Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Schilthorn or James Bond Peak

Introduction
Going up to Schilthorn is via 1 single cable car. The starting point is at Stechelberg, and you keep changing cars firstly at Murren, later at Birg, before finally reaching the top. The single cable car also means a maximum number of passengers can be lifted at any one time. This means that you will spend time waiting for the transfer, and it also depends on the crowd.

Jungfrau Travel Pass holders
However for holders of the Jungfrau Travel Pass, your starting point is at Lauterbrunnen. The Pass will enable you to go up for free until Murren. You then pay to top up the section Murren to Schilthorn. It's a 25% discount off, ie you pay 60CHF per person for this section. You pay this ticket only when you reach the Murren-Schilthorn cable car station.

At Lauterbrunnen train station, you cross the road to a blue building to take the cable car to Grutschalp. A 1-wagon train then took us up to Murren.
We then had to follow direction sign for Schilthornbahn : we turned towards the left from the Murren station and literally walked across almost the entire village to the cable car station.

Schilthorn
The lift stops at Birg, for the Skyline walk, and then you transfer to another cable car for Schilthorn. We went up first to Schilthorn, where there is an outside viewing platform all round to admire the Alps.
The view is absolutely stunning and every picture, every view is postcard perfect, on a beautiful day !
We then descended to Birg, and tried the Skyline Walk and Thrill Walk. This is not for those who are afraid of heights as you can see literally the landscape under your feet , either thru the stairs, the metallic floor or glass floor. The Skyline Walk is built all around the station, whereas for the Thrill Walk, you are walking over a tight rope with a see-through glass right beneath the rope.
This is a really fun and exciting walk around Schilthorn's peak.
Kudos to the Swiss !
The last part of the Skyline walk is on gravel and slightly steep to go back to the cable car station, so take time to return.

Conclusion
For holders of the Jungfrau Travel Pass, it's a good outing, as you get to visit Murren, either on the way to or returning from Schilthorn, and you get 25% off the ticket price from Murren. You need to plan for more time due to the train and cable car transfers and the crowd. You will need easily half a day or more for the entire outing.

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