La Grande traversée du Jura à vélo - GTJ by bike

The dream of discovering a region in a different way! Cycling at your own pace along small country roads, the Grande traversée du Jura by bike is an ideal way to immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the Jura mountains.

Leaving from Montbéliard, a town where you can choose between a historic visit to the Château des Ducs de Wurtemberg or an industrial tour of the Peugeot Adventure Museum, which tells the story of the marque, the GTJ by bike follows the Jura crescent. It soon climbs up to the first hills to reach the Doubs Horloger Regional Nature Park.

Its imposing farms, topped with "tuyés" where the salted meats (Morteau sausages, ham on the bone or bacon) are dried, its bucolic atmosphere with flower-filled meadows where Montbéliard cows graze peacefully, and its small, welcoming villages are ideal travel companions. Not far away, the river Doubs, which marks the border with Switzerland, serves as a guide to Pontarlier. The town is a gateway to the Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park.

The imposing Fort de Joux, perched on a rocky outcrop, watches over the area as far as the shores of the grandiose Lac Saint Point, whose iridescent colour changes with the weather.
The River Doubs winds its way up to its source at Mouthe.

A short hop and the department of Jura replaces that of Doubs. The first village, Foncine-le-Haut, is worth a stop to visit the source of the Saine, a beautiful river for fly-fishing. The road climbs higher to reach the emerald waters of Lac de l'Abbaye. From village to village, the road winds its way to Lajoux in the Hautes Combes region of the Jura. A descent into a new valley, a new river and a new département: the Ain. At the foot of the rolling Jura peaks flows the Valserine, which will be the GTJ's new cycling companion all the way to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine.

One more effort and you're on your way to the Plateau de Retord and its very special countryside. The Bugey region, with its agricultural identity, offers a symphony of valleys and plateaux that will take you to the end of the journey. But it's up to you to decide whether you want a gentle or sporty finish, because ahead of you lies the famous Grand Colombier, well-known to all cycling fans and feared by the riders in the Tour de France.

As a partner of the GTJ, BOSCH is providing charging points for GTJ cyclists in 10 towns along the GTJ cycle routes!