Things to do
11-
Cathedrale de Lausanne
Go up the bell tower before noon. Its 224 steps close over lunch and open only in the afternoon on Sundays, and from the top the view runs over the roofs to the lake and the Alps.
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Lavaux
Start early and carry water: the path through the vines has almost no shade. Walk from Lutry towards Epesses or St-Saphorin and take the train back, and check opening days before counting on a tasting, because the cellars do not open every day.
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Beach
Bellerive-Plage
The city's lido on the lake, a short walk west of Ouchy, opened in 1937 and listed as a heritage site. It has a 50 metre pool, diving boards up to ten metres, shallow pools for children, wide lawns and a beach with direct access to the lake. It opens for the summer season, usually from mid May to mid September.
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Collection de l'Art Brut
If you see one collection in Lausanne, make it this one, and allow an hour and a half for its four floors.
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Landmark
Escaliers du Marché
A covered wooden stairway climbs from the foot of Rue Mercerie, just off Place de la Palud, to the square in front of the cathedral, with a steep cobbled lane running beside it. Its present form dates from the early eighteenth century. It is the shortest way from the shopping streets up to the old town, and there is a café about halfway up for a break.
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Musee Olympique
Give it two hours. If time is short, skip the galleries and walk the free park instead: the sculptures and the terraces over the water need no ticket.
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Ouchy
Come down in the early evening, when residents swim off the quays after work and the boats come back in. On summer weekends the quay road closes to cars and the whole front is yours on foot.
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Museum
Palais de Rumine
A large Italian Renaissance style building on Place de la Riponne holds the canton's museums of archaeology and history, geology, zoology and coins, along with the university library. The permanent collections are free, so it is easy to drop in for an hour. Temporary exhibitions are ticketed.
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Landmark
Place de la Palud
The old town's main square, in front of the town hall, with a fountain topped by a figure of Justice. A clock on the facade opposite sets moving figures parading every hour from nine in the morning to seven in the evening. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings the market stalls fill the square and the streets around it.
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Plateforme 10
The museums sit beside the platforms, so a wet afternoon, or an hour before your train, is enough for one of them. In the fine art building, look for the arched window kept from the old locomotive hall that stood on the site.
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Tower
Tour de Sauvabelin
A wooden tower 35 metres tall stands in the Sauvabelin woods above the city, with 302 steps spiralling up to an open platform. The view takes in the city, the whole lake and the Alps across the water. It is free to climb, and a small lake and a park with farm animals sit a few minutes away in the same woods.
