Port-Lesney / Poligny

Having visiting the unmissable 18th-century Saline Royale d’Arc-et-Senans, established in an area where salt had been extracted from deep underground since the 13th century at least, continue along this next cycling stage. Having left the Loue Valley, you follow the course of another river, the Cuisance, along La Petite GTJ as it leads you through the Jura’s vineyards. The typical little town of Arbois is very much worth stopping at and gives its name to the distinctive Vin d’Arbois, made in one of the first wine-making areas in France to be granted appellation status, back in 1936. Nowadays, vineyards awarded either AOC Arbois or AOC Côtes du Jura status line the way up to the little town of Poligny. Why not enjoy a few little halts to taste these divine local nectars in the wine cellars indicated along the route?

The Route

From Champagne-sur-Loue, the route rejoins the Jura’s cycling circuits, following them to Lons-le-Saunier. The signposted numbers to follow are indicated on the route map. 

Practical information 

Services available: Poligny tourist office; Poligny train station; taxi service; shops; fruitières à comté (cheese-ageing cellars); cafés/restaurants; pharmacies

Don't miss

• Port-Lesney:  Mont Poupet, the mountain on which the region’s great 19th-century scientist Louis Pasteur conducted an experiment to debunk the notion of spontaneous generation 
• Arbois: its vineyards, the first in the Jura to receive AOC accreditation, back in 1936; Saint-Just Church; the Maison Familiale de Louis Pasteur (the great scientist’s family home here); the Musée de la Vigne et du Vin du Jura in the  Château Pécauld
• Poligny: St Hyppolite collegiate church; Maison du Comté (a centre dedicated to the great regional cheese); the historic apothecary                    

Nearby: 

• The tufa limestone waterfall at Les Planches-près-d’Arbois