Two hours in La Chaux-de-Fonds

After my visit to Murten, I asked you where you want to go next. La Chaux-de-Fonds was the narrow winner and I was really looking forward to a spring-like discovery tour through the watch metropolis and the highest city in Switzerland (1,000 m above sea level). Unfortunately, spring and I are not yet the best of friends in terms of weather. The weather forecast changed every hour last Friday and at the end of the day I decided to bravely board the train towards the Neuchâtel Jura.

Shortly after Biel we had hoped that the weather would improve, but on arrival in Chaux-de-Fonds we were taught better – it was raining heavily. Since 2009, La Chaux-de-Fonds has been listed as a Unesco Urban Landscape Watch Industry and is also the birthplace and creative place of Le Corbusier. I actually wanted to go on a city tour to discover these urban and architectural treasures. But in this weather, even I lost the desire to do so. By the way, all the photos here are Instagram pictures that I took with my new waterproof phone – it’s logical, isn’t it!

The point of the city walk thus remains unfinished and will be made up for at some point in the sunshine. Nevertheless, our trip was not entirely for the cat. I now know where La Chaux-de-Fonds stays dry even in rainy weather.

The Clock Museum is housed in an excellent concrete building and offers a journey through time in the truest sense of the word. The entrance fee is 15 CHF for adults. Not only are there countless watches of all kinds to discover, but there are also small experiments to be carried out again and again. If the weather was nice, I honestly wouldn’t get lost here.

Afterwards, despite the rainy weather, we wanted to get an overview of the regular checkerboard pattern of the cityscape. This urban speciality is the result of a major fire in the 18th century and the rebuilding according to the American model. A dry view is guaranteed by the striking Espacité. The 60 m high tower has a viewing platform (partially covered) and a restaurant at the top. Access is free for everyone.

And now the follow-up question, which Swiss city should I explore next (assuming spring and I can agree on the weather)? I look forward to all your comments with suggestions :).