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Vallorbe is situated at an elevation of 750 m in the valley of the river Orbe in southwestern Switzerland close to the border to France. It is the second community of the Orbe district in the canton Vaud and has a population of about 3,100 (2001).

The valley of Vallorbe was probably first cleared around 1100 by monks from the monastery of Romainmôtier. The earliest document mentioning the village (de valle urbanensi) dates from 1139; later documents mention the names Valle Orbe (1148) and Valorbes (1228). The spelling Valorbe was in use up until 1837.

During the Middle Ages Vallorbe had already been the home of iron industry with numerous furnaces, forges and hammer mills powered by the river. Throughout the following centuries the industries and trades benefitted from the geographical situation at the foot of the Col de Jougne pass, which had already been used by the Romans for crossing the Jura mountains at their lowest point. The new railroad system connected Vallorbe to Lausanne in 1870 and to Paris via Jougne in 1875. In 1915 Vallorbe became an international railway station with the completion in 1915 of the Mont d'Or tunnel. Although Switzerland remained neutral during both World Wars, the economic development during those times was hampered by the town's sensible location at these international transit routes near the border.

Today another source of income is the tourism industry. The discovery in 1974 of the spectacular 'grottes de l'Orbe' from which the river Orbe re-emerges from the Dent de Vaulion, followed in 1992 by that of the 'trésor des fées' created a major tourist attraction. The Iron Museum ('Musée du fer') was opened in 1980. The 'Juraparc du Mont d'Orzeires', which was created in 1987, is dominated by the Dent de Vaulion and is home to a great number of bisons. The tunnels and galleries of the Fort du Pré Giroud, which had been created in World War II in the Mont d'Or, exemplify the strategic position of the area and the efforts of Switzerland to protect its territory.

The Protestant parish church [background] was built in 1712.

Vallorbe is the birth place of the conductor Marcello Viotti (1954–2005).