After Geneva, the hillside city Lausanne is the second largest in Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. Less than an hour train ride from Geneva and unlike most cities on the lagoon, Lausanne Centrum is not directly situated by the water. If you arrive by train, to get to the center, walk across the train station and walk uphill or get on the tram, also located in front of the station, take direction north exiting on the first or second stop. You can buy a day card which would take you everywhere within the city zone including Ouchy along the Lake Geneva shores.
Here are a few fotos of Lausanne taken from the gothic cathedral on top of the hill.
It was a gloomy day so the fotos are not that spectacular but you can see Lake Geneva down there behind the church’s spire.
The Lausanne gothic cathedral construction began around 1150 and ended around 1275. The cathedral is considered to be the most exquisite gothic exemplar of Switzerland. It sits on top of a hill overlooking Lausanne and Lake Geneva.
More views of Lausanne here.
Lausanne in the olden days was mainly built in wood that burned down several times. So a night watch was introduced and night watchmen take turns calling out to each other making sure the city is safe. This tradition is still practiced today and one can hear the night watchmen call out in the evening atop the cathedral’s belfry.
Trivia: Did you know that the International Olympic Committee (Olympics!) and Philip Morris International, the tobacco company are headquartered here in Lausanne? The Swedish founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad lives here as well, in the district of Epalinges.
More of Lausanne next…
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