Backdropped by mountains, lakes, and artists.
Let ’s be real : Switzerland sometimes hurt from a bit of a snoozy repute . But Lausanne , the country ’s fourth - great urban center and the Das Kapital of the French - verbalize side of the land , shouldnotbe slept on . In late years , the lakefront Ithiel Town has carved out an unlikely young repute as an art and ethnical powerhouse , give cool - kid capital Basel a run for its money . raw on the fit is a just - opened cultural district , Plateforme 10 , home to three extremist - modern museum , plus a craw of creative businesses dream up by a unseasoned propagation of artists — from funky tailoring shops to a hip café that double as an creative person residence .
As cool as the cultural scene is , we can understand coming to Lausanne and not wanting to spend any time indoors . The hilltop city is seriously breathtaking , with a cobbled Old Town , panoramic views of Lake Geneva andthe Alps , and Gothic landmarks like theCathedral of Notre Dame . It ’s no wonder 20th - century European intellectual , include T.S. Eliot and Percy Shelley , spent their OOO here .
Of course , plenty of visitors add up to Lausanne — the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee since 1915 — to tour theOlympic Museumand the Olympic Sculpture Garden . Personally , I can think of , like , 100 things I ’d rather do than read about the history of sport , but hey , caption are there to be remembered . Among other top contenders : go on a sailboat ride on Lake Geneva , take a brisk pass through the picturesqueParc de Mont Repos , and — a personal preferent — rise along the UNESCO - protected vinery that flank the city .
Lausanne, Switzerland|Michal Ludwiczak/Getty Images
If you get athirst , there are plenty of try rooms where you could drink down in for a tonic meth of Chasselas , the region ’s signature grape vine variety , along with a couple slabs of gruyère and some smoked duck terrine . Plus , through the city you ’ll find gooey vat of fondu , since fade Malva sylvestris is everlasting for warming yourself up on a cold day .
Whatever you choose , here are the best thing to explore in Lausanne .
These European Cities Are More Dazzling—and Cheaper—in Winter
Off-season = magic.
Check out the city’s new cultural district
Strolling aroundPlateforme 10is like entering a whole new part of Lausanne , with nary a medieval spire or stain - glass windowpane in sight . The brand - new cultural district is a playground for the metropolis ’s most daring graphics and computer architecture , with three of the metropolis ’s top museums — MCBA , Mudac , andMuseé de l’Elysée — housed inside ultramodern buildings designed by outside architecture studios Barozzi Veiga and Aires Mateus .
The compound ’s pretty esplanade is scattered with outdoor sculpture , along with various gallery , art studio , and din hotspotsArcadiarestaurant andLe Nabibar . To see Plateforme 10 at its tip , confabulate in summer , when the site is convey over by the unresolved - air Locarno Film Festival and the lively medicine and dance performances of the Festival de la Cité de Lausanne .
Warm your soul with melty fondue
Lausanne may be the capital of French - address Switzerland , but it still takes the Swiss custom of fondue seriously . In the wintertime , countless restaurants fire up their caquelons , which are traditional fondue pots . Most offer the traditional moité - moitié version ( typically made with adequate amounts of Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois cheese ) or else creative looping like curry fondue or even variations suffice over steamed white potato and top with olives and sun - dry out tomatoes .
AtLe Café de l’Évêché , there are 13 dissimilar option on the menu , include a 100 % Vacherin Fribourgeois fondue dish out in a “ hat ” of bread . For an experience direct out of a postcard , channelize to the atmosphericCafé duGrütli , where you ’ll dine under fourteenth - hundred exposed ray while take heed to the chime of the old clock on Place de la Palud . Le Chalet Suisseis just as quaint , with its sylvan coiffe in Park Hermitage and its crackling wood fireplace and cow bell décor .
