Zurich - Grindelwald - Jungfraujoch - Zermatt - Gornergrat - Zurich
Of course Switzerland is famous for its mountains. You will travel with panoramic trains on some sections to Grindelwald, a chalet style village that lies at the foot of the famous Eiger with its challenging North Face; probably the most difficult climb in the Alps. From Grindelwald a full day excursion to the highest railway in Europe the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe.
Change of scenery. A train ride, a short part of the Glacier Express route, you will reach the car-free village of Zermatt, at the foot of the famous Matterhorn. The best view of the Matterhorn and 37 other 4000 meter peaks can be enjoyed from the Gornergrat 3135 m altitude.
Itinerary / Route map
5 days/ 4 nights
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Day 1
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Individual arrival
Train tirp from Swiss airport (Zurich / Basel) to Grindelwald.
The glacier village of Grindelwald lies embedded in a welcoming green hellow surrounded by commanding mountains by the Eiger north face and the Wetterhorn.
Overnight in Grindelwald
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Day 2 |
Excursion to Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe
Today's full day excursion takes you up to a unique, high-alpine glacier world. Aboard the legendary Jungfrau Railway you rach Europe's highest altitude railway station (3454 m).
Attractions: Sphinx Terrace, Ice Palace, Alpine Sensation round tour, Plateau with walks in the eternal snow (glacier).
Overnight in Grindelwald
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Day 3 |
Grindelwald - Zermatt
Train trip from Grindelwald via Interlaken - Lötschberg Base Tunnel to Zermatt, the famous car-free village at the foot of the Matterhorn (4478 m).
Overnight in Zermatt
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Day 4 |
Excursion to Gornergrat
In the morning the cog railway takes you to the Gornergrat at 3089 m. This magnificant viewpoint not only has one of the best views of the Matterhorn, but also shows you the greatest collection of the highest glacier covered peaks of Switzerland.
Overnight in Zermatt
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Day 5 |
Individual departure
Train trip to Swiss airport (Zurich / Basel / Geneva) or continue your stay in Switzerland at your own request.
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Whole tour is by 1st class rail
Extension with additional nights possible
The tour can be made in both directions
For further excursions by train, mountain railway, boat or bus you receive 50% discount
Season: Mid-April through Mid-December |
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Matterhorn
Matterhorn 4478 metres
The Matterhorn, probably the most famous mountain in the world. It is almost a “must” to see this mountain if you visit Switzerland and are interested in mountaineering. Who hasn’t seen a picture of this mountain? It is indeed a very beautiful mountain, especially seen from the north-east (Zermatt). The mountain lies on the border of Switzerland and Italy and is called Monte Cervino in Italy. The story of the first ascend of this mountain is a true thriller. For many years climbers tried to scale this unclimbed peak during the “golden age of mountaineering” in the 1860’s. Almost all other mountains in the Alps were already climbed but the Matterhorn was still virgin by 1865. Most attempts were made from the south (Italian) side. A young British lad called Edward Whymper who worked as an illustrator for a publisher drawing and engraving Landscapes in the Alps was keen to climb this mountain. First he tried several times from the Italian side with another famous climber and mountain guide in those days, Jean-Antoine Carrel. Then after 7 attempts he found out that Jean-Antoine Carrel had plans to climb the mountain with an Italian climber Felice Jordano and thus Whymper couldn’t hire him this time. He crossed over to Zermatt and decided to do an attempt from the Swiss side. Even though they managed to do the first ascent on the 14th July 1865, the climb ended in tragedy as 4 of the 7 climbers fell to their deaths on the way back.
Whymper and his party started in Zermatt in the early morning of 13th July. They ascended to what we now call Hörnligrat (Hörnli Ridge) and camped near the current Hörnli Hut. Whymper found that this Hörnli Ridge was much easier than it appeared as he wrote:
We were now fairly upon the mountain, and were astonished to find that places which from the Riffel, or even from the Furggen Glacier, looked entirely impracticable, were so easy that we could run about. 1
The next morning they began to climb. Whymper wrote about this:
The whole of this great slope was now revealed, rising for 3000 feet like a huge natural staircase. Some parts were more, and others were less easy; but we were not once brought to a halt by any serious impediment, for when an obstruction was met in front it could always be turned to the right or left. For the greater part of the way there was, indeed, no occasion for the rope, and sometimes Hudson led, sometimes myself. At 6.20 we had attained a height of 12800 feet and halted for half an hour; we then continued the ascent without a break until 9.55, when we stopped for fifty minutes, at a height of 14000 feet.1
Close to the summit, the party moved more into the north face. Whymper wrote:
"[the ridge] was usually more rotten and steep, and always more difficult than the face" 1. At this point of the ascent Whymper wrote that the less experienced Hadow "required continual assistance". Eventually they reached the summit.1
The slope eased off, and Croz and I, dashing away, ran a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a dead heat. At 1.40 p.m. the world was at our feet, and the Matterhorn was conquered. Hurrah! Not a footstep could be seen.
