The Giura Mountains are a long mountain range that marks the border between Germany, France and Switzerland.
One of the Swiss national cycling routes, No.7, allows you to ride along these mountains from Basel to Nyon on the shores of Lake Geneva.
The itinerary is almost 300 km long, of which only 14 are on dirt road because it uses largely cycling and greenway tracks. This is a suitable route for trained cyclotourists which has a continuous ups and downs with 14 to 15% slopes.
To reach Basilea, the starting point of the Giura Route, you can use the train from Bern or Zurich. It’s one of the largest Swiss cities, very important also at the cultural level because it’s home to the University and the Museum of Art.
After leaving the city after a first hilly stretch, the route begins to rise more farmly until reaching the village of Saint-Brais. We are therefore within the Doubs Regional Nature Park, a beautiful landscape made of waterfalls, pastures and fir woods.
In the park area there is also La Chaux-de-Fonds, city famous as the capital of Swiss watchmaking. Here are famous factories such as Cartier and Gallet.
Passing the boundaries of the park, you continue to pedal by alternating climbs ans descents for several miles. At Vallorbe you enter the Park of Giura Vodese, a large green area with more than 50 natural reserves. The territory of the park will be the background of almost the entire remaining path.
After crossing the village of Le Brassus, finally the Giura Path has a long descent from 1,354 m to 406 m of altitude. The itinerary ends in Nyon, a town known to be the headquarters of the UEFA and Lake Lemano, the largest in the country. In the city there are also the remains of an ancient Roman settlement, known as Noviodunum, of which you can visit the forum, the basilica and the amphitheater.