24 hours in Switzerland’s Neuchâtel
Built by Swiss aristocrats in the late 18th century, the town is a wine-lover’s dream
Life has long been sweet in the Swiss town of Neuchâtel. The thousandyear-old community became a hub for watchmaking, textiles and commerce in the 18th century.
The aristocracy built small castles and grand homes along the prosperous, lakeside setting and were closely followed by literary and artistic circles wanting to be near their benefactors.
The gentle slopes are perfect for wine — a fortuitous intersection of weather, soil and sunshine.
Neuchâtel kicks off the grape harvest in late September with the annual Les Fêtes de Vendages, when the locals (and 300,000 visitors) celebrate the making — and imbibing — of wine. Traffic is banned from the cobblestone streets, as revellers “drink in” the wine, music, parades and costumes. 1. Town squares Neuchâtel’s trademark architecture is built from pale yellow Hauterive sandstone. It’s said that the famous French author Alexandre Dumas described the buildings as “carved from butter.”
The Old Town is one of the country’s largest pedestrian zones and — in true Swiss fashion — the stone buildings and cobblestone streets are spotless. The most photographed of the town squares, Place des Halles, was originally built as a 16th-century grain and cloth market. The buildings around this central square house patisseries, bistros and small shops. A turreted Renaissance market building anchors one end of the square. 2. Wine villages Lake Neuchâtel has become a region of vineyards and small villages, food festivals and celebrations, where the locals meet to swirl a glass of Pinot Noir and debate the merits of one varietal over another.
The nearby slopes are blanketed with rows of vines. Small-scale vintners bottle the region’s specialties: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Chasselas, a typical dry white from this region that is best served very cold.
Many of the vineyards were originally planted in Roman times. Just one vineyard remains within the town boundaries, but neighbouring villages such as Auvernier, Colombier and Boudry have their economies deeply rooted in the production of wine. 3. Wine merchants J.-Ph. Bauermeister will tell you he is both a wine merchant and a compos- er. His specialty shop — 4,000 bottles on display and another 100,000 in storage — fills the curved walls of a 15th-century cave. Bauermeister insists on a certain way of approaching his day: “Write music before tasting wine.” But when he sits down at his grand piano, every nook and cranny of the cave is filled with the sounds of Chopin, Liszt or the strains of jazz.
He spends his days talking and tasting wines and composing pieces for the piano. “Sometimes when I play and it is good, I stand and applaud myself.” bauermeister-vins.com 4. A town for walking Neuchâtel’s aristocratic beginnings make for walking tours through winding cobblestone streets, pleasant squares and narrow stone staircases that climb from the shoreline to the small hillside castle. The town’s name is Old French for “new castle,” bestowed when the Duke of Burgundy built the castle as a present for his wife. From the rampart walk along the castle walls there’s a panoramic view of rooftops, rolling vineyards and the expanse of blue lake.
A golden dragon sits atop the Griffon Fountain, one of 100 fountains in the town. According to legend, 17thcentury French dukes filled the fountain with more than 1,000 litres of wine. 5. Lakeside living Neuchâtel has deep roots as a resort town. Located in a region known as the Three Lakes, Lake Neuchâtel is the largest lake enclosed by Swiss territory, and the clean waters have long drawn boaters and vacationers.
Fishermen pull perch from the waters, and by dinnertime it shows up on plates as filets de perche meunière, seasoned and floured filets cooked in hot oil and served with lemon wedges and thin fries.
Lake cruises are a relaxed way to explore the view from the water, or to hop from one neighbouring village to the next. myswitzerland.com/en-ca/lakeneuchatel-murten.html Josephine Matyas is an award-winning freelance writer who specializes in travel. writerwithoutborders.com Gary Crallé is an award-winning photographer who specializes in destinations around the world. garycralle.com