Lausanne, Switzerland: Self-Guided Walking Tour

The best things to do in Lausanne range from exploring a Gothic cathedral and historic museums to discovering Olympic history beside Lake Geneva. Set in Vaud, Lausanne combines a steep, atmospheric old town with creative arts districts, lakeside landmarks and views towards the surrounding landscapes. Neywo offers a free audio guide to Lausanne with 69 narrated places, so you can explore while the story of each location plays at the right moment.

What to See in Lausanne

Lausanne Cathedral

Lausanne Cathedral, or Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Lausanne, is one of Switzerland’s principal Gothic monuments. Built between 1170 and 1240, it has served the Reformed Church of the Canton of Vaud since 1536.

Its details reward a close look, including the rose window designed by the medieval architect Villard de Honnecourt. Inside, the Fisk grand organ was inaugurated in 2003. Its case was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and it is the largest organ in Switzerland. The cathedral’s bell tower also preserves a living tradition: a watchman has kept watch there continuously since 1405.

Lausanne’s historic centre and Palais de Rumine

The old town is the natural starting point for a Lausanne self-guided walking tour. Its historic landmarks include the Lausanne Museum of History, which follows the city’s story from its origins to the contemporary era, and the Cantonal monetary museum, dedicated to the world of money.

At Place de la Riponne, the Palais de Rumine brings several cultural institutions together under one roof. Designed by Gaspard André in the Florentine Renaissance style, the building was constructed between 1898 and 1906. It houses museums devoted to archaeology, geology and zoology, as well as part of the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne.

The Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History focuses on the archaeology and history of Vaud. Founded in 1852, it presents its collections in two large rooms, including one dedicated to the archaeologist and museum curator Frédéric Troyon.

Nearby, Espace Arlaud hosts temporary exhibitions. Its name recalls the Musée Arlaud, which occupied the site from 1841 to 1904. The Lausanne Museum of History and Espace Arlaud are also stops on Neywo’s old-town walk.

Olympic Museum and Ouchy

Along the shore of Lake Léman, the Olympic Museum explores the history of the Olympic Games, sport and the Olympic movement. It opened in Lausanne on June 23, 1993, following an initiative by Juan Antonio Samaranch. Its permanent and temporary exhibitions are supported by more than 10,000 artefacts, described as the world’s largest archive of Olympic Games memorabilia.

The museum is surrounded by an Olympic Park filled with artworks devoted to sport, making the area worth exploring before going inside. Nearby Ouchy adds further lakeside character. Château d’Ouchy is a hotel beside the lake whose castle-like identity comes from the medieval castle that once stood on the site. The original castle was built around 1170; the present Château d’Ouchy was constructed there by Jean-Jacques Mercier between 1889 and 1893.

Lausanne’s art museums

Lausanne has an unusually broad museum scene. At Plateforme 10, beside the railway station, the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts presents one of the city’s major art collections. Founded in 1841, it moved from the Palais de Rumine to Plateforme 10 in 2019.

The same arts district is home to mudac – Cantonal Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts and Photo Elysée. Mudac explores design and contemporary applied arts through collections including glass art, contemporary jewellery, ceramics, graphic art and design from French-speaking Switzerland. Its history reaches back to the Musée Industriel, founded in 1862. The building shared by mudac and Photo Elysée was designed by Portuguese architects Aires Mateus.

For a very different artistic experience, visit the Collection de l’art brut. The museum grew from Jean Dubuffet’s personal collection, which he began building in 1945. Its works come largely from artists outside established artistic norms, each following an individual way of thinking and expressing themselves.

The Fondation de l’Hermitage offers another change of setting. This fine arts museum occupies a grand country house surrounded by the Parc de l’Hermitage. The building was reconstructed between 1852 and 1855, when it belonged to Charles Bugnion.

Typewriters, publishing and performing arts

The Typewriter Museum Lausanne, also known as the Musée de la Machine à Écrire, brings together typewriters and calculators from the collection of Charles and Jacques Perrier. It offers a close look at the mechanical tools once used for writing and calculation.

The nearby HumuS publishing house, art gallery and bookstore adds a contemporary connection to printed works. HumuS was created in Lausanne in December 1988, while its bookstore was founded in 2010.

Fondation SAPA offers a different perspective on culture. The Swiss Archive of the Performing Arts preserves traces of Switzerland’s dance and theatre heritage. It grew from the merger, during the 2010s, of three collections based in Bern, Lausanne and Zurich, and maintains offices in all three cities.

More museums to explore

Several specialised museums broaden the city’s cultural offer:

• The Claude Verdan Foundation – Museum of the Hand, located in the Vaud University Hospital, is dedicated to the hand.
• The Lausanne-Vidy Roman Museum focuses on the Roman past of Lausanne.
• The Cantonal monetary museum explores the history and world of money.
• The Espace Arlaud presents temporary exhibitions.
• The Lausanne Museum of History follows the development of Lausanne and the canton of Vaud through the centuries.

Explore Lausanne with a free audio guide

Neywo has four free walking tours in Lausanne, with 38 narrated stops between them. Each story plays as you reach the place, at your own pace: there is no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The walks cover different sides of the city:

• Cathedral Hill and the Old Town of Lausanne — 2.24 km, 98 minutes and 12 stops, including Montbenon, Place de la Palud, Lausanne Cathedral, Palais de Rumine, Espace Arlaud and Saint-Laurent Reformed Church.
• Ouchy Lakefront: Olympic Capital by the Lake — 4.06 km, 108 minutes and 8 stops, including the Olympic Museum, Château d’Ouchy, Place de la Navigation and the Expo 64 site with Théâtre de Vidy.
• Esplanade, Art and Typewriters: Creative Lausanne — 2.7 km, 92 minutes and 10 stops, including the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts, mudac, the Typewriter Museum Lausanne and the Collection de l’art brut.
• Lausanne’s Quiet Heights: Villas, Museums and a Wooden Tower — 5.03 km, 112 minutes and 8 stops, including Fondation SAPA, the Claude Verdan Foundation – Museum of the Hand, the Hermitage Foundation and Tour de Sauvabelin.

Download Neywo and explore Lausanne with an audio guide that tells the story of each place as you reach it. You can discover the city independently, at your own pace, without a group or a schedule, and continue your Swiss journey towards Vaud, Montreux or Vevey.