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LausanneTravel and Tourist Information
Lausanne
may be the
capital of Vaud, but it isn't your typical cantonal seat. This picturesque, hilly
city of 125,000 has vied with Geneva as the intellectual and cultural center of
French-speaking Switzerland for centuries.
Lausanne is a convenient place to spend a few
days while touring Switzerland, since its railroad station is a connecting point for trains
between France, Geneva, Bern, and the skiing and mountaineering resorts of the Valais. And
if you're tempted to skip Geneva because you don't have time to do that city properly,
Lausanne is a practical (and manageable) alternative. The Cité, or old town, is uphill from the
train station. It's packed with fine buildings--among them, Switzerland's largest
cathedral, which has been Protestant since the 15th Century. Other landmarks include the
17th Century Hôtel de Ville (city hall), the Palais du Rumine (occupied by several
museums), the Château St-Maire (a former bishops' castle), and the Ancienne-Académie
(the University of Lausanne's former home). Heading in the opposite direction--i.e., downhill--you
can walk or take public transport from the railroad station to the lakeside
port-resort of Ouchy. This former fishing village, now a part of
Lausanne, is
a great place to stroll along the shores of Lac Léman (a.k.a. Lake Geneva), catch
an excursion boat to other towns along the lake, or spend a
lively evening on the waterfront during the summer months.
Lausanne is roughly midway along the northern shore of
Lac
Léman, as Lake Geneva is known outside the canton of Genève. The
elegant small resort cities of Montreux and Vevey are to the east, separated
from Lausanne by the Lavaux Corniche coastal road with its vineyards and
wine villages. France is just 35 minutes across the lake by boat, and the
mountains of Haute Savoie are clearly visible on a sunny day. The city of Lausanne is built on three hills. The climb from the
lakeside resort area of Ouchy to the Haute Ville,
or Upper Town, is steep enough that the original
Métro
connecting Ouchy to Lausanne's main railway station and the Flon nightlife
district was was a funicular and, later, a cogwheel railroad. Archaeologists report that Lausanne's Haute Ville was
occupied in Neolithic times. The first Christian bishop showed up shortly before
700 AD, and a cathedral was built about 200 years later.
Today's
old town dates back to medieval times. The Château St-Maire, or Castle, was
built from 1397 to 1426, and another prominent feature of the old town--the
Eglise St-François--is about the same age as Cathédrale, which was
consecrated in 1275.
The Hôtel de Ville, or town hall, came later; the
Renaissance building on the Place de la Palud was built in the 17th Century.
(The inset photo shows a gargoyle from the Hôtel de Ville.) Perhaps the most significant historical event in Lausanne was
the Reformation, which arrived with a sermon by Guallaume Farel in 1529. By
1536, Lausanne had largely swapped Catholicism for Calvinism, and both the city
and its canton have been Protestant ever since.
. Lausanne has two main sightseeing areas: The Upper Town, or Haute Ville, runs uphill from
the main railroad station and includes the medieval old town. Bring your walking
shoes and be prepared to climb hilly streets and steps if you want to visit the
cathedral, the St-François church, and see other
old-town attractions such as the Château Saint-Maire (a former episcopal palace)
and the Tour de l'Ale (a watchtower dating to 1340 that was once part of the
city walls). Flon, a trendy warehouse district turned nightlife quarter,
is just to the west of the old town and the Place de l'Europe. The Lower Town, or Haute
Basse, more commonly known as Ouchy (the name of the fishing
village that once stood on the shoreline), is a district of parks, lakeside
promenades, elegant 19th Century resort hotels such as the
Beau-Rivage Palace, and
a handful of museums such as the world-famous
Olympic Museum Lausanne. If you're ambitious, you can easily view Lausanne's main sights
in a day, but you'll probably want to allow time to savor the city and to visit
at least a few museums (including the ones described below). Lausanne Tourism
can arrange guided strolls for groups of 1-5 persons, using licensed tour
guides. From the main railroad station, you can easily catch
trains to Vevey, Montreux (with its
Castle of Chillon), and the Lavaux wine
villages. Better yet, head for the waterfront in Ouchy, where you
can take a CGN lake steamer to your
destination on Lac Léman or enjoy a roundtrip
cruise. (The mineral-water spa
of
Evian-les-Bains is directly across
from Lausanne on the French shore of the lake; you can get there by boat in 35
minutes.) Tip: Consider yourself lucky if you're touring
Switzerland with the Swiss Pass:
It lets you travel free on CGN lake steamers, Lausanne's transit system, and
trains of the Swiss Federal Railways, which means you'll spend little or nothing
extra to get around Lausanne and the shore of Lac Léman.
