Lausanne is a city of athletes, but not for the reason you might think!
It’s famous for its Gothic cathedral, its stunning art galleries, and its Olympic Museum. It’s also a mecca for chocolate lovers and for anyone who loves a good fondue.
Rising from the northern shore of Lake Geneva, this is a city of hills, stairs, and steep inclines. If you’re not particularly fit before you get here, you certainly will be when you leave. You could of course use the metro system, the escalators or the lifts that pepper the town.
There’s simply no excuse not to visit Lausanne, it’s a gem of a city.
What to see when you get there
Let’s start at the top and walk our way down through the city, you see so much more on foot.
The Sauvabelin Tower
The Sauvabelin Tower is the perfect start to your visit to Lausanne. It has panoramic views of the city and the lake from the viewing platform. Sitting on top of a hill, (no surprise there), it dominates the Sauvabelin forest to the north of the city.
It’s super popular with families with its children’s playground, small lake and collection of curly haired pigs and mountain goats.
The top attraction in the park is the 35 metre (115 foot) wooden tower with its epic views of the city, Lake Geneva, and the Alps.
You can easily reach the park by public transport. Take the metro to station Bessières and then catch bus 16 to Lac Sauvabelin
Descending from the tower, take the path towards the car park and main bus stops and follow the signs for the Fondation de l’Hermitage.
Fondation de l’Hermitage
The Fondation de l’Hermitage is an art museum housed in an elegant 19th century villa. The gardens overlook the city and cathedral.
With regular world class exhibitions this is a small but fascinating museum. It’s also home to Switzerland’s finest exhibition of early Chinese ceramics.
The current exhibition (February 2023) is devoted to Belgian artist Leon Spilliaert. A self-taught artist, Spilliaert was a pioneer of the symbolist and expressionist style at the beginning of the 20th century.
There’s an excellent restaurant, L’Esquisse, set in the grounds of the villa. Don’t forget to pre-book the restaurant as it’s really popular.
From L’Hermitage let’s head on further down to the famous Lausanne Cathedral.
Lausanne Cathedral
Dating from the 12th century, Lausanne Cathedral is reputed to be one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe.
I always find the interiors of Swiss churches a bit austere, but the stained-glass windows here are sensational. The light filtering through the jewel-like roundels of the large Rose Window, brings the cathedral alive.
On a bright day the sunlight illuminates even the darkest nooks and crannies.
If you’ve got the energy you can climb the cathedral bell tower. From the top you can admire impressive views of Lake Geneva, the Jura and the mountains of the Haute Savoie.
For those with sharp eyes you’ll see a large urn as you enter the cathedral. Stratford Canning, British Ambassador to Switzerland erected the monument. It’s one of the few in the cathedral and is dedicated to his young wife who died in childbirth.
On that cheery note, let’s leave the Cathedral and continue on down towards the centre of the town. We have two choices.
Palais de Rumine
One choice is to cross the road and take the wooden staircase opposite. This will bring you down to the Escaliers du Marché, dating back to the early seventeen hundreds. These lead on down to the Justice Fountain in the Palud square, the heart of Lausanne.
Here you can find plenty of shops, cafes, and restaurants. The department stores of Manor and the Co-Op both have excellent self-service cafeterias on their top floors. You can eat lunch on the small outdoor terraces overlooking the city.
The second option is to exit the cathedral and turn half right. Walk through the Place Madelaine with its outdoor café and take the wide staircase to Place Riponne.
This large open square is dominated by the Palais de Rumine which houses an archaeological and a fine arts museum in addition to Lausanne library.
Phew! I think it’s time for a breather. How are the legs doing? I think I mentioned it was hilly.
Lausanne is a curious mix of old and new. While it exudes a sense of history, stability and sensible ‘Swissness’, it also has a mischievous, modern, forward-looking side to it.
To discover a different side to the city head down from the shopping area towards the iconic 1930’s Tour de Bel-Air. Cross the main viaduct and descend the stairs (yes more) to the Flon district.
The Flon
The Flon is named after the river that now runs beneath the city. Here you’ll find a vibrant café culture, interspersed with trendy shops and art galleries.
This is the place to go for an after-work drink or for a meal, to see a movie or spend an evening people watching from a café terrace.
Lausanne has a large student population and the Flon is popular with young people. This gives it an energy and vibrancy all its own. Quieter during the day, it’s an ideal spot for a quick lunch.
But we’re not stopping here. After the Flon follow the signs towards the main train station, the Gare de Lausanne. This takes us down to Plateforme 10. (If exiting from the main station doors, it’s across the road on the far left.)
Plateforme 10
Yes Wait, There’s More…
Plateforme 10 is Lausanne’s newest contribution to the art scene. This district is devoted to the arts and is still a work in progress. There are 3 major museums here, art shops and cafes.
Musée Cantonale de Beaux Arts
It’s home to the Musée Cantonale de Beaux Arts (MCBA) with over 10,000 works of art.
A small selection of 300 paintings is currently on display in the MCBA. Meander through the galleries and follow the development and fashions in artistic styles right up until the present day.
The Photo Elysée
The Photo Elysée is one of the world’s leading photography museums. You can find over 100,000 photographs in its collection, ranging from fine art to documentary. Not surprisingly it houses the work of some of history’s most famous photographers.
