The first of five day tours takes us from Hägendorf at the foot of the Jura up to the Jura heights, over small passes, through gorges and river valleys, past the small jewel Étang de gruère to the high point, the Chasseral with its wide view over the Aare valley to the Alps .

I give the tour a smooth five stars because it offers everything your heart desires with the low-traffic roads and the many side and mountain passes.

Apart from a few sections, the route is very easy to ride and the few steeper and narrower passages are also easy to ride for beginners, as I was able to experience for myself. As always, such journeys require concentration and an appropriate driving speed.

Attention: Due to differences between navigation systems, the route can sometimes contain a wrong loop after the Chasseral. The effective length of the route is 243 km.

We start at the BP gas station in Hägendorf, of course with a fully tanked bike. After just a few meters we drive into the Tüfelsschlucht (Devil's Gorge) and straight on to Langenbruck, the upper Hauenstein. We cross the village and drive over the Breitihöchi to Mümliswil-Ramiswil. From there we go up to the Scheltenpass, where we stop for a photo.

Then we drive down into the valley and soon cross Delsberg, the canton capital of the youngest Swiss canton of Jura. Shortly after the town, the road leads us up to the small Col de Rangiers and shortly afterwards we park our motorcycles in front of the old town of St. Ursanne. There we enjoy a little stroll through the picturesque town and strengthen ourselves with a coffee.

Strengthened and rested, we drive on small roads to Untervelier and turn into the Gorges du Pihoux (Pichoux Gorge). The short section is lined by impressive rocks on the left and right and leads through simply hewn tunnels. Despite the impressive scenery, the drivers have to concentrate fully on the road, because it is quite narrow.

The short detour via the Col de Fuet takes us through another well-known Jura town, Tramelan. Shortly afterwards we have to make a short stop and visit the Étang de gruère. There is no more idyllic moor lake in all of Switzerland. If you really want to take your time, you can walk around the entire lake (approx. 1 hour), because of the longer distance ahead of us we will stick to a short detour.

We continue through the famous horse town of Saignelégier to Le Boéchet, where we turn right and head down to the Doubs river. The path down to the river to Biaufond is narrow and steep and requires full concentration, especially if a vehicle is exceptionally coming at you. This river forms the border between France and Switzerland for a long stretch. After a few kilometers we turn off the somewhat hidden access road to the right to the Maison Monsieur restaurant, where we enjoy a fine lunch right on the banks of the Doubs.

Strengthened, we then climb up to the heights of the Jura and soon we cross the world-famous watch town of La Chaux-de-Fonds from west to east. If you would like to split this day tour into two days, a stay in this city with a visit to the watch museum is recommended. La Chaux-de-Fonds, which was rebuilt after a major fire in the American style in right-angled streets, also offers many other exciting opportunities.
But we continue and after a few hundred meters turn right at the roundabout into the Val de la Sagne (which has nothing to do with the famous Italian dish lasagne ????). This valley was known until the 1970s for the peat soil that was excavated (cut) and used as fertilizer as well as dried bricket. When I was a child, there were peat men all over the valley with the brickets to dry. Next to our route is Les Ponts-de-Martel - many hamlets have the term P because bridges had to be built across the streams in the moorland - where a peat path invites you to visit, where you can learn a lot about the history of this natural resource and walk through a moorland grove.

But we turn left in Les Coeudres and drive in the middle of the valley to Les Petits-Ponts, where we turn left to La Tourne, a small pass with a wonderful view over the lake plain. Now it's back down the east side of the Jura in the direction of Neuchâtel, but we remain on the foreland and only change to the right at Grand-Savagnier over the Jura range of the Chasseral. The path leads us through forest and typical Jura pastures down towards Lake Biel, where we follow the signpost to the Chasseral on the left shortly after the small hamlet of Au Vallon. The short pass road up is a pleasure and at the top of the mountain we turn right to the Chasseral mountain restaurant, where we enjoy a well-deserved coffee break.

After this impressive view, we ride down the “back” of the Chasseral to Sonvilier, cross La Chaux-de-Fonds again, but this time from north to south, and a few minutes later we are at our destination for the day, Le Locle. The Hotel des Trois Rois, while very basic and lacking in dining options, is cheap and clean. There are several excellent restaurants nearby, a Fondue Chinoise à disrcetion (as much as you can eat) at Restaurant Frascati is highly recommended.