Scenic Trains
Glacier
Express
Bernina
Express
Golden
Pass Line
Gotthard Panorama
Mont
Blanc - St Bernard
Palm
Express
Excursion Trains
Jungfraujoch
Chocolate
Train
Gornergrat
Matterhorn
Mt
Pilatus Railway
Mt
Rigi Railway
Roches
De Naye
Aerial Cables
Mt
Titlis Rotair
Klein
Matterhorn
Schilthorn
Glacier
3000
Gemmi
Stanserhorn
SCHILTHORN – PIZ GLORIA
Alps Views from Famous Revolving Restaurant
Incredible Alps views have
drawn visitors to the top of the Schilthorn mountain in central Switzerland
since the cable tram to its revolving
restaurant first opened in 1967, made famous almost immediately from
its appearance as Blofeld’s mountain peak lair in the James Bond
movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” with George
Lazenby as Bond escaping on the aerial tram cables and the site being
blown up in the final sequence. Of course, the blowing up part was movie
magic, with a miniature and well placed pyrotechnics. The Piz Gloria
mountain top station still survives as an intended tourist excursion
destination, features the restaurant with the revolving floor for passing
snow-capped vistas while enjoying a mean in one of the most dramatic
dining experiences in the world.
At
9,748 ft altitude in the Jungfrau region of the Berner Oberland of central
Switzerland, the final aerial
cable to Schilthorn from the station
at Stechelberg, is reached by rail in about an from Interlaken or Grindelwald
via Lauterbrunnen to Gimmelwald. The aerial cable trip requires four
separate cables. It is also possible to go from Lauterbrunnen via the
Murrenbahn cable to Mürren, the highest ski resort area in central
Switzerland. Mürren from where the Shcilthorn cable departs is a
beautiful little village clinging to the high shelf above the valley.
The Schilthornbahn
ticket
costs CHF
96 for
adults and CHF 46 for children for the full distance. About CHF 60 from
Mürren.
With a Swiss Pass the fare is half-price. To save a
bit more money, a discount for early morning departures until 8:55 or
late day trips departing Stechelberg after 3:25 is offered. Schilthorn
- Piz Gloria is open year round. Tickets can be purchased at any rail
station. At the Piz Gloria station in the surround
vision theatre called the Touristorama, watch
a movie
telling
the story
of the
Bond
film and
the struggle of building the world’s first revolving restaurant
on a mountain peak. In winter, the Murren-Schiltorn ski area is the highest
in the Bernese Oberland offering 54 kilometers of ski runs with dramatic
views of the Eiger Monch and Jungfrau mountain range.
As with all mountaintop excursions, the weather condition can make a
big difference in your experience. For other activities nearby, there
is a Funpark as well as summer and winter.
If visiting one mountain peak isn’t enough to fill the thrill quotient, the Jungfrau Railway goes up the opposite side of the valley, to the Jungfraujoch the Alps highest rail station with views out the famous Eiger windows. Tickets for the Jungraujoch are separate from Schilthorn and to do both would best take two days to experience. The Jungfrau railway, connects from Lauterbrunnen to Klein Scheidegg.