Chill with Lausanne’s new creatives
Lausanne is deliver something of a creative renaissance — and it ’s all thanks to a young generation of artists and entrepreneur who are making the city their sheet . AtSole Savaz , a former gas post turn “ sneaker barber ” on Avenue d’Échallens , artists Tyson Lewis and Olukorede Aiyegbusi use vibrant paint , rainbow - imbue laces , and other cloth to transform fall apart - out sneakers into practically new again , as well as personalize collectible pairs .
Just as innovative is the newDeli Socialcafé and cultural brooder on La Place du Tunnel , where founders Emily Groves and Rhys Williams have dreamt up a multidisciplinary blank where you’re able to order drip java and a grievous bodily harm of Jamaican ginger soft service , flip through a selection of indie magazines , and pay heed workshops on ceramic - make and knife - sharpen . At the back of the café is an data-based test kitchen that role as a originative residency for culinary artists and chefs .
For a unparalleled memento , baseball swing byLa Trame — a tailoring store establish by three fashion - jazz , environmentally - conscious champion — to sieve through rack of vintage clothing , enroll in a innocent sewing or darn class , or just confab about textiles over coffee .
Platforme 10
Sleep in a lakeside palace
In a city as pretty as Lausanne , we ’d expect nothing less than castle - corresponding accommodations . For out - of - this - populace opulence , there ’s theBeau - Rivage Palace , a idealistic dame date to 1861 and adorn out in elegant inside by French designer Pierre - Yves Rochon ( who also did the George V in Paris and the Savoy in London ) .
Just as blue though a touch more accessible is theHôtel Royal Savoy Lausanne , an Art Nouveau icon where the Spanish regal kinsperson hid out in “ expat ” for many years ( hey , beats prison house camp ) . Apart from a seriously blissful spa , the hotel ’s crown jewel is a 360 - degree panoramic rooftop terrace — the languorous in the metropolis — with a drinks menu and décor that deepen with the seasons .
In the center of townsfolk isLausanne Palace , the last of Switzerland ’s high - end castle hotel from the nineteenth century . While it does n’t have a lakeshore perch , the Belle Époque smasher has a Coco Chanel retinue and the atmospherical Brasserie Grand Chêne restaurant , where you’re able to get your fill of French classics like escargot and steak frites , washed down with the best local wine-colored .
Platforme 10
Immerse Yourself in the Swiss Alps on an Express Train That Takes Its Time
From Zermatt to St. Moritz on the Glacier Express.
Get a taste for Chasselas grapes and the oldest wine in Switzerland
Thanks to a flourishing student population , the wine - drinking civilisation in Lausanne is hip and pretense - free , and usually comes with a side of local culture . Sample wine pulled straight from the vat atStreet Cellar , where the walls are covered in mural by local artists . Or enjoy traditional Swiss hot wine and DJ - spun air at the year - roundLe Perchoir , an all - seasons rooftop bar and music locus located on the top of the city ’s iconic Vortex building . maneuver over to theArsenic Museumto discover why the female - run coffeehouse has become a hot spot for low - intervention vino . The team behind the city ’s Vins Vivants corporate has also started Switzerland ’s first"living wine-coloured festival,“now figure into its third year , which brings together the right lifelike Alpine winegrowers every leap .
Lausanne is also a 20 - minute car ride from the vinery ofLavaux , aUNESCO World Heritage Siteand the source of Switzerland ’s Grand Crus , where you may go on e - biking and driven tours through terrace vineyards that were build by Cistercian monks in the 12th C . Get in your steps by walk along the region ’s hiking trail , the Swiss Wine Route , or enjoy pampering treatments at atraveling spathat motility between the area ’s wineries . Lavaux is also home toDomaine Clos de la République , the oldest winery ( and business ) in Switzerland , as well as the Instagram - famousLe Deckrestaurant , which proffer wholesale views of the lake and the hillside vines . With Swiss wines slowly take in external acclaim ( less than 3 % is exported ) , Lausanne is the station to discover what the hype is all about .
Café du Grütli
Sole Savaz
Beau-Rivage Palace Lausanne
Didier Marti/Getty Images
