In Switzerland's ‘Watch Valley,' I slow-travelled to tiny villages and towns where time seems to stand still

Hamilton Spectator

4 days ago

As I stand on the ramparts of Murten, Switzerland, fairy-tale roofs topped with twisty chimneys draw my gaze toward Lake Murten and the Jura Mountains beyond. I'm among a handful of summer tourists walking the walls of this medieval town of roughly 8,000, which was founded in 1159.
From this lofty vantage,
Murten
's cobblestone streets, Gothic castle and ancient limestone tower take me back centuries, to a time of witch trials and, even more distant, to the bubonic plague of the 1300s. I can almost hear the town crier shouting to villagers, 'Bring out your dead!'
'That's where we used to burn our witches,' explains city guide Barbara Mueller, indicating the tower, where women suspected of witchcraft were imprisoned while awaiting trial. Those convicted were burned at the stake.
Medieval Murten's fairy-tale roofs and whimsical chimneys, and its 1712 clock.
She also points out the baroque
Berntor
(Bern Gate) and clock tower, whose timepiece was built in 1712. The clock is still hand-cranked every 24 hours so it chimes on schedule, says Mueller. Incidentally, she set her phone alarm at the beginning of this media tour, so our group of travel writers wouldn't miss our onward train. I'd expect no less in a country with a global reputation for punctuality.
We're in Switzerland's '
Watch Valley
,' a scenic patchwork of forests, fields, jewel-toned lakes and historic towns bordering France between Basel and Geneva on the southeastern flanks of the Jura Mountains. The region has been keeping the country ticking for centuries thanks to horology, the painstaking craft of making clocks and watches. Famous brands, from Omega to Victorinox, are headquartered here, in cities like Delémont and
La Chaux-de-Fonds
, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
La Chaux-de-Fonds is considered the cradle of Swiss watchmaking. Even the townscape is orderly.
But for most visitors, the draws are the region's villages and small towns like Murten, where time seems to stand still. These medieval relics are an analog answer to big, busy cities like Zurich and Geneva, where most international visitors go.
And Switzerland being, well, Swiss, the efficient public transportation — trains, buses and boats — delivers travellers comfortably to these bygone treasures, with plenty of time en route to appreciate the journey. This is how we slow-travel from Delémont to Neuchâtel and deep into Watch Valley.
Trains deeply influenced timekeeping in this mountainous country. Engineers realized the importance of running on time, to avoid collisions and maintain schedules, and precision became a priority. Although operating trains takes meticulous logistics, riding them is a leisurely pleasure, heightened by the anticipation of seeing a granite peak or walled town draw slowly closer.
The small medieval town of St. Ursanne was named Best Tourism Village by UN Tourism in 2023.
My first glimpse of
St. Ursanne
is from the train window. The tiny hamlet appears as a storybook cluster of red-shingled homes and businesses circling a church steeple, snug on the banks of the Doubs river. We walk the kilometre from the station to the imposing city gate like wayfarers of yore.
During the Middle Ages, some 3,000 pilgrims arrived daily to pray at the tomb of Ursicinus, an Irish monk who came to town in the 7th century. Today, we have the village's three cobblestone streets, and the 900-year-old church's secluded cloister, mostly to ourselves.
St. Ursanne was named Best Tourism Village by UN Tourism in 2023, in recognition of its medieval town centre, cultural heritage and commitment to sustainability. But outside of Les Médiévales, a festival held biennially in July, it remains largely under the radar. There are seven or eight tiny hotels in town, including the lovely, new
Hôtel de la Cigogne
, alongside a few restaurants, a bakery, a butcher shop and, like any good medieval rest stop, a brewery.
Rumours of cold riverside beers draw me to a public beach along the Doubs. But the family-run
Brasserie Tonnebière
is on the far bank, so I settle for refreshment in the clear water of the languorous river. The afternoon stretches on without care as I float under a bright blue sky.
Equally as charming is Auvernier, a millennium-old town hemmed in by leafy vineyards on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel. Like clockwork, a train and bus deliver us to Auvernier's hilltop stop, with time en route to watch the passing fields and church steeples, or daydream about never driving a car again.
Château d'Auvernier is one of Switzerland's oldest family-run wineries.
The walk to our winery destination,
Château d'Auvernier
, feels like another step back in time. We pass snapshots of village life that belong on a faded postcard: pastel buildings with brightly painted shutters, public fountains adorned with flowers, a green-eyed cat perched imperiously on a stone fence.
One of Switzerland's oldest family-run wineries, Château d'Auvernier was founded in 1603 and is located in a limestone castle. It's best known for a rosé called L'Oeil de Perdrix, made from Pinot Noir grapes, so called because its colour approximates that of a partridge's eye.
Cellar master Frédéric Droz tells us about harvesting grapes, fermenting juice and aging wine in French oak barrels. The process can't be rushed, but he often feels like he's fighting the clock. 'We want always to go farther and do more than time allows,' Droz laments.
That sentiment rings true on this trip, where each sleepy town unlocks stories from the past that point toward new-to-me destinations worth exploring.
A view of Neuchâtel, another watchmaking city, and its
12th-century castle.
In Neuchâtel, another watchmaking city, our historic walking tour ends by one of the city's numerous public fountains. Anne-Laure Pollet-Bolon, a guide with Neuchâtel Tourism, uses a key to open a secret compartment under the fountain's flower box. She pulls out a bottle of absinthe to share the famous drink of the Belle Époque, when the city flourished and many of its grand limestone buildings were constructed.
While we sip the spirit, once banned in Switzerland for its high alcohol content and links to social disorder, she explains how it was invented in nearby Val-de-Travers (and not, as commonly believed, in France).
Inspired to learn more, the next morning I ditch the group and board a train for Môtiers, another ancient village, to reach the local museum, La Maison de L'Absinthe. Outside the train window, views of turquoise Lake Neuchâtel are soon replaced by green forests and fertile fields.
As the carriage rolls steadily up the lush valley, I reflect on the transportive power of even a short train ride, to take me from the present to the past. It's perhaps as close as I'll get to time travel, and it feels a bit like magic.
Lisa Kadane travelled as a guest of
Switzerland Tourism
, which did not review or approve this article.