Carrel noted that Whymper was on the top and they turned around, knowing they had lost the race. After having built a cairn, Whymper and party stayed on the summit for an hour. Then they began their descent of the Hörnli ridge. Croz descended first, then Hadow, Hudson and Douglas, Taugwalder father, Whymper with Taugwalder son coming last. They climbed down with great care, only one man moving at a time. Whymper wrote:
As far as I know, at the moment of the accident no one was actually moving. I cannot speak with certainty, neither can the Taugwalders, because the two leading men were partially hidden from our sight by an intervening mass of rock. Poor Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow greater security was absolutely taking hold of his legs and putting his feet, one by one, into their proper positions. From the movements of their shoulders it is my belief that Croz, having done as I have said, was in the act of turning round to go down a step or two himself; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, fell on him, and knocked him over. 2
The weight of the falling men pulled Hudson and Douglas from their holds and dragged them down the north face. Taugwalder, father and son, and Whymper were left alive when the rope linking Douglas to Taugwalder father broke. They were stunned by the accident and for a time could not move until Taugwalder son descended to enable them to advance. When they were together Whymper asked to see the broken rope and saw that it had been employed by mistake as it was the weakest and oldest of the three ropes they had brought. They frequently looked, but in vain, for traces of their fallen companions. They continued their descent, including an hour in the dark, until 9.30pm when a resting place was found. At daybreak the descent was resumed and the group finally reached Zermatt, where a search of the victims was quickly organized. The bodies of Croz, Hadow and Hudson were found on the Matterhorn Glacier, but the body of Douglas was never found. Although Taugwalder's father was accused of cutting the rope to save himself and his son, the official inquest found no proof for this.
Source:
1.Edward Whymper, Scrambles amongst the Alps, 6th edition, London: John Murray, 1936, pp. 309–13
2.The Times 08-08-1865, p 9
Today the Matterhorn is climbed by dozens of climbers in summer every day (weather and conditions permitting). It is rated a fairly difficult climb (AD) but the many fixed ropes make it easier to climb the most difficult parts just above 4000 m.
Last meters to the summit with the Dufourspitze, the highest mountain in Switzerland, in the background
Jungfrau
Jungfrau seen from the Lauterbrunnen valley
The 4158 meter high Jungfrau is not the highest, but without doubt the most famous mountain in the Bernese Alps. Especially since the mountain is so well visible from Interlaken. It is probably one of the most beautiful mountains in Switzerland. The combination of glaciers, steep rock walls on the north-west ridge and the characteristic peaks of the Silberhorn (small and large) gives this mountain its famous appearance. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a unique mountain trio that stands out of the other surrounding mountains as rarely seen elsewhere in any mountain chain. It is for this reason that many Swiss and tourists alike mention the 3 mountains in one phrase “Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau” The Bernese Alps with the Jungfrau constitutes the largest glaciated area in the Alps, with the Aletsch Glacier being the longest glacier with a length of 22 km. Also the sheer vertical rise of the Jungfrau is noteworthy. From Stechelberg at 910m in the Lauterbrunnen valley to the summit of the Jungfrau the vertical rise is 3248 meters on a horizontal distance of just 4.5 km!
First ascend of the Jungfrau
The brothers Johann Rudolf (1768–1825) and Hieronymus Meyer together with the local guides Alois Volken and Joseph Bortis reached the summit on August 3, 1811. They had to undertake a long journey via the Grimsel Pass, the Oberaletsch glacier, the Lötschen valley and finally the Aletsch glacier to their base camp near the Konkordiaplatz where 4 major ice steams merge. This was the first successful climb of a high glaciated peak in Switzerland (The Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, was already climbed on August 7, 1786).
After the successful climb not everyone was convinced about their success and so they undertook a similar expedition one year later and climbed the peak again. Later other routes were climbed and it was not until the Jungfrau Railway opened the Jungfraujoch station that the mountain was climbed more often. The opening of the Jungfrau Railway realized an easy access from the north. From the Jungfraujoch the summit can be climbed on the fairly difficult route in about 3-4 hours. Originally the Junfraubahn was supposed to reach the summit of the Jungfrau but as World War I broke out the tourists lacked and subsequently also the funds for the completion of the project.
