aTRAVELdirectory| CONTACT |

Lausanne Tourism - Travel to Lausanne

        

Lausanne, the capital of the Swiss canton of Vaud, is a medium sized city (just a bit smaller than Geneva) which sits at the northern most point of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). The city is the host to the International Olympic Committee, two major universities, and is the both transportation hub of Vaud, and a gateway to the alpine Canton of the Valais, home to some of the best known ski slopes in the world.

As you might expect the large student population makes for a lively nightlife and arts community, revolving around the Flon district. You'll also find a number of quality restaurants and two dozen museums of note, including the Olympic Museum and the offbeat Collection de l'Art Brut. Architecture buffs should note that at the top of the old town you'll find the best preserved Gothic cathedral in Switzerland.

Lausanne is a French speaking city, but Swiss-German and Italian are also spoken. A large enough part of the population has English as a second language that you probably will have little trouble, but it is not as commonly spoken as in nearby Geneva.

Travel to Lausanne - Lausanne Tourism

Table of contents

Understand Lausanne Tourism

There has been a settlement on the hill of Lausanne since at least the stone age, but most histories of the city trace its origin to the roman camp Lausanna which occupied a position just down the hill toward the lake in what is now the village of Vidi.

Relocated to more defensible hilltop in the dark ages Lausanne's increasing wealth and importance were largely derived from its placement on the primary north south routes between Italy and the north sea. It was the first major town north of the St. Bernard pass, at least until the establishment of the bishopric of Valais.

In 1538 the Bernese took the city from the Dukes of Savoy as part of their drive to secure their southwestern frontier. The Bernese held the territory until Lausanne gained its independence from Bern after the invasion of a French army under Napoléon Bonaparte in 1798. The city was later, in 1803, admitted to Switzerland as the capital of Vaud.

The mini region of the northwestern shore of Lake Geneva from Lausanne to Montreux, called the Swiss Riviera, has been a second home to writers, artists and musicians for about 150 years starting with the Shellys and Lord Byron, who partied and wrote in Lausanne (Frankenstein is rumoured to have been composed here). Other famous residents include Ernest Hemmingway, who wintered here with his young family around the time of the composition of A Movable Feast.

Get into Lausanne

Travel to Lausanne By Train

Lausanne is served by one of the most efficient passenger rail services in the world, the Swiss Federal Rail system. There are hourly between 6:00am and 12:00 midnight every day to and from Geneva, Zurich, Bern, Neuchatel, St. Gallen, Brig and points in between. There are four trains daily from Paris Gare de Lyon via the SNCF's TGV "High Speed Train"", and 3 per day from Milan on the Swiss-Italian Cisalpino (CHEEZ-al-PEEN-o). The Italian rail service also provides night trains to and from Rome and Venice.

Travel to Lausanne By Plane

The closest airport, Geneva airport is served by almost all European carriers, and by two daily trans-atlantic flights, one from New York, JFK on Swiss and one from Newark on Continental, otherwise when flying from the U.S. you will have to change planes at your airline's hub airport. Zurich airport provides an alternative, with more frequent trans-atlantic service mainly via Swiss].

Travel to Lausanne By car

Travel to Lausanne By Bus

International buses arrive daily from Spain, France, as well as major cities in Eastern Europe. Many buses pass through Geneva or Basel before stopping in Lausanne.

Travel to Lausanne By Boat

Boats ply both the Swiss and French shores of Lake Geneva with several daily ferries to Evian (passport required to enter France), Montreux, Geneva and many smaller lakeshore towns. Lunch and dinner cruises are also popular with tourists. Most of the ferries are meant as scenic trips and not the fastest way to get around.

Get around in Lausanne

Walk

Walking is a great way to get around Lausanne. There are a number of sites within a short walk of the main railway station with the mostly carfree streets beginning right across the street with Rue de Petit Chaine, which leads up to Place St. Francis in the old town. Like many streets in Lausanne it is a bit steep though, so if that's a problem consider taking the metro M2 line.

Metro

There are three Metro lines provided by Transports publics de la région lausannoise which have their hub at the Flon Metro station. M2 connects Flon to the main train station, and the lakefront at Ouchy, while M1 serves points west, including the University of Lausanne. A third Metro line is provided by the private LEB company, with trains connecting with the other two lines at Flon which run out to the far northern suburbs of Echallens and Bercher.

Metro (and bus) tickets are sold from vending machines at all stops, and at the main train station and the Flon. Normal tickets are sold by distance, as determined by a zone system. You can determine the number of zones your ticket needs to cover by inspecting the diagram on the ticket machines, or on the free map available at all ticket-sales points. Tickets are available for single rides, return, and in day and week passes. The CFF Abonnement General rail passes are good for unlimited travel throughout the TL and LEB system.

If you have a CFF pass for non-swiss travelers you should ask at the main station if your pass covers the local transit system, since some passes do and others don't.

Bus

Clean and fast buses, also provided by TL, are very frequent and form a dense enough network that you will rarely find yourself more than a few hundred feet from one bus stop or the other.

See Lausanne

Do Lausanne

Buy

The usual Swiss trinkets are available in a couple of places around town, plus a colorful Saturday farmers market in the steep, winding streets of Old Town. Plenty of boutiques and department stores as well. Note that pretty much everything is closed on Sunday, except in Ouchy, part of which is on Federal land.

Eat - Travel to Lausanne

Budget

Mid-range

Splurge

Drink

There are a number of websites which provide nightlife information for Lausanne and other sites in the Suiss Romande. Most of them seem to cater to a particular audience. The most comprehensive listings are at http://www.lausanneatnight.ch.

Sleep - Lausanne Tourism

Most of the hotels in Lausanne are in the middle price range, though there are also a number of luxury hotels as you would expect in the city which hosts the International Olympic Committee. There are also a few cheapies.

Budget

Mid-range

Splurge

Contact

Stay safe - Lausanne Tourism

Lausanne, like most of Switzerland, is pretty safe in general. You are only likely to run into problems just outside of the entrances of popular dance clubs near closing time, when imported ethnic tensions sometimes show themselves. Name a conflict worldwide, odds are that both sides are represented among young people in Lausanne.

Get Out

External Links for Lausanne Tourism


Home
Partners
Network


List of Countries

World Factbook (Travel & Tourism)



Partner Sites:

American Travel Sites

The Big Travel Guide

Travel Sites of Europe

UK Travel Planner