The Jungfrau Region of the Swiss Alps in Central Europe is perhaps the most dramatic & certainly the most memorable mountain scenery in the whole of Switzerland, if not Europe itself. It’s a region of clean air, hiking trails, cow bells, idyllic alpine valleys (including the Lauterbrunnen Valley, the world’s deepest), towering, snow-capped peaks at close quarters, & scenic railway journeys, all of which conspire to make this whole region one big unforgettable outdoor experience.
– Felix Mendelssohn
Looking down the Lauterbrunnen Valley (
) from near the village of Stechelberg, Jungfrau Region, Switzerland. August 25th, 2007 || From an August 2007 visit to Jungfrau, Switzerland
The Lauterbrunnen Valley is an immense U-shaped cleft, the world’s deepest, with high, steep cliffs either side – rarely more than a kilometre apart – rising 1000 metres from the valley floor. From these cliffs some 72 lacy, misty waterfalls fall into the valley, including the 300-metre high Staubbach Falls, Switzerland’s highest, & the thunderous Trümmelbach Falls, the only accessible waterfalls in the world to be completely within a mountain. The valley is an utterly spectacular feature in an utterly spectacular part of the world – even hardened Alpinists shrug their shoulders and call it the most beautiful valley in Europe, bar none.
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