Le Locle

By train

• Two hourly RE trains from Le Chaux-de-Fonds (8 min), one of which comes from Neuchatel (40 min)
• A couple daily French TER trains from Besançon (1hr 45min)

By car

The main road J20 comes from La Chaux-de-Fonds and Neuchâtel. From the other direction, the main road crosses the French border just a few kilometres after the village and then goes on in direction of Besançon.

Museums

• Underground mills of Col-des-Roches

  phone: +41 32 889 68 92
  address: Col 23
  Unique in Europe, the mills of Col-des-Roches were built in caves (which have a constant temperature of 7°C and are quite humid) during the 17th century to harvest the waterfalls' energy. They were in use until the 19th century and showcase the ingeniuity of the people in the region. The museum features a permanent display of the mills and temporary expositions about the mills, energy, cereals and local history. Warm and dry clothing is recommended.

• Watchmaking Museum of Le Locle – Les Monts castle

• Arts museum (Musée des Beaux-arts)

  phone: +41 32 933 89 50
  address: Marie-Anne-Calame 6
  Located in the city center for about a century, the museum mostly displays graphic art and contemporary works; it also hosts the Lermite foundation and a collection of print graphics created between the 17th century and today.

• Museum of Natural History (Le Musée d'Histoire Naturelle)

  phone: +49 76 306 27 50
  Created in 1982 and located in the basement of the Jehan-Droz high school, the museum features collections of mineralogy, birds, mammals and dioramas.

As Le Locle is known for its watchmaking industry, this is also a good place to take horology workshops:

• Micromechanics workshop

  phone: +41 32 889 68 82
  address: Rue des Billodes 26
  An initiation workshop in the watchmaking process.

• "the apprentices of time" workshop

  phone: +41 32 889 68 82
  address: Rue de la Jambe Ducommun 19
  During this horology workshop, you can build your own mechanical watch.

• Restaurant de la Gare

  phone: +41 32 931 40 87
  address: rue de la Gare 4
  Upscale Italian restaurant. Despite the name it’s actually located around 100 metres down the road from the railway station.

• Hotel des Trois Rois

  phone: +41 32 932 21 00
  address: Rue du Temple 29
  The hotel might be quite old and in need of a renovation, but the location is convenient in the town centre and it is the only proper hotel in town.

is located a few kilometres from le Locle. The town is known for its special microclimate, making it one of the coldest places in Switzerland. It is here that the all-time temperature record for Switzerland (-41.8 °C) has been measured.
The town can be reached by bus in 20 minutes from le Locle, however there are only a handful of trips every day.
The main attraction of the village is its lake, the . In winter it freezes over and can be used for ice skating, in summer it is popular for swimming.

• La Chaux-de-Fonds, a town also part of UNESCO world heritage for watchmaking city planning.
• Besançon in France is a 2 hours train ride away, with its citadel.