Experience six Swiss Parks in one go on the new La Route Verte cycling route. It takes you in seven one-day stages from Schaffhausen to Geneva through all of Jura’s parks. An experience packed with nature, culture and interesting encounters.

After just over an hour cycling at a leisurely pace, you reach Hallau in the Regional Nature Park of Schaffhausen and enter a sea of terraced vineyards. Here, in the largest contiguous vineyard in German-speaking Switzerland, around 200 winegrowers produce approximately half the wine made in the Schaffhausen Pinot Noir region. Fancy sampling the wine? You can! Stop-off at the Aagne vineyard, which is a partner of the Nature Park.

Winegrower Markus Hallauer grew up on his family’s farm close to Hallau. Even as a child, he used to love helping out on his grandfather’s vineyard. Around eight years ago, he turned his passion into a career. Today, Markus manages the vineyard of Stefan Gysel together with his wife. As a team, they produce their wine, the “aagne”. In the local Schaffhausen dialect, this means “own”. Alongside Pinot Noir (Blauburgunder) and Riesling Sylvaner, they cultivate eight other exquisite grape varieties with great expertise and dedication. The wines created by Stefan and Markus are of exceptional quality. The many gold and silver medals they have won at national and international wine awards are a testament to this.

On the same day, the journey along La Route Verte goes to the cherries and tall trees of the Aargau Jura Park. From there, you reach the varied forests of the Thal Nature Park in a single stage. They are recreation areas and provide resources for the energy and construction industries. The route follows wide, quiet roads past the impressive cliffs of the Solothurn Jura. The medieval town of St-Ursanne is an attractive stop-off point in the Doubs Nature Park. Next up is an ascent to the enchanting high plateau of the Franches-Montagnes, which is also home to Freiberger horses, the only horse breed originally from Switzerland.

… no other words could better describe this vast tranquil landscape with its lush meadows and dense pine forests. All around are isolated farms, while cows and horses roam freely. A place of peace and power. A place so captivating that you forget to pedal. And the place that Thierry Froidevaux and Brigitte Favre call home. For around six years, they have together run the organic farm Sous la Neuvevie near Saignelégier, breeding horses and cattle themselves. They also offer tours and experiences relating to the Freiberger horses. They met during their apprenticeship at the National Stud Farm in Avenches near Murten. Their love of horses, especially the Freiberger breed, dates all the way back to their childhood.

Thierry’s father and grandfather both bred Freiberger horses. Together with Brigitte, he is continuing this important tradition and ensuring that this endangered breed does not die out. Alongside Freiberger horses, they also breed rare Rätisches Grauvieh cattle. “The wellbeing of the animals and respect for nature are extremely important to us,” explains Thierry. From here, the ride continues through the Chasseral Nature Park, past drystone walls and the UNESCO World Heritage city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Then the route crosses the idyllic Val de Travers, famous for its absinthe and its asphalt mines. And from there, it’s on to the cradle of watchmaking, the Joux Valley, in the Jura Vaudois Nature Park.

… to the busy village of Le Brassus and to JMC Lutherie. For more than 12 years, JMC have been making guitars and loudspeakers out of 350-year-old tonewood spruces from the Risoud Forest. They are driven by their love of nature, music and freedom. The Risoud Forest is the largest contiguous forest in Europe and is famous for the excellent quality of its wood. From the showroom right on La Route Verte, it takes just 15 minutes to reach the forest with its lofty trees. This is where they find the perfect tonewood spruces for our instruments. Every detail matters: straight trunk, beautiful and undamaged bark and no low branches. Only one tree in every 10,000 or so is suitable.

The seventh and final stage goes from Le Sentier up to the Combe des Amburnex – the highest point on La Route Verte. At 1,351m, the typical drystone walls again line the trail, and vast meadows alternate with dense forests. After a few more bends in the road, fantastic views over the wine-growing region of La Côte await, with Lake Geneva glittering blue in the distance behind the the last pine trees. From here, it is a leisurely downhill ride to Geneva – following the arc of the Jura mountains. Time to let your legs recover and look back on many great experiences in the six Nature Parks of the Jura. And bid farewell to the treasures of the Jura.