Neuchâtel

After settling in my apartment for a week, I decided to explore Neuchâtel (纳沙泰尔), the city where I stayed, during my second weekend on 02 Apr (Fri) and 04 Apr (Sun). The word Neuchâtel is in French, while Neuenburg is German and Neocastello or Castelnuovo is in Italian. Neuchâtel is the capital city of the canton of Neuchâtel and its official language in this canton is French.

Neuchâtel Railway Station

Neuchâtel railway station or Gare de Neuchâtel in French (photos below) serves the municipality of Neuchâtel.

Neuchâtel is strategically located and travelling via train from Neuchatel to many major destinations is easy. The TGV from Bern to Paris passes through Neuchatel, and it just takes 4-hours to reach Paris. Train travel to major Swiss cities is also very simple: 40 minutes to Bern, 1-hour 30-minutes to Zürich, 40-minutes to Lausanne, around 1-hour to Geneva, and between 2 to 3 hours to reach destinations in the Swiss Alps such as Jungfrau.

The railway station is a single storey building with kiosks like Pain Paillasse (left photo below), McDonalds Fast-Food Restaurant (right photo below) and a small Coop supermarket.

Neuchâtel Castle

Neuchâtel Castle or Château de Neuchâtel in French, is a castle located in the city centre of Neuchâtel and has been listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. For over 1,000 years, the castle of the lords of Neuchâtel has been the seat of authoritay. But now it houses the law courts and the cantonal government.

Prison Tower of the castle (left photo below) can be spotted clearly from the rows of house while the whole castle (right photo below), which sits atop a small hill, can be observed from a train entering or leaving Neuchâtel.

Neuchâtel Old Town

Neuchâtel's grateful Old Town is filled with houses built of pale-yellow sandstone, which famously led the writer Alexandre Dumas to describe the town 'as if it was carved out of butter'.

The Place des Halles (left photo below), or the old market square, has many busy cafes such as Maison des Halles. At the old town, stood the bronze statue of the David de Pury, Baron de Pury (right photo below) who was Swiss merchant and philanthropist which he left a fortune to Neuchâtel for public works and charities.

Neuchâtel's Old Town is attractive with about 140 street fountains where a handful of them could date back in the 16th century. Fountain of Lion or Fontaine du Griffon in French (left photo below) and Fountain of Justice or Fontaine de la Justice in French (right photo below) are some of the interesting fountains found in this Old Town.

Many of the houses in the Old Town have been converted into boutiques and restaurants (photos below) to serve the current modern city.

An evening stroll at Neuchâtel's waterfront can be relaxing and enjoyable too (photo below).

Central Post Office

The Central Post Office (photos below) is a huge 19th century yellowish stone building located by the lakeside where the port and landing stages are next to it. The Tourist Information Office is also located inside this Central Post Office building.

Houky Asian Take Away

This is an Asian food eatery that is located in Neuchâtel's Old Town (photos below). Not that the food there was great, but this was the eatery I patronized most often during my stay. Serving was quick and food was acceptable with reasonably priced.

A typical plate of 'fried bee hoon' (left photo below) cost CHF 10 while the 'lemon chicken rice' (right photo below) cost CHF 9.

La Coudre-Chaumont Funicular

This funicular is one of three funiculars of Neuchâtel public transport since 1910 where it connects La Coudre station (left photo below) to Chaumont station. Total track length is 2102-meters and has an elevation of 570-meters (right photo below). Return trip of funicular cost CHF 8, but the cost has been covered by my monthly transport pass.

Coincidentally La Coudre station is just besides my apartment! Thus, it made an easy reference point for my Swiss colleagues to know where I stayed.

Here's the video showing the Funicular descending from Chaumont to La Coudre station.

The funicular car is often packed with bikers (left photo below) and the car do offer a panoramic view of the journey through its glass windows (right photo below).

The end station of the funicular is Chaumont station (left photo below). There is a viewpoint tower (right photo below) which allows a more scenic view. Entry to the tower cost a CHF 1-coin; so it's best to bring sufficient coins in advance.

View from the tower was great where Neuchâtel Lake and the majestic Alps could be seen (photos below).

Neuchâtel Lake

Neuchâtel Lake or Lac de Neuchâtel in French is the largest lake located fully within Switzerland's border with a surface of 218.3 km² (38.3-km long and 8.2-km at its widest).

Photo below illustrates the vastness of Neuchâtel Lake when viewed from Chaumont.

During summer, the lake is typically packed with activities like boat cruising and sailing (photos below).

Natural History Museum of Neuchâtel

The Natural History Museum of Neuchâtel (left photo below), housed in a historical building, has permanent exhibitions of mammals and birds found in Switzerland (right photo below).

The diorama displays depict the natural environment of the local creatures (photos below). Must comment that the skill of preserving the specimens is the best I've seen so far.

Exoskeleton of insects are arranged beautifully on the wall to create the image of color and variety of the insect world (photos below).

Admission to the museum cost CHF 7 and opening hours from 1000 to 1800 hours, except on Mondays.

I didn't explore Neuchâtel further after these, except on my second last day in Switzerland where I visited Le Locle and Le Chaux-de-Fonds.