Gondola 888: The Eiger Express Cabin With a Champagne Bar

The Eiger Express climbs from Grindelwald Terminal to Eigergletscher in 15 minutes. 44 of its cabins have 26 seats; one VIP gondola, numbered 888, has a champagne bar in the centre. It is not sold at the ticket office: it belongs to the railway's Platinum Club, whose members bring up to four guests a day. The gondola bar anyone can book is the VIP-Bordbar on the Männlichen gondola, from the same terminal. Or ride 888's line up, walk the north face's story down to Kleine Scheidegg and raise a glass there.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Cabin 888, the Champagne Bar Kept for Members History · Free

   The cabin the searches are about: real, and members-only.

   The Eiger Express runs 44 cabins of 26 seats and one VIP gondola, numbered 888, with a champagne bar in the centre. It is a Platinum Club benefit: members ride it any day of the year and may bring up to four guests a day, at CHF 250 each (CHF 200 with a ticket or season pass).

   Where: Grindelwald Terminal, Grundstrasse 54.

   What: the cabin is not sold at the ticket office, and no champagne service is sold to the public.

   How: free; ride the same line in step 3.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Toast on the Gondola Bar Anyone Can Book Wine · Price: moderate · Optional

   The public's bubbles on a moving cabin leave from the same terminal.

   Booked ahead, a cabin on the Grindelwald–Männlichen gondola, 19 minutes up, carries a bar: the VIP-Bordbar, for a birthday or an anniversary.

   Where: Grindelwald Terminal.

   What: CHF 8 a head for nuts, crisps and mineral water, plus Swiss white wine (CHF 15 a half bottle, CHF 25 a bottle) or Champagne (CHF 25 or CHF 50); orange juice CHF 5. The lift is extra: CHF 68 return in summer 2026.

   How: request it at least 48 hours ahead, giving the number in the cabin, date, time and route.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Walk the North Face's Story Down From Eigergletscher Adventure · Free

   The railway says the builders lived up here; come down on foot.

   Up to 200 people lived at Eigergletscher while the Jungfrau Railway was built, about 160 of them Italians, the railway says.

   Where: the Eiger Express, 15 minutes from Grindelwald Terminal to Eigergletscher station (2,321 m).

   What: the Jungfrau Eiger Walk, 2.5 km and about an hour down to Kleine Scheidegg, past stations on the north face's tragedies, dramas and triumphs; easy even for occasional walkers.

   How: free on foot; the lift ticket is extra.

   Backup: change at Eigergletscher to the Jungfrau railway down to Kleine Scheidegg.

   Log Memory
4. 4 Raise a Glass Below the North Face Wine · Price: low

   The glass the public can have, with the north face behind it.

   From Grindelwald the north face is in direct view, and from Kleine Scheidegg better still: the Eiger, 3,970 m, is known for a face 1,800 m high.

   Where: the sun terrace of the Bergrestaurant Kleine Scheidegg, where the two cog railways meet.

   What: 1 dl of Pinot Noir «Le Préféré» from Gregor Kuonen, Salgesch, CHF 7; zero-proof, Tröpfel DER ZWEITE, an alcohol-free sparkling wine, CHF 46 a bottle.

   How: photograph your glass with the face behind it, the memory of this quest. Back down: the Wengernalp railway to Grindelwald.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Going on to the Jungfraujoch? The Eiger Express is the first leg: 45 minutes from Grindelwald Terminal to the summit, with the Jungfrau Railway on from Eigergletscher.

• The railway says its site management gave every worker building the line a bottle of red wine a day, to keep them in good spirits.

• Terrace tables at the Bergrestaurant Kleine Scheidegg can be booked online or on +41 33 828 78 88.