Restaurant, La Vue des Alpes, Switzerland

Relais de la Vue-des-Alpes restaurant has what the name implies a view of the Alps - when the day is clear that is. Often the Alps are lost in a soft haze, but even so the countryside around this Neuchâtel to La Chaux-de-Fonds café mountain pass is beautiful. After having breakfast, lunch or dinner at this restaurant (think of it more as a café than a formal restaurant) you can walk one of the nearby trails through forest or pasture land where you may pass through a small herd of Swiss cows with the bells about their necks clanging.

The café itself is a hangout for locals, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Truck drivers stop here before heading down the other side of the pass, tour buses stop from time to time giving their passengers a break, and people of Neuchâtel or other towns and villages come to have a coffee and croissant or lunch and go for a walk or hike. This is especially true on those days when fog blankets the villages in the valleys and lakeside because La Vue-des-Alpes is often blanketed in sunshine.

Rue Valley Blanketed in Fog and Alps on Horizon
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Interior of Restaurant Relais de la Vue des Alpes. Enlarge

Dress here is always casual and the table service is lacking. You grab a tray, order your food at the counter and walk it to your table. Food includes spaghetti, fondue, sandwiches, beef or horse steak, french fries, croissants and various beverages including soft drinks, coffee, beer and wines.

On nice sunny days the café is nearly empty. Most people are eating on the café's terrace or at one of the picnic tables. Good place for kids. They can run around without bothering people too much, and run up the slopes or climb on the rocks.

Terrace of Restaurant Relais de la Vue des Alpes. Enlarge

During the winter skiers hit the gentle slopes just down from the restaurant. The slopes are easy and good for beginners or more experienced skiers who just want a little exercise. The ski tow is very short, but it is not expensive either. Kids often bring their toboggans to the café's parking lot and start their descent. In the immediate area are trails for cross-country skiing. One trail starts near the bottom of the ski lift. The other is just a minute driving as you pass the restaurant (if you are driving from Neuchâtel). If driving you can park your car in the parking lot off to the left if it isn't under a lot of snow.

Martin Kisler sells fruit and vegetables in front of the restaurant during both the warm and cold winter months. Martin speaks English, French, German and has traveled to many parts of the world including the United States and Australia. Even in winter months his selection is impressive, and the reason being most is imported.

More Information on Martin Kisler's Fruit and Vegetables

Martin's Fruit and Vegetables
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Chapel at La Vue-des-Alpes, Switzerland

A chapel is a short two minute walk up the hill. The chapel is open to anyone of any faith or no faith to sit and have a little quiet or pray and reflect. I occasionally walk in, sit down in the peace and solitude, to try and figure out the rest of my life. No answers yet.

From downtown Neuchâtel to the restaurant takes about 20 minutes by car though you can, also, take a bus from Place Pury in downtown Neuchâtel. By car take the freeway heading for La Chaux-de-Fonds. Drive through the Seyon gorge. Continue five minutes on the freeway until you pass through the tunnel. Take the next exit which says La Vue-des-Alpes. At the end of the off ramp make a left. Drive up the hill through the farmland and forest for the next 10 minutes or so until you get to the top of the mountain. There at the pass you will see the white two story Hotel La Vue des Alpes on the right.

Hotel Vue des Alpes. Enlarge

Restaurant Relais la Vue-des-Alpes, Switzerland
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The café is on your immediate left with a big parking lot in front. It is a one story contemporary flat-roofed building. Get in the left hand turning lane and make a left into the parking lot. Watch out for traffic coming around the bend to your right. The traffic can come pretty fast.

Unlike the vast majority of businesses in Switzerland the Relais de la Vue-des-Alpes is open 7 days a week. Hours are 6:30 to 22:30 weekdays, 7:30 to 10:30 Saturdays and 7:30 to 21:30 Sundays.

Burly Customer Drinking a Bowl of Coffee Enlarge