Neuchatel Hotels

Neuchatel, in western Switzerland is the capital of the canton of Neuchâtel. The city sits on Lake Neuchatel and has an historic, medieval center. Neuchatel hotels offer the high standards visitors to Switzerland expect and are the perfect place to stay for a relaxing holiday with excellent service.

If you like sporty holidays the countryside around Neuchatel offers a fantastic environment to enjoy a wealth of outdoor activities all year round.

By the city itself, the lake is the largest located entirely within the Swiss border and offers plenty of opportunities for water sports. Here you can go windsurfing, rowing or sailing. Equipment is easy to hire. It's also possible just to swim in the clean, calm waters.

For the less sporty, you can take a very pleasurable cruise on the lake. Pop on-board one of the regular services to the charming villages around the lake, or get off and hike or cycle on the lovely shoreline. Bikes can normally be carried on the boats.

Lake Neuchatel, along with lakes Biel and Murten, make up the 'three lakes region' and it's also possible to take a day-long boat trip which visits all of the lakes using connecting canals.

Mountain-biking is also popular here and in the winter downhill skiing and cross-country skiing, snowshoe-trekking and snowboarding can all be found in the nearby Neuchatel Jura Mountains.

Some Neuchatel hotels can be found in the atmospheric old town. With its narrow cobblestone streets and yellow sandstone buildings it's an interesting place to stroll, or relax and enjoy an alfresco coffee in one of the many cafes.

The city's castle was built on a hill towards the end of the 10th century and is open to visitors between 1st April and 30th September. Entry is free. The castle today is a working building and serves as the seat of cantonal government. It is also home to the law courts.

Neuchatel has a number of excellent museums and galleries. The Natural History Museum, which was founded in 1835, contains Swiss birds and mammals as well as giant fossils and also hosts a variety of temporary exhibitions.

The Art and History Museum has a large collection of treasures and is well worth a visit. Art works are on the first floor and include paintings by 19th and 20th century Swiss artists and some French Impressionist works. The staircase is decorated with three large allegorical frescoes which were painted between 1886 and 1896 by Leo-Paul Robert, a local painter.

The ground floor is dedicated to the history of the area and local arts. The star attractions are without doubt the Jaquet-Droz automata - three mechanical figures built by Jaquet-Droz, a famous watch-maker and his son and assistant between 1768 and 1774. The figures are activated only on the first Sunday of each month and 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.

The area has long been renowned for watch-making and the International Clock and Watch Museum in the nearby town of La Chaux-de-Fonds is the world's biggest museum specializing in clock-making with more than 4000 exhibits.

The Neuchatel events calendar includes the music festival, the Festi'Neuch, which takes place on the shores of the lake in June and features pop, rock, reggae and world music. There's also the Fantasy Film Festival held in July and a Grape Harvest Festival in September to celebrate the beginning of the area's harvest. Traffic is banned from the city center for three days and there are various processions, parades and entertainment to enjoy alongside the locals.

The nearest airport to Neuchatel with direct flights from London is Basel which is 49 miles away. Another option is take a direct flight from London to Geneva then the train, which goes directly from the airport and takes one hour and 17 minutes. Zurich airport also has a train service to Neuchatel but it takes one hour and 49 minutes. Bern airport is the closest to Neuchatel, just 26 miles away and you can fly there from a number of airports in Europe with just one stop.

It's easy to get between Neuchatel hotels and the major attractions of the city on foot, but there's also a good bus and tram service and excellent train connections to other major cities in Switzerland and Europe.

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Sun, May 20 - Light Rain Shower
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Tue, May 22 - Heavy Rain
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