Doubs Valley
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Doubs Valley

The River Doubs runs a course like a series of hairpins, doubling back on itself repeatedly, with its most dramatic change of course at AUDINCOURT, a southern suburb of Montbéliard and the place where Peugeots are made. Audincourt's chief sight is the modern church of Sacré-Coeur, which has windows and a tapestry by Fernand Léger. Just north of Audincourt, Sochaux, another Montbéliard suburb, is home to the Musée Peugeot (daily: May–Sept 9am–7pm; Oct–April 10am–6pm; €6.10), which displays the products of over a century of automotive manufacturing, from the Bey of Tunis's one-off quadricycle to contemporary rally winners and concept cars.

From Audincourt, southwards and upstream, the D437 follows the valley of the Doubs, winding and climbing steadily between steep, wooded banks to the bridging point at ST-HIPPOLYTE, where you'll find the riverside Hôtel Bellevue (tel 03.81.96.51.53, fax 03.81.96.52.40; €40–55) and a campsite (May–Sept). Seven kilometres west along the D39, the Auberge de Moricemaison, in Valoreille (tel 03.81.64.01.72; under €30), offers rustic simplicity and wholesome evening meals from €13.

A less congested scenic route from Besançon follows the D464 south of the river, but without a car you'd have to hitch all this – manageable but slow. Beyond St-Hippolyte the road climbs onto a wide plateau at an altitude of around 850m, with grassy cattle pastures encompassed by fir-clad ridges and dotted with broad-roofed farms and barns. Once up here, cycling is easy enough. Alternatively, it's a lovely but long hike of well over 50km along the GR5 footpath from St-Hippolyte across the plateau and up the Doubs valley to the plunging waterfall of the Saut du Doubs outside Villers-le-Lac – the beginning of the GTJ marathon cross-country ski piste. To reach the fall, it's a four-kilometre walk from the last houses above the north end of the lake in Villers along a track through the woods.

By road, Villers is 47km south of St-Hippolyte along the D437, which turns east at MORTEAU, a village with nothing more than a much-altered, thirteenth-century priory church to recommend it. The D437 is part of the Route du Comté, so if you like cheese, it's worth the detour. There is accommodation here in the form of a gîte on chemin du Breuille (tel 03.81.67.48.72) and, up on the plateau, the welcoming Hôtel des Montagnards (tel 03.81.67.08.86, fax 03.81.67.14.57; €30–40; closed Sun out of season).