Prices
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Price 5 days / 4 nights
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| Hotel category |
Double room |
Single room |
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May - Nov |
Dec - April |
May - Nov |
Dec - April |
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Price per person in Swiss Francs |
Price per person in Swiss Francs |
| Comfort hotels |
1195.00 |
on request |
1275.00 |
on request |
| First class hotels |
1350.00 |
on request |
1515.00 |
on request |
| Deluxe hotels |
on request |
on request |
on request |
on request |
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| Children price and 2nd class rail on request |
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| Valid until 31.12.2021 / over Christmas & New Year not avaiable! |
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Price 5 days / 4 nights
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| Hotel category |
Double room |
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May - Nov |
Dec - April |
| Comfort |
1195.00 |
on req. |
| First class |
1350.00 |
on req. |
| Deluxe |
on request |
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| Hotel category |
Single room |
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May - Nov |
Dec - April |
| Comfort |
1275.00 |
on req. |
| First class |
1515.00 |
on req. |
| Deluxe |
on request |
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| Price per person in Swiss Francs |
| Children price and 2nd class rail on request |
| Valid until 31.12.2020 |
The prices are per person. They include the following:
- All rail travel in 1st class (except where only one class is offered) on the described itinerary from/to Swiss airport (Zurich / Basel / Geneva)
- All overnights in carefully selected hotels, Swiss breakfast buffet included
- Excursion Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe
- Seat reservations in the panorama trains
- Full documentation with itinerary and detailed time table with your train connections clearly marked and exact directions to the hotels
- 50% reduction on further excursions by train, bus, boat and cable car in the entire country
- VAT and all taxes
- The travel documents with the detailed itinerary can be obtained at the counter of the Swiss Rail Center at the airport of your arrival, or at the reception of the first hotel of your trip. Upon request, the travel documents can be delivered to your home address by special registered mail or courier service (additional cost depending on shipping method)
In case of payment in Euro (not possible when using credit card) the actual published exchange rate will be used (prices in Swiss Francs are binding).
All our tours can be extended or adapted according to your whishes or travel plans.
Please note that we charge a consultant fee of CHF 60.00 - 120.00 for more extensive consultation or route adjustments.
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What our customers say
Hi Anna,
We arrived home earlier today. However we do want to thank you very much for our wonderful time in Switzerland. Everything went smoothly thanks to your organisational efficiency. I guess you could say all went like clockwork! I realise the weather is not your department but we had two magical days at Interlaken (especially Jungfrau) and at Montreux.
With every good wish,
Trevor & Ruth,
(Australia)
Hi Anna,
Our holiday is over and we are back to our normal life in Australia.
I just want to thank you for your excellent service. The schedule went to plan beautifully and we really got the most of our short stay in Switzerland.
We need to return again and spend longer!
Thank you again, we will certainly recommend your service to our friends.
Hi Anna,
Thank you so much! I got back to Dallas safely around 3:00 AM your time and got home by about 4:30 AM your time.
The tour was great and the tickets, hotel reservations, and itinerary were perfect. It really made my first time traveling outside of the US about as easy as I could hope for. I will definitely want to visit again now that I know how everything works and will want to spend a little more time in some of the cities where my time was limited so I would imagine you’ll be hearing from me again at some point in the future.
Again I want to thank you for all of your help in making it a great vacation, Switzerland is a really amazing place and I’m glad I got to experience it.
Thanks!
Hello Anna!
Thank you for checking in. Our trip to Switzerland was amazing! We genuinely enjoyed everything, thank you!
Hope you have a wonderful day!
Hi Anna,
We are heading back to Germany. Thank you for such a wonderful and memorable experience. Everything went according to plan after we received the documents. Have a good weekend and I will recommend your services to others.
Regards
Hi Anna,
Thanks for everything. We had a wonderful vacation and family time. Enjoyed …..
Yes, we have plans to be back in the summer of 2019 and certainly you shall be our planner.
Thanks and regards
Anna:
Thanks for checking back with me. Yes, our tour was simply awesome! We enjoyed every single bit of it. The way you set up the itinerary for us was great and made it so much easier. Will definitely use your services again and would definitely recommend your services to friends.
Simply Amazing
Well we survived our trip to Switzerland and just wanted to thank you for the job you did for us. We had a really great trip.
Everything you organised worked out fine, except for a couple of little things that I’ll tell you about. On the Titlis excursion when we changed our vouchers for tickets they said it was only for the trip up and down the mountain, we showed them your instructions and about including the “Ice Flyer” and she said no it was only the trip up. Anyway we got tickets and went on the flyer anyway and the glacier park was closed due to weather I think. One other little thing in Lucerne, we bought tickets on a ferry leaving from the jetty near the railway station, the tickets were CHF28 each but they gave them to us for CHF24.50 not half price because they said the tickets were already discounted down from CHF40. Couldn’t really understand that because we never saw CHF40 advertised anywhere.
They were the only two things that didn’t go according to plan but we loved it. Murren is beautiful we could have stayed there more nights The hotel was perfect “Edelweiss.” We heard about Trummelbach falls so when we were leaving Murren and we got to Lauterbrunnen we took a bus and went and saw them before continuing to Interlaken. Something different we didn’t expect to see .
Again thank you for all your help, I will have no trouble recommending you and your company to our friends.
Best regards
Brian and Lorraine,
(Australia)
Hi Beni,
Sorry for the late reply. The vacation was great and there were no issues with the train connections and hotels. We will definitely contact you for our next trip to Switzerland.
Regards,
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