Jura Crossing: Salins-les-Bains to Fleurier

A border-hopping traverse of the high Jura plateau — salt-town start, limestone gorges, and a finish in the Val-de-Travers, home of absinthe.

Salins-les-Bains sits in a deep valley that has been mining salt since the Middle Ages. Getting out of it is the day’s first job: a stiff wooded ramp that gains most of its elevation in the opening 10 km, then eases onto the high plateau that makes the Jura such a joy to ride.

The ride

Up top it’s classic Jura riding — big open pastures, drystone walls, comté dairies, and barely a car. The route threads a mix of quiet lanes and smooth farm tracks toward the Swiss border, which you cross without ceremony on a forest road near Les Verrières.

The final descent drops you into the Val-de-Travers at Fleurier. If the name rings a bell: this valley is the birthplace of absinthe, and several distilleries in town do tastings. You’ve earned it.

Worth knowing

• Tyres: 35 mm+ recommended. Nothing technical, but the farm-track sections are loose after rain.
• Food: stock up in Levier; the plateau is beautiful but shopless.
• Trains: Fleurier has an hourly connection toward Neuchâtel for the ride home.