A town at 837 metres that ran France's absinthe trade. Around twenty-five distilleries worked here before the 1915 ban, and distilling returned after the drink was rehabilitated in 2001.
Pours: Absinthe and anis from the town's distilleries, Macvin du Jura as the other local aperitif
Tip: The Musee de Pontarlier is in a 15th century building and covers the absinthe story alongside archaeology and fine art, including Courbet's self-portrait with a black dog. The tourist office is at 14bis rue de la Gare.
The salt town that marks the northern limit of the Jura vineyard. The Grande Saline at 3 Place des Salines keeps twelve centuries of salt working, and vines still run on the slope above it.
Pours: Cotes du Jura from the En Chamoz slope above the town
Tip: Tours leave at 10h, 11h, 12h, 14h30, 15h30 and 16h30 and cost 10.50 euros, 6 euros for six to twelve year olds. The 12th century gallery is cold, so take a layer even in August.
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux's semicircular saltworks, commissioned by Louis XV and built from 1775. Brine ran to it through a 21 km pipeline from Salins-les-Bains, and UNESCO listed it in 1982.
Pours: Cotes du Jura whites from the northern communes
Tip: Open 9h to 18h from April to June and in September and October, 9h to 19h in July and August, 10h to 17h from November to March. Adults 15 euros, six to fifteen 10 euros, family 42 euros.
A village of 160 people in a cirque ringed by hundred-metre cliffs, listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France. Rodolphe I gave the cella of Baume to Bernon in 888, and Bernon left in 910 to found Cluny.
Pours: Chateau-Chalon vin jaune from the cliff above the valley
Tip: Guided tours of the abbey run 1 April to 30 September and during school holidays. The caves under the cliff go down past 120 metres and stay cold; the abbey and the grottoes together are a comfortable half day.
The Herisson drops close to 300 metres over three kilometres through a classified natural site of nearly 1,200 hectares, with 31 sauts and seven main cascades across seven communes.
Pours: Cotes du Jura reds to drink cold after the walk
Tip: The marked round trip from the Eventail car park is about 7.4 km. The Eventail falls over 65 metres and the Grand Saut 60. The valley is open all year and is at its fullest after spring rain, not in August.
The nearest city to the vineyard, wrapped in a meander of the Doubs. Vauban's citadel above it was begun in 1668, covers 11 hectares with walls 15 to 20 metres high, and was listed by UNESCO on 7 July 2008.
Pours: Jura whites on the wine lists of the Boucle
Tip: The citadel holds three Musees de France, the Musee comtois, the natural history museum with its aquarium and insectarium, and the Musee de la Resistance et de la Deportation. Give it most of a day and buy online.