It also runs a variety of workshops devoted to every aspect of photography. So, if you want to know how to take the perfect selfie, this is the place.
The award-winning building is worth a visit in itself. The clean white angular lines of its façade are repeated throughout creating a relaxing, light and airy space. There’s a small café, the Cafe Lumen, on the ground floor which you can use without paying the entrance fee.
Mudac
And it gets better. The Museum of Design and Contemporary Art (Mudac) is the third museum you can find at Plateforme 10. Formally called the Museum of Decorative Arts. Mudac is home to the largest glass collection in Europe it also has collections of ceramics, prints, jewellery and contemporary design.
There’s so much to see here that you could spend an entire day just exploring these collections alone.
If you’ve had enough art to last you a lifetime let’s exit Platforme 10 and head on down the hill.
Depending on how the knees are holding up, you can walk down to Ouchy or take the metro. The walk takes you through a car-free zone and takes around 15 minutes.
Lausanne Olympic Museum
Motivating, heartening, moving, and above all awe-inspiring! This is how I’d describe the beautiful, modern Olympic museum.
I’ve never been a massive fan of the Olympics, despite once working for a member of the IOC… but I am now!
This beautiful modern museum is situated on the promenade at Ouchy, just a five-minute walk from the metro. The manicured gardens are dotted with bronze statues of Olympians from Ancient Greece to the present day.
The Olympic flame burns bright in an area dedicated to the Olympic ideals, ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ meaning ’Faster, Higher, Stronger’.
Is it all just sweaty socks?
Inside, the museum is a riot of colour… reds, yellows, oranges… all adding to the excitement of the Olympic spectacle.
The ingeniously designed space takes you through the history of the games. Leading you from Ancient Greece, through the sitting room of the founder of the modern games, Pierre de Coubertin, to the present day.
Immersive videos give you a sense of the tension, excitement, despair and the joy of the athletes as they compete for that elusive gold medal.
The display of equipment and clothing of some of the top achievers shows how sport has developed over the years.
Among the highlights for me were, weirdly, Jesse Owen’s running shoes. Similarly, the outfits worn by Torvill and Dean in their iconic ice dance, Boléro.
There’s a glittering array of medals, and a selection of worldwide Olympic memorabilia.
As if that’s not enough, you can throw in just about every Olympic Torch. I particularly like the quirky costumes from the opening ceremonies, which wouldn’t look out of place at an ABBA concert.
To build a better world’
The aim of the Olympic Movement is ‘to promote sport, culture, and education with a view to building a better world’.
Idealistic, yes certainly. Realistic? Well that’s a discussion that could go on forever. On the positive side the Olympics has promoted sport for all. How many people had heard of curling before the Winter Olympics? It’s also raised the profile of disabled athletes through the Paralympic games.
Yes, it’s big business, but I defy you to come out and not feel uplifted and inspired.
Et voilà…that’s our walking trip of Lausanne over for today
And so, there we have it! A fascinating, if not exhausting, trip to Lausanne
Most of the tourist attractions are within walking distance of the centre. It might make sense to take the metro or use the bus so you can save your energy to enjoy the sites.
The metro runs overground and is clean and cheap. If you’re staying in a hotel you may find it offers you a free metro ticket to use for the duration.
How to get there
Getting there’s easy, there are excellent transport links. The extensive railway network provides frequent connections to Geneva and Geneva airport.
The A9/E62 Motorway passes less than 4 km from the city centre and links with other major cities in Switzerland and beyond.
CGN Ferries
If you’re travelling from Geneva or from the French side of the lake in Evian les Bains, you can arrive in Lausanne in style. Climb aboard one of the many CGN ferries.
There are regular daily sailings to the port of Ouchy which sits just below Lausanne. The cost of the metro that links Ouchy to Lausanne town can be included in your ferry ticket.
Recommendations
(based on personal experience, I don’t have any financial gain or reward of any kind from my recommendations)
There’s a lot to see and do in Lausanne, I’ve only scratched the surface here. If you’re a wine lover then you should definitely visit the world-renowned vineyards of Lavaux.
If you fancy staying overnight or for a few days in Lausanne, hotels can be expensive. I’ve stayed at the following mid-range hotels and found them clean, comfortable and convenient:
The Hotel des Voyageurs Boutique is situated in the pedestrianised heart of Lausanne. It’s super convenient for the historical centre and for the main commercial streets. It also does a great breakfast.
The Hotel du Port at Ouchy is a five minute walk from the metro station at Ouchy and only a couple of minutes from the ferry terminal. It’s also just a few minutes from here to the Olympic Museum.
A favourite café in Lausanne is the Cochinelle. Always full of people with laptops writing their next novels.
Lausanne is full of great restaurants, most offering a ‘menu du jour’ during the week. I regularly go to Tartares & Co in the Flon. A buzzing space where you pick fresh ingredients from an extensive menu depending on what you enjoy most and create your own meal ‘sur mesure’.
I hope this blog post has given you a few ideas of things to see, without using the car, on a trip to Lausanne. Whether it’s just a day trip or a longer city break you’ll find plenty to discover in this city of art, culture and….athletes.
Interactive Map
If you’ve discovered any hidden gems in Lausanne then why not share them over on the Facebook page ‘Tales from a Thollon Balcony’. Give the page a ‘like’ while you’re there. Or leave a comment on this page. I’ll look forward to reading them too.
