Porrentruy

Porrentruy was the residence of the prince-bishops of Basel from the sixteenth century, after the Reformation drove them out of Basel itself, and the town they built shows it - a castle above with the round Refous tower, a baroque and classical old town below, fountains, and the Hotel-Dieu, an eighteenth-century hospital now holding the town museum. The botanical garden attached to the cantonal school dates from the eighteenth century and is among the oldest in the country. Around Porrentruy, motorway construction through the Ajoie in the 2000s exposed extensive dinosaur trackways in Jurassic limestone - thousands of footprints, documented in one of the larger such excavations in Europe, with material shown locally.

The main sights

• The prince-bishops' seat - the residence after the Reformation closed Basel.
• The Refous tower - the round keep above the town.
• An eighteenth-century botanical garden - among the oldest in Switzerland.
• Dinosaur trackways - thousands of prints exposed by motorway works.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Things to know

The Ajoie is remote by Swiss standards - a long way from anywhere. Museums keep short hours and close on Mondays. The trackway sites themselves are largely not open; the finds are shown in displays. Signage is in French.

Nearby

Reclere caves are west; Delemont and the Jura passes are south.

Key facts