Being in Geneva, it felt only right that we make a day trip to Lausanne. Only a couple of hours away on the train and with relatively cheap tickets, we decided to wake up early and make the journey. Unfortunately, we chose the rainiest day of our holiday to do this, so the photographs that we took don’t do the beauty of Lausanne any justice, but we nevertheless had a lovely time. A fleeting visit, we spent most of our time wandering around the old city centre and admiring the architecture, the narrow cobbled streets and the beautiful cafes where the Swiss weren’t deterred by the rain and sat outside with cups of coffee – we even stopped for one ourselves! We wandered through the different boutique shops and took the metro to the more rural side of Lausanne, with the intention of climbing the tower on the top of the hill, offering panoramic views of Lausanne. One thing I would advise everyone to do is check the opening times and conditions of any attractions you wish to visit – unfortunately, we spent 40 minutes climbing a hill to find that the tower was closed! What we did not realise was that in poor weather conditions, tourists aren’t able to access the tower for health and safety reasons and it was particularly windy and rainy on that day. Nevertheless, it was fun to wander off the beaten track. Our final stop was Lausanne Cathedral, where we were lucky enough to stumble across a Swiss primary school performing Christmas carols in front of a beautiful Christmas tree. It was lovely to escape the cold for a while and listen to the children sing. Lausanne is definitely worth a visit for anyone travelling to Switzerland, and is just as beautiful as Geneva!
Grace Hickson 