In order to seduce its visitors and charm its inhabitants, Neuchâtel has four major assets which are perfectly worth its range among the little and big capitals of the Swiss cantons: its marvellous location, the natural dynamism of the population, a real passion for applied research and, last but not least, the innate ability to harmony.

Built on terraces on the first foothills of the Jura, Neuchâtel appears firstly as a largely open town. The presence of the lake provides on the foreground a certain charm and the far Alps call more for an adventure than for a closed skyline.

But places are nothing without the people who populate them and Neuchâtel has benefited since centuries from an enterprising population, which has always been ready to take up new challenges. This is certainly the point why such a small town, on a worldwide scale, has known such a prestigious historical and economical destiny. The watch-making, then the micromechanics make up the industrial flagships.

Although this exceptional destiny, Neuchâtel has never stopped cultivating the way of life at men’s measure. There is no doubt that the secret of the joy of life in Neuchâtel lies in this wise balance.

Art gallery, an interior scene, a bar and behind it thousand activities mean that the cultural life lives and makes a good impression through the Centre culturel neuchâtelois. Its Théâtre du Pommier has several stagings per year. It has its own theatre school, sends its own newspaper to its members and gives its best to preserve the culture’s vividness.

Paintings, engravings, scuptures… the visual arts expose and explode in Neuchâtel. At the Ditesheim gallery, the Centre d’art de Neuchâtel, the Média gallery, the Académie Maximilien de Meuron whose major task is to give a teaching in arts. Concerning the Society of Art lovers, which has always generously “supported” the Museum of art and history, it has set up its gallery in a wing of the museum.

Numerous regional infrastructures are carried out at the coast: with Neuchâtel, the towns at the lakeside have 86.000 inhabitants, which represents half of the canton’s population. An economic entity open to the world: by car, it takes you 10 and 20 minutes to join the airfields of Colombier and La-Chaux-de-Fonds. With the TGV – train à grande vitesse, high speed train – Paris is only four hours from Neuchâtel!

The biggest, most popular, the most flowered and where people drink the most of the celebrations attracts every year more than 100,000 visitors to Neuchâtel. They come from far to enjoy the Fête des Vendanges (kind of wine feast) of every last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of September. Fairground attractions, stalls, marquees, guests of honour, atmosphere, brass bands, guggenmusiks, dances, children processions, parade with brass bands (on Saturdays), huge processions of flower floats (on Sundays): what a life! But you should not reduce celebration to that one, this would dishonour the town, which offers many opportunities to enjoy, share, dream…