The town is in the heart of the
Revermont region, at the foot of the first plateau of the
Jura massif. The Jura escarpment extends to the east and south, while to the west lies the plain of
Bresse and to the north extensive
vineyards. The river
Vallière runs through the town, rising in a typical Jura
blind valley not far away, at
Revigny. It has been conduited since the 1960s on grounds of hygiene, since sewage outlets run into it. A small section remains in the open air near the
parc des Bains, and only a single bridge (the pont de la Guiche) remains. The town is approximately equally placed between
Besançon,
Dijon,
Bourg-en-Bresse and
Geneva, though the last of these lies on the other side of the Jura massif. It is served by the
A39 autoroute, by which Dijon can be reached in about an hour and
Lyon in an hour and a half. The town's railway station lies on the line from
Strasbourg to
Lyon. The wine-growing region to the north of the town is particularly well known, and includes the vintages of l'Etoile,
Château-Chalon and
Arbois. The Jura escarpment to the south and east is a popular tourist region, with its attractions including the lakes of
Chalain,
Clairvaux and Vouglans (at
Lect, Jura), and mountain resorts such as
Prénovel and
Les Rousses. In terms of area, Lons-le-Saunier is the second smallest prefectural town in France, after
Bobigny. ==History==