Musée Olympique
Situated on a terrace overlooking the lake, Lausanne’s Musée Olympique is administered by the International Olympic Committee, whose headquarters is further along the lakeshore.
To go for gold and beat the crowds, book your tickets to the Olympic Museum in advance.
If you want to learn about Lausanne from a local, take a guided walking tour. And, if you're travelling with kids, booking a self-guided scavenger hunt city tour might go down well.
Which areas should I visit in Lausanne?
Something that comes as a surprise to most first-time visitors is that Lausanne’s city centre does not front the lake. Instead, it's situated well back from the water’s edge, and above it too, spread over hilltops linked by bridges spanning deep, riverless gorges.
Place St-François is the focus of the city centre — it's the hub of bus routes and heart of the shopping district known as the Bourg.
Gilt-edged Rue de Bourg entices shoppers uphill from St-François, while beside it Rue St-François drops down into the valley and up the other side to the cobbled Place de la Palud, an ancient, fountained square in the heart of the Old Town.
The elegant Gothic turrets of the cathedral rise loftily above, while the château stands even further up, at the most northerly tip of the Old Town.
Northwest of Place St-François, the Grand-Pont soars over the warehouse district of Le Flon, hotbed of Lausanne’s burgeoning club culture.
The steep slope south of St-François ends at the main train station, south of which residential districts trickle down to Place de la Navigation on the Ouchy waterfront.
Lakeside promenades lead in both directions from Ouchy, east to the villages of Pully and Lutry, and west to the parkland of Vidy — home to a small museum and archeological site that bear witness to Lausanne’s Roman past.