June 13 Bern (day-trip to Interlaken & Jungfraujoch)
June 13, 2023
Last updated on September 6th, 2023 at 03:33 pm
Photos of Lucerne and Jungfraujoch
Video summary of the day
Today we took a day-trip from Bern. We headed to Lucerne, then to Jungfraujoch by way of Interlaken.
The walk to the train station was easy. Alan discovered an easy way into the station by way of the escalator down from the bus station near the train station and not very far from our hotel (if we had only known yesterday!). Our goal was to take an 8 am train to Lucerne. At this hour of the day, the station was very crowded. We had a little trouble identifying the correct platform, but found it in plenty of time.
We got to Lucerne in about an hour, including a couple of stops. The first thing Joyce wanted to do was a lake cruise, which was included on our Swiss Train pass. The boat docks were just outside the train terminal. We tried to join a boat tour the was leaving very soon, but missed it by seconds. The next one left in an hour, so we walked around the Old Town.
We started by crossing the Chapel Bridge, a 14th century covered wooden footbridge spanning the Reiss River at an angle, forming part of the town’s early fortification protecting from attacks from the direction of the lake. Near the center of the river, the bridge joins Wasserturm, an octagonal tower that has served as a lighthouse, a prison and a treasury. Periodically inside, there were triangular paintings in the rafters that told of the history of Lucern (in Swiss German, of course). The bridge had lots and lots of flower boxes all along the way.
We walked through the Old Town to Jesuitenkirche, the Jesuit church of St Francis Xavier, which was built in 1666–73. Its onion-domed twin towers were not completed until the 19th century. The Baroque interior is richly and colorfully decorated with intricate stuccowork and beautiful ceiling paintings depicting the apotheosis of St Francis Xavier. The contrast of white walls and ceiling with the dark wood of the pews and front alter area were striking. The windows were not made of stained glass, but square panes of circular glass arranged into triangles.
Upon exiting St. Francis Xavier, we walked back to the pier to catch the boat for a trip from Lucerne to Kehrsiten, on the other side of Lake Lucerne. Before arriving in Switzerland, we purchased a Swiss Travel Pass for the 8 days in Switzerland. This pass allows unlimited access to public transportation – trains, trams, buses, boats, as well as entrance to over 500 museums. So the large catamaran we were on was in essence a ferry that allowed us a beautiful ride across the lake and back in about an hour.
The weather was sunny with a light breeze, We were treated to stunning views of blue/green water, surrounding mountains with small towns clustered on the banks, of the lake with smaller clusters or singular houses dotting the hillsides. We sat on white benches in an outside area near the back of the boat to enjoy the breeze and for better pictures.
Once back in Lucern, Alan went to the Church of St. Leodegar, also known as Hofkirche, on the other side of the inlet from the transportation center. It was built in parts from 1633 to 1639 on the foundation of a Roman basilica begun in 735 that had burnt in 1633. In the 8th century there was already an abbey consecrated to Saint Maurice on the current site of the church, which had been donated by Pepin the Short (who is one of our grandfathers!), and was known at the time as the Monastarium Luciaria. By the 12th century the abbey was under the jurisdiction of the Murbach Abbey, whose patron saint was St. Leodegar. Compared to some of the majestic cathedrals we’ve seen elsewhere, this church was much smaller, but it had soaring ceilings, and plenty of gilded sculptures and surfaces.
While he was gone, Joyce rested and checked out where the Zentralban would leave from. While our Swiss Travel pass covers most transportation, some of the trains, gondolas, etc. into the mountains involved additional cost and sometimes reserved seating This was all a little confusing, especially to Joyce, but Sonya has it all figured out and arranged what we needed. The Zentralban Express from Lucern to Interlaken was of these. Using the SBB Mobile app we located the platform the train would leave from.
We made our way to the train station, stopping to purchase apples and sandwiches to eat on the train. We asked a woman in the store if she could help us identify the types of sandwiches. She didn’t speak English, but signaled to a store clerk and he identified sandwich ingredients, helped us weigh the apples and showed us how pay for our items.
