The Jura is a region of vineyards and lakes, a landscape of karst plateaus, coniferous forests and waterfalls that gave its name to a geological era — the Jurassic — and to a mountain range stretching from Burgundy to Switzerland. The wines of the Jura — vin jaune, vin de paille and crémant — made from unique grape varieties such as Savagnin and Poulsard, are among the most distinctive in France.
Dole, the former capital of Franche-Comté before Besançon took over that title, is the birthplace of Louis Pasteur, whose childhood home is now a museum dedicated to the famous scientist’s work. Arbois, a wine-growing town on the banks of the Cuisance, where Pasteur lived and worked, is surrounded by vineyards that produce the Jura’s most characteristic wines. The Château d’Arlay, once owned by the Chalon-Arlay family and later by the Princes of Orange, and Château-Chalon, a hilltop village whose vin jaune is one of the most sought-after in France, bear witness to the department’s rich heritage.
Baume-les-Messieurs, a Cistercian abbey founded by Saint Columbanus and nestled at the bottom of a rocky cirque, the Poligny and Vaux-sur-Poligny valleys, and the Hérisson waterfalls offer natural landscapes of wild beauty that complete this picture of a charming and bountiful department.