Winter weekend in the Pays Horloger

Skiing and ice-skating at La Combe Saint-Pierre

At Charquemont, La Combe Saint-Pierre is a small resort that thinks big! It has all the usual wintersports that families appreciate, including downhill skiing with 3 blue slopes and a ski-tow for young children, cross-country skiing (37 km of trails), snowshoeing (10 km), a sledging slope and even an outdoor ice rink.

The ideal opportunity for children to try wintersports and enjoy a change of scene. Here, the slopes and trails lead across plateaus via pastures and resinous forests.

Check out the resort of La Combe Saint-Pierre

An introduction to dog-sledding

You'll soon fall in love with the Nordic dogs! Of all the wintersports available in the Jura Mountains, mushing has to be one of the most exhilarating. In Pierrefontaine-les-Varans, let Attelages de la Roche Percée take you across the snow-covered plateaus of the Haut-Doubs region. The silence of the mountains is broken by the harnessed sled dogs, barking with excited anticipation. But once they take to the trail, you'll only hear them panting. An experience you'll never forget!

Check out Attelages de la Roche Percée

Nordic activities at Le Gardot

Located to the north of the Jura Mountains, the Val de Morteau area covers three sectors: Le Gardot, Les Combes and Le Meix Musy. The Gardot Nordic area is located on the summits between France and Switzerland, offering a host of Nordic activities with 80 km of cross-country skiing trails and 50 km of snowshoeing routes.

Again, like La Combe Saint-Pierre, this small family-friendly resort is the ideal place to get started or try something new. 

Check out Le Gardot

Clock- and watch-making expertise

In the extreme cold of the Haut-Doubs winters, when snowfall brought everything to a standstill, the local farmers would swap their farm tools for pliers and cogwheels. With plenty of time to fill, they spent the short winter days making clocks and watches, to the extent that the region became renowned for its watch- and clock-making expertise.

On the French side...

... visit the Vie d'Antan Museum in Montlebon, near Morteau, to see a rich and impressive collection of day-to-day items used by our ancestors!

The museum will take you back hundreds of years, to learn about the occupations of yesteryear, such as clog-making, rope-making, blacksmithery, cheese-making, work in the stables, etc. It was founded by Joseph Simonin, a die-hard mountain dweller, whose portrait can be found here!

Check out the Vie d'Antan Museum

If you're fascinated by watch- and clock-making and would like to visit an authentic horology workshop, the Clockmaker François Boinay, at Les Écorces near Maîche, opens his doors to visitors. Be sure to book ahead!

On the Swiss side...

... the International Museum of Horology located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a town with UNESCO World Heritage status and birth place of the architect Le Corbusier, focuses on the history of timekeeping in an exhibition of more than 4,500 objects. Beyond the museum itself, the entire town is steeped in clock- and watch-making traditions, right down to the architectural detail.

Visit La Chaux-de-Fonds

Winter on the ice!

At Villers-le-Lac, when the Doubs basins are covered in ice, the surroundings appear to be frozen in a truly impressive spectacle.

This is due to the extreme temperatures which can drop to -10°C or even -15°C. Sometimes, the 27-metre Saut du Doubs waterfall also freezes over, much to the amazement of those brave enough to explore.

If you're feeling adventurous, before turning back, head for La Brévine just a few kilometres away, also known as the Little Siberia of Switzerland, where you can skate on the lake of Les Taillères. 

Check out the Doubs basins