Route 7: Section 6 – cycling Vallorbe to Nyon, Switzerland

Highlights: Lac de Joux, Nyon Castle

Route 7: Section 6 (Vallorbe 750m–Nyon 400m)

Stats from SwitzerlandMobility.ch (http://www.veloland.ch/en/routes/route/etappe-01603.html): 61km long, height difference Vallorbe–Nyon 1,000m (1400m in the opposite direction). Their site has the full profile. This is a tiring ride because of some long and continues ascents. It overlaps in many points with the MTB routes 3:08 and 3:09. 

May 2018

It is an overall difficult section with a lot of ascents. 

It starts in Vallorbe, with a forested unpaved path through the Jura mountains.  Nearby are the famous Vallorbe Caverns, the biggest in Jura (vallorbe-tourisme.ch/en/nature/grottes_vallorbe) (grottesdevallorbe.ch/en/), with a sequence of enchanted chambers of stalactites and stalagmites for about 3km.

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Vallorbe – Musée du Fer
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Ascent from Vallorbe


Arriving at
Le Pont , a small quiet village on the north side of the Lac de Joux, one has a beatiful view of the lake. The lake is the largest one inside the  Jura mountains and equipped for water-sports in the summer .

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Le Pont
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Lac de Joux at Le Pont

After Le Pont, the path moves inward and continues south until the end of the lake. 

 

From Le Brassus, the road starts the ascent to the Col du Marchairuz (1,350m) for 4km with 300m elevation. Just before the summit, the trail deviates to enter an amazing primeval landscape of forests and hills, in complete tranquility, away from any sign of civilization. This continues for several km and for me was the nicest part of the section.  There were still some patches of snow on the road (at about 1,200m).

 

Then the road starts its descent with a nice and long freewheel ride. 

The last stop is Nyon on the banks of Lac Léman. The town of Nyon  (myswitzerland.com/en-ch/nyon.html) has a charming white Savoy castle with round towers (built from the 13th to 16th century). It is situated on a hill overlooking the lake. It currently houses a museum.

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Nyon castle

 

Links to Introduction and other Sections:

5 thoughts on “Route 7: Section 6 – cycling Vallorbe to Nyon, Switzerland

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