The main trans-Jura route into Switzerland is the N5, which begins its ascent to the frontier around St-Laurent-en-Grandvaux, which is great for skiing but unmemorable apart from the picturesque Lac de l'Abbaye, 4km south of town on the D437. Also on the Arbois–St-Claude train line is MOREZ, 12km southeast, a town squeezed along the narrow valley floor and noted for the manufacture of watches and spectacles. Its tourist office is in the central place Jaurès (mid-July to mid-Aug Mon–Sat 9am–noon & 2–6pm, Sun 10am–noon; mid-Aug to mid-July Mon 2–6pm, Tues–Fri 9am–noon & 2–6pm, Sat 10am–noon; tel 03.84.33.08.73), along with the gare routière, from where buses depart for La Cure on the Franco-Swiss border. Once on the Swiss side, you can catch trains down to Nyon on Lac Léman and to Geneva itself.A couple of kilometres before the frontier, LES ROUSSES exists purely for skiing – downhill and especially cross-country – but just before it a lane leads down to a very attractive HI hostel in an old, red-shuttered farmhouse by a stream, 2km away at Bief-de-la-Chaille (tel 03.84.60.02.80, fax 03.84.60.09.67; closed mid–April to mid-May & Oct to mid-Dec; €8 without breakfast, full board only in winter). There's also a gîte d'étape at Prémanon on the D25 (tel 03.84.60.54.82; closed mid-Nov to mid-Dec & for 1 week at the end of winter). From the hostel you can see the eerie spheres of the satellite-tracking station on the summit of La Dôle (1677m), the Jura's highest peak, just over the Swiss border. The GR9 footpath passes through here, beginning a magnificent Hiking section all along the crest of the ridge to the Col de la Faucille and beyond. There are plenty of hotels in Les Rousses itself: the Hôtel de France, 323 rue Pasteur (tel 03.84.60.01.45, fax 03.84.60.04.63; €55–70), is the town's best, but less extravagant lodgings can be found at the Du Gai Pinson, 1465 route Blanche (tel 03.84.60.02.15; €30–40), or Le Village, 344 rue Pasteur (tel 03.84.34.12.75; €30–40). For a meal, try the restaurant at the Hôtel-Restaurant Les Gentianes (menus from €12), or the Restaurant Les P'Losses (from €14), in the winter-sports centre on the Geneva road southwest of town. There are also plenty of cafés and pizzerias.
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