Morning Ticket for CHF 145 per adult, instead of the regular price of CHF 204.40. It requires you to take the 6:35 or 7:05 train from Interlaken Ost. You'll pay the regular price for later trains. You can save on the child fare though, by buying a Junior travelcard for CHF 30.

The route is Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen - Kleine Scheidegg - Jungfraujoch - Kleine Scheidegg - Grindelwald - Interlaken Ost or the other way around.

All details are here: myswissalps.com/ jungfraujoch.

The Jungfraujoch is very nice, but the price is to high !

You go to a point of 3454 m above see level. The price is Sfr 204, 40 (or Euro 200,00) per person from Interlaken. This a lot of money.

When you make a same trip in Austria, to the 3250 m. high Hintertuxer Gletscher in the Zillertal you pay Euro 32.50........... and childeren up to ten years old are free !

Switzerland isn't exactly cheap indeed, but most tourists don't pay those regular prices. There are lots of ways to save. Many people have a Swiss Half Fare Card at least, so that's a 50% saving, and even more with children up to 15 as they travel along for free if the parents have a card or pass. Apart from that, the amount and complexity of the infrastructure to and on Jungfraujoch is huge, and thus expensive.

We are making the same trip. Flying into Basel (home base for us) from London (via SF, CA, USA) on Oct 4, 2016 picking up a rental car and driving into Interlaken Oct 5, and hoping to take a series of trains to the top of the Alps, Jungfrau, 2 adults traveling with a 11, 8 and 3 year old. Tickets seem to be about 208US, full price. Thinking best to buy a 1/2 price card for $120, buy 2 adult fares for $208 with family card kids pay no extra, total $328 for the day trip.

So if I spend $328 for the trip for the day trip and the 1/2 fare card is good for a month and I can maybe use it around Basel to avoid driving or for another trip in another direction before we leave for Rome on the 9th. I have a car so no real need for a train pass, other than just to ride the train, really. I figure $328 is still better than $416 for the full fare price for 2 adults plus the kids fares of $60, total : $476 with no discount. Buying hit the 1/2 off fare card saves us 148 bucks. Does that add up Arno? Did I miss something?

Now if the pass is good for a month and I only need it for a week, is there a "share" market to split te cost with someone else who may need it or less than the month on the same month for different days? Or is that prohibited, your name is on the pass after you buy it, not sharable?

Thanks

Hi delbosquebe, welcome to MySwissAlps!

Please note that Swiss Half Fare Cards are strictly personal: each adult needs one, and your name and passport number are printed on it. So, your total spendings will be higher. Prices and purchase options are listed here. Still, I think it could be worth it. If you stay in Switzerland for a week it's unlikely you will only need public transport for the trip to Jungfraujoch. Personally I would take the train from Basel to Interlaken, as the drive is not particularly interesting and the trains are comfortable. Apart from that, you may want to use a few cable cars and make boat trips. Please see "What to do" in the top menu.

You may find this page interesting: myswissalps.com/car.

There is an additional benefit to taking Arno's suggestion: THE DRIVER GETS TO ENJOY THE SCENERY! I speak from considerable experience driving in the Alps and in Norway. Mountain roads are often narrow and convoluted. Windows on public buses and trains are huge. Moreover, you get to see Swiss people and maybe strike up a conversation. Trains and frequent and go everywhere. I seriously recommend that you leave the car with the auto rental people for another customer. By the way, Basel hotels provide local transit passes for streetcars and the like, so you won't be using your car while there. This is the case in many other locations as well, but not all cities.

Thanks for the suggestions, not taking a car for a part of the way is non-negotiable because with our toddler, just turned 3 in July, it makes infinite sence to have an exit strategy at any given point, whilst not on a train. Once out of a train you are entirely out and in the elements, no "nest" so to speak. A car provides us with that piece of mind that we can collect ourselves, pause and just scamper back as we want.

In town(s), cities for short juants sure we'll park it and take transit, but for Lucerne countryside, a couple of French border towns and the Alps, it most certainly will be a car and train as the distinction requires. I am an experienced mountain driver (Costa Rica Arenal, Grand/Kings/Bryce/Zion Canyons, Kuaui land's end and Canyon) so not too worried about careful tense mountain diving, so we're good there. We're in a friend's house so, no hotel freebies, not complaining, the entire accommodation is a freebie :).

Again thanks, maybe ...may just skip the trip to the tippy top of the Alps and do Interlaken and Grinderwald by car this go and come back when our little one is a little more manageable on long train trips.