As always the train was on time. Our seats were reserved with our names displayed.
The 1.5 hour ride to Interlaken treated us to mountain views, some with snow on top, blue/greens lakes, tall thin waterfalls and lush forests as well as farms dotting the hillsides, some reminiscent of those in the movie, Heidi.
At Interlaken, we had a few minutes before our next train, so Alan ran across the square to Coop (one of the two major groceries in Switzerland) to get chocolate and bananas. There wasn’t a set shopping list, but when he saw that the chocolate was on sale At about 40% off, he couldn’t resist.
We then had a smaller train to Grindewald Terminal, and now we really started going up. There were more mountains that were close by and more tunnels and waterfalls and fewer farms.
When we got to Grindewald Terminal, we followed the crowds and the signs to the gondola to Eigergletscher. We had the 23-passenger gondola to ourselves, and I was a smooth, peaceful glide up the mountain. We floated over forests, streams, and hiking paths. Clearly we were gaining a lot of altitude. It was also beginning to rain and we floated through a few clouds. Joyce wasn’t a fan!
But we weren’t yet to the top. Next, we boarded a cogwheel train. This part of the trip was through the mountain, all but the beginning was in a tunnel. The train goes at a very fast clip by cogwheels that engage with small cogs that line the middle of the train track. Signs along the way told us how much electricity was generated by doing this…as we went down of course, as gravity was supplying the energy to go down.
We reached Jungfraujoch, touted as the Top of Europe. We were in a fairly modern building/museum. There were arrows and signs directing us to walk to several view platforms, except that there wasn’t a lot to see. The clouds were moving around us and we couldn’t see very far. Oh, and it was now snowing! We had dressed pretty warmly, but didn’t bring our winter coats (we had packed them, but the forecast didn’t indicate that we’d need them. We were dressed warm enough for the time that we were outside.
We could see that we were on top of a glacier. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see much beyond that. We had seen videos when the weather was better, so I could sort of imagine what was hidden in the clouds.
There were lots of Asian tourists; Alan decided that a large number of them were Korean based on the alphabet they used. They were kind of loud and aggressive, and took lots of selfies with exaggerated hand and arm movements, which was also the observation that one of our earlier guides had mentioned from his experience with Asian visitors in Switzerland. When we had the chance, we let those groups move past us (which they were determined to do anyway).
The oxygen level was definitely much lower up there. We were at over 13,000 feet, so we were moving slowly, both because it was harder to breathe, and because the floors were somewhat slippery. We’re pretty sure that we were experiencing some altitude sickness, Joyce more so than Alan.
Once we had made our way past the various viewing platforms, we started through the ice palace. This was a series of passageways through the glacier. Here, it was definitely cold with very slippery floors. Scattered throughout were little rooms with ice carvings. Thankfully, there were hand rails throughout, and neither of us fell down.
We did the reverse to Interlaken, mostly in rain. The gondola had several other people on board, but while young, they were pretty well behaved, though talkative. As we’ve learned throughout, once we’ve traveled one direction, the way back seems much easier.
We were a little earlier than originally planned but there wasn’t much open to see in Interlaken, and we didn’t have time to go into the town proper. So we rode the train back to Bern, a pretty uneventful leg.
By now we were pretty familiar with the path back to the hotel. So, we got to our room to blog, work on pictures, pack, and sleep.
About Bern
A powerful force since medieval times, the thriving Swiss capital is an appealing city of museums and collections. Bernmobil is the capital’s transit service. A BernCard is valid on trams and buses that serve the city. A free bike service is also an option for getting around. The Historical Museum and the Collection of the Bern Museum of Fine Arts house the art and architecture of millennia. The Einstein House and the Paul Klee Center showcase the work of two of Bern’s famous former inhabitants.
About Jungfraujoch
Icy air streams across your face, snow crunches under your feet, and the view nearly takes your breath away: on one side the view of the Mittelland up to the Vosges, on the other the Aletsch glacier, bordered by four thousand metre peaks. Standing on the Jungfraujoch 3,454 metres above sea level, you can feel it with your first step: this is a different world. It’s one you have to experience.
