Travers is located at 735 m above sea level, 20 kilometers west-southwest of the cantonal capital of Neuchâtel (as the crow flies). The village extends mostly on the northern side of the Areuse in the wide Val de Travers, surrounded by the heights of the Neuchâtel Jura.
The area of the 24.7 km² former municipal area includes the eastern section of the Val de Travers, which has a flat valley floor around 600 m wide. East of the village, the Areuse curves northwards, passes the narrow point between the steep slopes of Côte Lambercier and Côte de Rortier and then enters the Noiraigue basin, the western part of which also belonged to Travers. In the south, the municipal area extended over the densely wooded steep slope (Bois des Lacherels) to the anticline of the Chasseron. In the very southeast, at Soliat, it reached the upper edge of the Creux du Van rock arena, where the highest point in Travers was at 1410 m above sea level. To the north, the municipal area extended over the Rotel plateau and the Crêt de Sapel (1210 m above sea level) to the height of Roumaillard (1263 m above sea level) and into the dry valley of Combe Pellaton. This lies in the catchment area of the Vallée des Ponts high valley, the extreme southwest of which belonged to Travers. Particularly on the Rotel plateau and on the Crêt de Sapel there are extensive Jura high pastures with the typical mighty spruce trees, which stand either individually or in groups. In 1997, 4% of the municipal area was used for settlements, 43% for forest and woodland, 52% for agriculture and just over 1% was unproductive land.
Travers included the hamlets of Vers chez Montandon (730 m above sea level) to the right of the Areuse, Vers chez le Bois (837 m above sea level) on the northern slope of the valley and Le Sapelet (1098 m above sea level) on the southern slope of the Crêt de Sapel as well as numerous individual farms on the valley slopes and on the Jura heights. Neighbouring communities of Travers were Couvet, La Brévine, Les Ponts-de-Martel, Brot-Plamboz, Noiraigue and Gorgier in the canton of Neuchâtel and Provence in the canton of Vaud.