My parents are coming from the States to Switzerland for the first time for Christmas and I was thinking of taking them to Jungfraujoch. I have heard that the experience is very weather dependent. So, my question is - how far in advance do I need to buy the tickets? Ideally, i wouldn't buy them til the day of or day before to ensure best weather but don't want to be in a situation where the weather is great but there aren't tickets available. Any experience on this?

I would suggest you buy the tickets on the day itself after verifying the weather, early in the morning.

You don't need to book in advance, just choose a day when the weather is good and get the ticket at your local station before you get on the train. If the weather is anything less than perfect, don't go. The indoor areas are dark and gloomy and the viewing platforms accessible in bad weather are small.

In my opinion, Jungfraujoch is a bit of a waste of money really.... Gornergrat (above Zermatt) has much better views and is cheaper, go there instead.

We had my parents visit and had a fixed day that we could travel on so we got the Day tickets 'Tageskarte-gemeinde' in Basel for 38 Chf each and then looked at the weather on the day to decide where to go.

Our main options were Interlaken (for jungfraujoch), Pilatus or Zermatt/Gornergrat. The weather on the day was rain for Interlaken and Pilatus and glorious sunshine for Zermatt/Gornergrat so that's where we went - and they loved it.

With this ticket the day is fixed but not the destination and you can use the trains, trams, buses and some boats. It also gives you half-price on the mountain railways. If the weather is bad all over you can pick a destination with indoor appeal - like a city with shops/museums or just ride the trains all day!!

http://www.tageskarte-gemeinde.ch/TA...S/Default.aspx