Creux du Van is a huge natural amphitheatre carved into the limestone of the Neuchâtel Jura, a curved cliff about a kilometre and a half long and well over a hundred metres high, ringing a deep bowl of scree and forest. It looks like a giant's quarry or a collapsed volcano, but it was made by ice and water, which worked away at the soft layers of rock over many thousands of years. From the rim, at about 1,450 metres, you look down onto treetops and across to the Alps on a clear day, and the Mont Blanc range is often visible on the horizon.
The cliff is the home of ibex, which were reintroduced to the area in the 1960s after being hunted out, and chamois, which you may see on the ledges at dawn or dusk. Because the rim has no fence in most places, walkers must keep a respectful distance from the edge, and the same applies to anyone stepping off the bike. The area is a nature reserve, and the gorges of the Areuse river run down below it. The air carries the smell of pine and cold stone.
The valley beneath, the Val-de-Travers, has one very famous export, absinthe, which was born here in the late eighteenth century and made in secret after the drink was banned in Switzerland from 1910 until 2005. The villages of Couvet and Môtiers are the heart of the story. Travers, the nearest village, is also known for its old asphalt mines, which now shelter a museum underground. Local food leans on the dairy, cured sausage and a good fondue, and there are farm restaurants on the high pastures.
The ride up from the valley is steep and narrow, with tight bends, farm gates and patchy tarmac, and the road is only open in the warmer months. Allow time and expect to meet walkers and cyclists, and cows who are not in a hurry. Cold air gathers in the bowl, even in summer, and fog may fill it for hours. A clear morning in September is the best time to come.