Switzerland, the country of cheese, chocolate and beautiful mountain sceneries. This is a 3 day guide through the Jungfrau Region with a few of my favorite spots. To be honest, Switzerland is one of my favorite places to visit. If I could choose a place to live besides The Netherlands, Switzerland would definitely be it. I love to be surrounded by the mountains, maybe it has to do with the flat country we’re living in or that cheese fondue is definitely my favorite meal.

For this trip we traveled by night train to Switzerland. Traveling with a 2-year old kid is sometimes challenging and this is what we think is the most sustainable and easiest way to get there without having to stress over a 12 hour trip with a toddler. You can book your private coupé in the train and have a room for yourself.

We left from Utrecht Central Station at 09:00 pm. It’s the night train to Zurich where you arrive by 08:00 am. When we jumped onboard the train we immediately put Flip to bed and he actually slept perfectly until our breakfast wake-up. From Zurich we had to take the train to Grindelwald with a few jump-overs in-between. By 11:30 am we arrived in Grindelwald after seeing the most beautiful scenery on the way.

Jungfrau Region Travel Itinerary

For a 3 day trip to the Jungfrau Region you don’t need a car. The trains are connected to all areas and when staying in Grindelwald for the 3 days it’s all within walking distance. We took our kid carrier and one suitcase + a backpack with camera gear. You can buy a Swiss Travel Pass to use all trains in Switzerland for the 3 days. This Switzerland itinerary is all based on traveling by train, cable cars and by foot.

Day 1 – Visiting Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe
After arriving in Grindelwald we checked into our hotel Belvedere near the center of Grindelwald. A perfect hotel with a spa, swimming pool, bar and restaurant. On top of that, they have the most beautiful panorama view on the Eiger and other mountains surrounding the hotel.

After we had freshened up a bit we took the train to the Grindelwald Terminal to visit the first highlight; Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe. The new tricable gondala, Eiger Express, from the Grindelwald Terminal just takes you up in 15 minutes to Eiger Glacier station. After that you jump on the train to Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe station, the highest railway station in Europe (3,454 meters above sea-level). The engineering of this train is incredible! Since 1912, the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe has been accessible for tourists by the Jungfrau line, a railway from Interlaken and Kleine Scheidegg, running partly underground through a tunnel through the Eiger and Mönch. In just 45 minutes total from Grindelwald, you’ll arrive at the top.

When entering the viewing platform after visiting the ice palace and Alpine Sensation media tour you’ll be treated with the stunning view on the Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding mountains. A magical place and perfect to spend a few hours.

After enjoying the view, we went back around 5pm with the last train down to Grindelwald. We had a great dinner at Hotel Belvedere and enjoyed the views with sunset after.

Day 2 – Historical Tour and going up to First
After waking up from a good night's sleep and a nice breakfast, we headed to the city center for a guided tour. Our guide Hansueli took us on a two hour walk through the center and told us all about the history, culture and daily life of current Grindelwald. He also brought us to a couple of little boutique shops, where we were introduced to the owners and showed us everything they sold. One of those visits was a really old fashioned cheese shop, where we tasted at least 10 different types of cheese.

With our bellies full of cheese we took our luggage with us and went to First Gondola. Our next stop was a special one; Grindelwald First. The First Gondola takes about 25 minutes to bring you all the way up the mountain, again enjoying the most unbelievable views this area has to offer.

When we arrived at First, we could check in at the hotel. It is not your standard hotel, they have dorms and private rooms available. They are very clean, cozy and comfortable. There is a shared bathroom, so bring your flip flops but even the bathroom was super clean. It was our second time at First Hotel and we just love the place. It's quite busy during the day but after 6 when the cable cars stop running you’ll have the place for yourself. The people from the hotel and restaurant are lovely and super helpful with kids as well. When you book a room at First Hotel its based on half-board, so you have breakfast and a three course meal included.

The weather wasn’t looking too good that afternoon and evening, we hoped to spot some stars as we did 3 years ago but we weren’t lucky enough for that. But we got a super nice surprise instead, a huge rainbow turned up and it was beautiful. Flip was constantly talking about it, and we had plenty of time to take some wonderful photos.

During the night the clouds came in and we didn’t have any views on the mountains or the stars. But we had a great dinner and played some games instead.

Day 3 – Hike to Bachalpsee and visiting the Glacier Gorge.
We woke up after a good night's rest, hoping to see the sun. But unfortunately, the clouds were still very much present and the rain was pouring down. We’d still really wanted to go for a hike so we took our raincoats and headed to Bachalpsee, hoping that the clouds would disappear. Of course that didn't happen and we just got soaked on the way. Flip was looking sad and kept saying ‘it rains it rains!’ although he had an umbrella and sat comfortable in the carrier. We took a few pictures at a very foggy Bachalpsee and turned around. We arrived back at Hotel First and treated ourselves to a delicious cheese fondue for lunch.

After lunch we packed our bags and went down again with the gondola. We checked in at hotel Belverdere where we got a giant family room which was really nice. Flip had a room for himself and was really impressed with the bunk beds, kept saying it was a tower and could not decide in which bed he wanted to sleep. After dinner we put him to bed and arranged for the hotel staff to keep an eye on him, because we had something really special planned. We went to visit the Glacier Gorge. This is a huge glacier river which runs through the mountains. They've built an elevated walkway which is 1 kilometers long, straight through the canyon. Inside the gorge there is a ‘spider web’ net where you can walk on, and you are basically above the trembling river. Such a crazy feeling!

Day 4 - Going back home
We were all set to go back home by train around lunch time, but I could not get over the feeling of missing the views at Bachalpsee with good weather. Because it was really sunny that day, I went up there at 8AM with the earliest gondola I hiked in record time to Bachalpsee to shoot some photos and went back down, just in time for our train to leave at Grindelwald. Mission accomplished! In a short 7 hour train ride we were back home in Utrecht.