Lausanne's Plan Officiel lists two dozen museums, a
number of which have international reputations. Close to the lake in Ouchy, the
Olympic Museum is a "must
see" attraction for sports fans and Olympic TV watchers. The modern museum has
permanent displays, rotating exhibits, and computer terminals where you can
watch performances from yesteryear. (The displays of medals and torches alone
are worth the price of admission.) Not far away, the
Musée du Vieil Ouchy (Museum of Old Ouchy) has
historical exhibits about the fishing-village-turned-resort.
In
the Upper Town, the Museum of Design and Applied Contemporary Art, or
MUDAC, is easy to visit: It's directly across
the street from the cathedral, where its modern exhibits and rooms are built
behind the façads of four connected medieval houses.
Uphill
from the city center (but well worth the walk or bus ride) is the
Collection de l'Art Brut, where you'll find
amazing works by the mentally ill, prisoners, and other artists on the fringes
of society. The museum owes its existence to the French artist Jean Dubuffet,
who donated his collection of "outsider art" to the city of Lausanne in 1971. Another museum above the city center, the
Fondation de l'Hermitage, hosts
important visiting exhibitions in an old manor house. Walk a little farther up the hill
(or take the #16 bus), and you'll reach the forest of Sauvabelin with an animal
park and the
Tour de
Sauvebelin, a tower where you can enjoy panoramic views of the city and Lac
Léman.
When picking a hotel in Lausanne, your first challenge is to
decide where to stay. Ouchy is convenient to the lake, the Olympic
Museum, and steamers that run to other towns along Lac Léman. The Haute-Ville, or Upper Town, is more convenient to the railroad
station, sightseeing, and the Flon nightlife district. (Still, location isn't as
important as you might think, since Lausanne's newly-renovated Métro makes
it easy to shuttle between the lake and higher elevations.) In Ouchy, the
Beau-Rivage Palace is
the crème de la crème of the city's 5-star luxury
hotels, with a private 10-acre park facing the lake. Nearby are the
Angleterre & Residence
(4 stars), which is spread out over six pavilions, and
Le Château d'Ouchy (4 stars) at the
Place du Pu Port, which resembles a French castle. Uphill from Ouchy is the modern
Continental (4 stars), which lies directly
opposite the railroad station. It's a practical choice if you've got heavy
luggage or an early train. The
Elite (3
stars) occupies a refurbished building between the station and the old town.
In
the Haute-Ville above the railroad station, the
Alpha-Palmiers
(4 stars) is an ultramodern glass structure whose rooms overlook a landscaped
courtyard. The hotel, which was built in 2002 at a cost of CHF 40 million, is
mostly hidden behind traditional façades on the Rue du Petit-Chiène. The reception staff were friendly during my stay, and I was pleasantly surprised
to discover a jar of peanut butter at the breakfast buffet, but my glass-walled
room was a bit stuffy on a sunny day in late October when the air conditioning
was off for the season. The management of the
Alpha-Palmiers also run the stylish
Swiss
Wine hotel and bar (3 stars). Farther up the hill on the rue du
Grand-Chène (slightly west of the Place Saint-François) is the
Edwardian-era
Lausanne Palace & Spa
(5 stars), which is the place to stay if you need quasi-royal accommodation in the
city center. For simplicity in a romantic
setting, consider the
Du Raisin,
which has seven rooms (including studios with kitchenettes) above a café on the Place de la Palud in the pedestrian zone.
The hotel was renovated in 2013, and its amenities include free Wi-Fi. For
more hotel options,
see the
Lausanne hotel
listings from our booking partner, Booking.com, which is the No. 1 secure hotel
reservations service in Europe:
Lausanne is a prosperous city with a large tourist and student
population, so you'll find plenty of restaurants and cafés
in all price categories.
