I just found out some incredible news. My best friend Rachel will be studying abroad on a vineyard in the south of France while I’m in on my tour of Europe! Unfortunately, the tour will not go through the town where she is staying, but we will both have free time during the same week. So, we’ve devised a master plan to meet in Switzerland and go on a train ride through the alps together!
After my tour ends in Rome, I’ll have three days to make it back to London for my flight home to the U.S. Switzerland lies exactly between Rome and the London Heathrow Airport, and it is an optimal place for us to meet. Plus, I have always wanted to go there — it’s on my bucket list!
We looked into train rides through the Alps, and the best we have a found is the Jungfraujoch Top of Europe ride from Rail Europe, an 8-hour train ride through the Alps. According to Rail Europe’s description, we will leave from Grindelwald in Switzerland, and take a modern cogwheel railway 6762 feet up to Kleine Scheidegg. After that, we’ll head toward Eiger Glacier station, where there will be a mountain restaurant and polar dog kennels. The railways continues through the Eiger tunnel, stopping for sightseeing on the way to the highest railway station in Europe: the Jungfraujoch. It’s more than 11,000 feet up and rightfully called the Top of Europe. Apparently, this trip covers Switzerland’s most breathtaking scenery, including a 13.6 mile ice stream and an Ice Palace.
The ride includes:
- Round trip travel to the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe from Grindelwald
- Scenic trip to Eiger Glacier Station and through the Eiger tunnel to the Eigerwand and Eismeer stations.
- Sightseeing at the Great Aletsch Glacier, Ice Palace, Ice Gateway, Sphinx observation terrace, high alpine research exhibitions and more.
Cost: $107/person for young adults.
While that’s not necessarily cheap for someone traveling on a minuscule budget, the price is pretty reasonable compared to most other train rides we found. Many are several days long, include meals and have first-class accommodations. Psh. I have no problems with second class, as long I have a big enough window to see the Alps.
We are going to wait until closer to the date to finalize our plans and book our train ride, but everything looks like it will pan out so far. Hopefully we’ll even have time to pick up some Swiss chocolate. Yum.
