Our summer hiking season started with a six day hike in the Jura. This is the first part of the Trans Swiss Hiking Trail 1 which goes from Porrentruy in the Jura in a south easterly direction to Chiasso.

Porrentruy to St. Ursanne. Pleasant walking and a good start to the holiday! The weather forecast had promised heavy rain for the day, but we avoided the only storm by sitting under the umbrellas of the only restaurant (closed) in the only village on this stretch of the route. Some folk are born lucky!

St. Ursanne to Soubey along the valley of the River Doubs. More anglers than hikers.

Soubey to Saignelégier - This bit has the greatest altitude difference, rising to the plateau of the Franches Montagnes.

Saignelégier to St.Imier – On the route we visited the ‘Home for Elderly Horses’ at Le Roselet. Later, inquisitive foals made having a mid-morning snack sitting on a bench in a field 'interesting'. The Mont Soleil, above St.Imier has impressive wind- and solar energy ‘collectors’. To avoid the steep descent, we used the funicular railway.

St. Imier to Dombresson – last March there was a big event in the village celebrating Didier Cuche’s skiing achievements – and the timetable for the extras buses put on for that, is still hanging at the bus stop! Probably that was the most recent disturbance to the peace of the area…

Dombresson to Neuchâtel - we took the detour over the Chaumont which affords impressive views and then did the descent by funicular again.

Easy walking, well marked, well walked. Rather more hard-surface than we like, but very little traffic. The odd muddy patch and one uphill slope too steep for me to get my heels on the ground as compensation. Masses of spring flowers including globe flowers and one field full of wild orchids at the end of May.

It is sad to see villages which have seen better days – shops and restaurants closed, houses in need of repair… signs of the end of the watch making industry in parts of this region. Other small towns like Saignelégier itself, seem to be flourishing.

It was interesting to see a ‘School’ sign on a farm-track far from the nearest village or hamlet. As in the Emmental and Zürich Oberland, a school is sometimes built at the road-side central to a farming district. The rows of bikes we saw by one of these schools showed that the region IS still alive despite our feeling, outside the towns, of being the only people in the area. We only saw ten other walkers in the first five days!

A very satisfying trip.