Val-de-Ruz

The Neuchâtel to La Chaux-de-Fonds rail line crosses the valley and stops at Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane and Les Hauts-Geneveys, where regional transN buses continue to Cernier, Fontainemelon and the other villages. The ride up from Neuchâtel is short enough that nobody complains about it. By car, the Vue-des-Alpes road climbs from town in about twenty minutes, and the tunnel lets you skip the pass when the weather turns.

Good to know: parking at Évologia in Cernier is free, but it fills up fast on Wednesday afternoons and during school holidays. Arriving before eleven makes a real difference.

Évologia is the easiest site in the region with a pushchair: wide paths, flat ground, shade and toilets. The Engollon pool has a separate paddling area and plenty of lawn, so you can settle down without sitting on top of the main basins. Up at the Vue-des-Alpes pass the ridge paths stay easy for the first couple of kilometres, but the wind is far sharper than down below, so pack one more layer, even in summer.

The Vue-des-Alpes is the closest snow to Neuchâtel, with short sledging slopes and cross country trails over towards Tête-de-Ran. Snow often holds here while the lakeshore is still green, and the pass road is cleared as a priority. On foggy days by the lake, climbing a few hundred metres is usually enough to find the sun and clear light. Conditions at the top can be completely different from those at the shore, so it is worth a look before loading the sledges.