Crest hike with detour to the Métairies
Travel by Intercity train from Zurich to Geneva takes just under three hours - hiking north of the Mittelland on the trail over the Jura heights takes about a hundred hours or 15 days. The Jura Kretenweg - named in french as the "Chemin des Crêtes du Jura" - offers a great panorama of the Alps on a clear day. From the Chasseral you can see Säntis in the east, the majestic Montblanc in the south and the Salève, Geneva's local mountain, in the west.

From the Bellevue bus stop in Les Prés-d'Orvin, you go straight to the ridge. For the first time, we simultaneously look over the entire Mittelland to the Alpine peaks and on the other side to the Vallon de Saint-Imier and over the Franches-Montagnes. At a distance of eight kilometres, the transmission mast on the Chasseral is clearly visible, there is a gentle ascent of about 300m in front of us.

But always marching on the ridge path and enjoying the view is only part of the Chasseral experience. For at least six Métairies, the typical high Jura farms, lie in the middle of the lush green Jura forest pastures north of the ridge - agriculture and inn at the same time. That's why the sometimes centuries-old farms are always a highlight for tired hikers looking for culinary delights. Homemade products are the trademark of the mountain inns. Leg ham with Rösti, sausages, cheese slices and naturally the fruit cakes and Meringues, completely apart from the liquor own spirit, goes without saying. Métairies are undoubtedly culinary oases of well-being. Farmers, butchers and cheese-makers once came from the Bernese Oberland to set up a new business here in the Jura. Cheese is produced less today, the charm of the Métairies has remained.

Back on the ridge, the last section is a bit rocky, which is especially exciting for photographers. Finally, a small road leads from the transmission mast to the Hotel Chasseral, from where a bus runs several times a day to St-Imier during the summer months and to Nods and La Neuveville on weekends.