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1. Of course you could do all of the following or just register to our cultural scavenger hunt!
2. Take a look at this map of the city to have a real idea on how it is built and organized.
3. Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Medieval pilgrims following the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela in Spain entered the cathedral through its 13th-century Apostles Doorway, adorned with beautifully painted stone sculptures. Inside, immediately to the right, is the Chapel of St. James, where they prayed and received their tokens. Beyond, in the south transept, is a glorious rose window with 105 panels of beautiful 13th-century stained glass. Look under the window to see the originals of the stone sculptures from the Apostles Doorway, preserved here. The interior of the cathedral is beautifully proportioned, its focal point an organ of 6,000 pipes. The south aisle has carved choir stalls from 1509, and in the choir are some early Gothic stalls. In the crypt, lie the remains of an eighth-century basilica with tombs. The early Gothic cathedral, which is now Protestant, is a landmark with its five towers rising above the city from the hilltop. From the 72-meter-high central tower, a night watchman calls out the hours from 10pm until 2am, as one has been doing each night for more than six centuries. Get Google maps directions>
4. Place de la Palud
Below the cathedral, the winding streets of the old city are reserved for pedestrians and converge on Place de la Palud, where you'll see Lausanne's oldest fountain, with Justice represented on its center pillar. On the steps around the fountain, you'll often find people sitting as they await the clock above, which shows animated scenes from local history every hour from 9am to 7pm. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings, market stalls selling local farm produce fill the square and its radiating streets. Overlooking the square is the Hôtel de Ville, the town hall, built in the 15th century with 16th-century stained glass and 17th-century modifications. It has arcades on the ground level, and on the façade are two copper gargoyles shaped as dragons. Get Google maps directions>
5. Escaliers du Marche
One of the most picturesque sights in Lausanne is the long covered flight of steps leading from just above Place de la Palud to the terrace in front of the main door to the cathedral. Built in the 13th century, it connected the market in Place de la Palud to the one above. Beside the steps and rising with them in layers of terraces is a row of buildings that date from the 16th century. If you're climbing up, you can break the climb by stopping at the historic Café le Barbare on one of the terraces for a coffee or hot chocolate. Get Google maps directions>
6. Olympic Museum
Along with the artifacts and history of the competitions, the museum overlooking Lake Geneva focuses on the spirit and values of the Olympics and the qualities that have made them endure. The recently renovated displays span the entire history of the games, from their origins in ancient Greece to the most recent, and include Olympic torches, historic posters, equipment, and clothing worn by Olympians. You can relive great moments from the Olympic Games through film clips and follow the evolution of sports technology and even fashion design. In addition to the exhibits and interactive experiences in the building, the lakeside campus includes manicured grounds where you can see sculptures and other works of art depicting Olympic themes, as well as the Olympic flame.
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7. Chateau d'Ouchy and Promenade
Below the busy center of Lausanne is the lakeside neighborhood of Ouchy, whose elegant Belle Epoch hotels are connected by a flower-lined promenade between the old and new ports. At the center of this stands a 12th-century castle, the Château d'Ouchy, in which the peace treaty between Turkey, Greece, and the Allies was signed in 1923. The chateau is now a luxury hotel and fine-dining restaurant. Near the Hôtel de l'Angleterre, across the street from the chateau, a plaque commemorates Lord Byron, who wrote The Prisoner of Chillon here. Several historical treaties were signed in the famous grand hotels along the shore, including the Accord de Lausanne, where European powers agreed to suspend World War I reparations payments, signed at the opulent Beau-Rivage Palace in 1932.
From Lausanne's old harbor at Port d'Ouchy, the lakeside promenade runs one kilometer east to the 1823 Haldimand Tower and the attractive Parc Denantou. There you can see the Thai Pavilion, a gift from Thailand; all along the promenade are views across the lake to the Savoy Alps. Departing regularly from Place de la Navigation are boats that stop at points all along the lake between Geneva and Montreux, and across the lake to the French shore. Get Google maps directions>
8. Collection de l'Art Brut
One of the world's leading museums for outsider art was founded by French artist Jean Dubuffet's contribution of his private collection of works by untrained artists. Works by more than 1,000 artists outside the mainstream creative community make up the collections, which include naïve paintings, sculpture, masks, and works in a wide variety of media. The exhibitions change, following various themes that interpret the art and explore the creative process. Get Google maps directions>
9. Musee des Beaux Arts (Fine Art Museum)
The 1906 Palais de Rumine houses an art collection that although modest in numbers is impressive in the quality of French artists represented. You'll find works by Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Pierre Bonnard, Albert Marquet, Henri Matisse, and Maurice Utrillo here, along with a good collection of graphic works by Swiss artists. In the same palace are several other canton museums. The Archeological and Historical Museum exhibits archaeological finds from the area, including Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age, and Roman artifacts. The Natural History and Zoological Museum shows animals from throughout the world, some of them extinct species.
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10. Lausanne-Vidy Roman Museum
In Roman times, Vidy, west of Ouchy along the lake shore, was the port of Lousonna, an important trading colony at the intersection of routes from the Mediterranean and the Rhine. The city of 1,500 to 2,000 traders, fishermen, and craftspeople thrived from the late first century well into the fourth, and their story is told at the Roman Museum. Here, you'll see the remains of a wealthy residence, with painted rooms, an atrium, and luxuries such as heated floors. Through exhibits based on the artifacts unearthed here - bronze objects, coins, ceramics, glass, and household implements - you can get an idea of daily life in a Roman outpost two millennia ago. An archaeological walk takes you among the ruins of Lousonna's ancient forum. Get Google maps directions>
11. Flon Quarter
At the opposite end of the architectural spectrum from the ancient lakeside Roman settlement is Lausanne's ultra-contemporary new art zone, where designer-architects have created buildings that are not just 21st-century but border on futuristic. The former area of 19th-century warehouses is now a lively quarter of dramatic and colorful buildings filled with shops, restaurants, business offices, designer galleries, and artists' studio space. Its central avenue opens into plazas where locals gather in good weather in cafés and on benches under a giant abstract tree. The entire area seems constantly alive: in the winter an open space becomes a skating rink, and at night, the buildings are dramatically lighted. As if to underscore the quarter's dynamic and forward approach as well as Lausanne's position as one of Europe's greenest cities, Flon metro station has a lush green roof, which you can see best from the footbridge connecting the station to the Lausanne Palace Hotel, above.
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12. St. François Church
The hub of Lausanne's traffic is the Place St.-François, where you'll find the former Franciscan church of St.-François. The church dates from the 13th and 14th centuries; its tower was built in 1523. Be sure to see the beautiful stained glass windows in the choir, which date from 1907. The church was once part of a major Franciscan convent, which was dissolved in the Protestant Reformation, at which time the church interior was stripped of its decorations and imagery. Lausanne's Christmas market is held in the street here. Get Google maps directions>
Valérie is our Lausanne local representative, we asked her what an ideal day of leisure in Lausanne could look like, what she'd suggest doing from early morning to late at night.Here is what she suggests. Don't hesitate to contact Valérie on Twitter @bigcitychase #Lausanne #questionforValérie if you have questions for her, we may publish your conversation in this blog if she thinks it might be useful to other Lausanne visitors.
Valérie from Lausanne for Big City Chase Lausanne :
"Hello, my name is Valérie
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