The La Presta Asphalt Mines, in Travers in the Val-de-Travers, can be explored with a guide through nearly a kilometre of underground tunnels. Wearing a helmet, you follow in the footsteps of the miners who extracted asphalt from the mountain for more than a century.
Caves & mines
Main highlights
- Guided tour of the tunnels covering nearly a kilometre of the former mine, helmet on
- Asphalt Story exhibition with six interactive experiences on geology and hydrocarbons
- Ham cooked in asphalt at the Café des Mines, a tradition inherited from the miners’ celebrations
Overview
The Val-de-Travers asphalt deposit was discovered in 1711 by the Greek scholar Eyrini d’Eyrinis. It was first worked in open-cast quarries, then underground in the La Presta mine from 1830. Mining intensified in 1873, when an English company bought the mines.
For more than a century, hundreds of workers, many of them Italian, extracted two million tonnes of ore. La Presta asphalt surfaced motorway bridges and engineering structures across Switzerland, until artificial bitumens made extraction too costly. The site is now open to the public.
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What to see and do
The guided tour lasts around 1 hr 30 and covers nearly a kilometre of tunnels, at a constant temperature of 8 °C. Equipped with a helmet, and sometimes a lamp, visitors learn about extraction techniques, the miners’ work and how methods evolved over time.
The Asphalt Story exhibition offers six interactive experiences on the formation of hydrocarbons, the geology of the site and the sustainable use of natural resources. The Miners’ Garden, an interactive biotope, can be explored with an explorer’s satchel to observe the local flora and fauna. Puzzle games are designed for families.
At the Café des Mines, the speciality is ham cooked in asphalt at 160 °C, served with potato gratin and a salad. The recipe continues a tradition of the miners’ festive meals on Saint Barbara’s Day.
Practical information
Access : La Presta site, 2105 Travers. By train, “La Presta-Mines d’asphalte” station. By car, head towards Val-de-Travers, then Travers.
Visit duration : around 1 hr 30 for the guided tour, 2 hrs 30 to 3 hrs including the exhibition and the garden.
Suitable for : families and children, with puzzle games. Not recommended for people with claustrophobia.
On site : Café des Mines.
Visitor tips
Bring warm clothing, as it is 8 °C underground all year round, and sturdy shoes for the uneven ground. Arrive a few minutes before the guided tour starts.
Book your table at the Café des Mines in advance, especially at weekends, if you want to taste the ham cooked in asphalt.
Nearby
- The Maison de l’Absinthe, in Môtiers, traces the history of the spirit that made the region famous.
- The Môtiers Waterfall tumbles down a rock face just steps from the village centre.
- The Creux-du-Van is a rocky cirque at the heart of a protected nature reserve, with arctic-alpine flora.
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