Le Locle lies at 920 metres altitude in a high valley in the Neuchâtel Jura. For over 250 years, Le Locle’s economy was mainly driven by the watch industry, which is why the town was so badly affected by the crisis in that branch from 1970. But the watch industry (luxury watches) is still of significance in Le Locle. Château des Mont, an enchanting castle in Louis XVI style a little above the town, houses a superb timepiece and automatic machine collection in a fitting environment.

Le Locle was devastated by fire on a number of occasions. After the fire of 1833, taking La Chaux-de-Fonds as an example, the town was rebuilt with a chessboard layout. Worthy of note in the townscape are the former Rathaus (town hall) now serving as the local court, built 1839-41, the Haus Du Bois (from the second half of the 17th century), the Villa an der Côte des Billodes built by Le Corbusier in 1912 and today’s Hôtel de Ville built from 1914 to 1918 in Neo Renaissance style.

The Farming and Trades Museum is housed in a former farmhouse dating from the early 17th century. And finally the Kunstmuseum (Musée des Beaux-Arts du Locle) exhibits works by Swiss artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. Also worth viewing are the cave mills on the Col des Roches leading in the direction of France. Here you can see a mill that has been driven by an underground water course since the 17th century.

The climate in the Jura is raw. The village of La Brévine, which lies on a secluded rise of the Jura, west of Le Locle, is known as the Siberia of Switzerland and at -41.8°C holds the record for Switzerland’s lowest temperature. Also nearby Le Locle are Lac des Brenets and the Saut du Doubs fall: the snake-like lake was formed by a rockfall that dammed the water of the French-Swiss border river Doubs. An impressive, natural spectacle is presented by the waterfall that returns the lake water back to its rightful source in the river. A narrow gauge railway branch line runs between Le Locle and Les Brenets.