In
the old town, Café du Grütli on rue
Mercerie, just east of the Place de la Palud, is a cozy, old-fashioned
restaurant where you can order wine by the glass or enjoy traditional Swiss
specialties at prices that are moderate (though hardly cheap) by Swiss
standards. Another classic restaurant in the
city center, Café Romand on Place
St-François, serves drinks, sandwiches, and hot meals six days a week (closed
Sundays).
The
lively warehouse district of Flon has a good selection of restaurants and bars.
I had an excellent dinner in a lively, modern vinothèque facing the Place de l'Europe, where most of
the diners were as trendy as the decor. In Ouchy, two upper-end restaurants
worth noting are La Rotonde at the"
Beau-Rivage Palace,
which has a Michelin star and just 60 seats, and La Grappe d'Or (photo at
top of page), where the highly-regarded French kitchen is commanded by a
Bavarian chef. The local Jewish community
operates a kosher restaurant with limited hours for residents and visitors. For
more advice on restaurants, see Wikitravel's "Eat" and Lausanne Tourism's
Restaurants listings.
Arriving by plane. Geneva
International Airport (GVA) is the closest major airport to Lausanne. Trains
depart from a railroad station in the airport at frequent intervals, reaching
Lausanne in 48 to 62 minutes. Arriving by train. International and domestic trains
arrive at Lausanne CFF (the main railroad station), which is uphill from Ouchy
at the lower end of the Haute Ville or city center. For schedules, see the
Swiss Federal Railways electronic journey
planner. Arriving by boat. Vintage
steamers and modern sightseeing boats of the
Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman
(CGN) serve Lausanne-Ouchy's Place du Port from Geneva, Montreux, Vevey,
Evian-les-Bains (France), the Lavaux vineyards, and other points along the lake. Arriving by car. Lausanne is on the northern shore of Lac
Léman, at the junction of the A1 and A9 autoroutes. Plan your driving trip with
ViaMichelin. Lausanne public transportation.
Tranports publics de la région
lausannoisse, or "TL," operates a
network of buses, trains, and trams in and around Lausanne. Its Web site is in
French, but the
maps
and timetables don't require translation. (Also see the
Lausanne Metro
Map at Mapsof.net.)
Lausanne is popular with foreign students, whose
higher-education choices include the
University
of Lausanne and the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, the Business School Lausanne,
and the MBA/EMBA programs at IMD. The
Lausanne Hotel School is internationally
renowned. The school, which offers a Bachelor of Science degree, has been
grooming professionals for the hospitality industry since 1893. Younger foreign pupils can study at the International School of Lausanne
(a non-profit, English-language day school with some 580 students of ages 3-18
from 50 countries) and
the Gan
Shlomo and Marx School, which caters to Jewish children
from ages 2 through 10. Another private school,
Lemania College, offers Swiss Maturité, French Baccalauréat,
and IB diplomas. The school also has a range of employment-focused courses and
summer camps. Boarding is available for students aged 15 and older. ENSR is yet another option:
The private school, founded in 1906, has English and French curriculums from
kindergarten through high school plus a one-year French immersion program
for Anglophones. The École Nouvelle de la Suisse Romande
also has boarding facilities and camps (including summer, ski, and windsurf
camps).
Lausanne Tourisme,
also known as the Lausanne Tourism and Convention Bureau, has a multilingual Web
site with all the usual tourist information, including listings of events,
festivals, and
exhibitions. When you're in Lausanne, you can pick up maps and brochures, get
answers to questions, or request help in finding a last-minute hotel booking at
the Lausanne Tourisme offices in the main railway station and on the Avenue de
Rhodanie in Ouchy. The Office du Tourisme du Canton de Vaud, or
Vaud Lake Geneva Region Tourist
Office, is another valuable resource. Next page: More Lausanne Photos
About the author: Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation. After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post. For more information, see About Europe for Visitors, press clippings, and reader testimonials. Photos 1,4 copyright © ST/Swiss-Image.ch. |
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