EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Situated at a major crossroads on the plateau, CHAMPAGNOLE , an industrial town largely rebuilt after a major fire in 1798, holds little intrinsic interest for the passing visitor, with the exception of an archeological museum , 26 rue Baronne-Delfort (July & Aug daily except Tues 2-6pm; 15F/2.29), above the tourist office, which displays an interesting array of Gallic and Roman artefacts found in the vicinity. However, the town does serve as a useful base for exploring the surrounding countryside, in particular the Forêt de la Joux, to the northeast.

For central accommodation , try the Hôtel de la Londaine , 31 rue du Général-Leclerc (tel 03.84.52.06.69; under 160F/24), or, for old-style grandeur, the Grand Hôtel Ripotot , 54 rue Maréchal Foch (tel 03.84.52.15.45, fax 03.84.52.09.11; 220-300F/34-46), which is definitely the nicest hotel in town. The campsite , Camping de Boyse , is on rue Georges-Vallery (tel 03.84.52.00.32; June to mid-Sept). The tourist office is in an annexe of the Mairie at 26 rue Baronne-Delfort (Mon-Fri 9am-noon & 2-6pm, Sat 9am-noon & 2-5pm; tel 03.84.52.43.67), and provides lots of information about exploring the surrounding forests and lakes, including a hiking kit for 30F/4.57.

Out of Champagnole, things start to get remote and beautiful. To the southeast, the D279 passes the château at SYAM , built in 1818, and continues to the Gorges de la Langouette , 17km away. Here, a half-hour walk leads down to the narrow 47-metre-deep gorge sliced through the cretaceous escarpment by the River Saine. Other riverine curiosities in the area include the Perte de l'Ain , near the village of Bourg-de-Sirod, where a half-hour walk from an electricity station leads through the woods, past a waterfall and lesser cascades, to a boulder-strewn chasm where the Ain takes a brief subterranean detour. Another pleasant ten-minute walk a few kilometres northeast - just past the village of Conte - leads to a natural amphitheatre from whose base rises the source of the Ain .

A couple of kilometres north of the source, spread over a small hill surrounded by pastures, is the old walled village of NOZEROY , ancestral home of the Chalon family, who dominated regional politics in feudal times. The town preserves much of its medieval charm today, with the Porte de l'Horloge - once part of the town's fortifications - framing the beginning of the Grande-Rue. This thoroughfare, lined with many ancient houses, ends at the place des Annonciades and the ruins of the thirteenth-century castle .

North of Nozeroy, on the other side of the D471 Champagnole-Pontarlier road, the Forêt de la Joux is considered one of the most beautiful of France's native pine forests. It is crisscrossed by a net of narrow fire roads, but if you don't have a car, you can use the Gare de la Joux, in the heart of the forest on the Champagnole-Pontarlier train line, from where you can explore further on foot or by bicycle. There are many well-marked walking trails through the forest: the most popular area is the Sapins de la Glacière . The Route des Sapins is the approved tourist drive, signposted for 50km from the D471 to the village of Levier, passing lookouts and the 45-metre-high Sapin Président (a 200-year-old fir tree) along the way. But the less regimented can just as easily enjoy getting mildly disorientated by following any number of lesser, unmarked roads and discovering the wonder of the forest for themselves.