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Lausanne tends to inspire hyperbole. In a country of spectacular natural beauty it is the most beautiful of cities, Switzerland's San Francisco – a city of incredibly steep hills that has developed tiered above the lake on a succession of compact, south-facing terraces. Vistas of blue water, glittering sunlight and the purple and grey of the white-capped Savoy Alps peep through between gaps in buildings or at the ends of steeply dropping alleys. Much of the city is still wooded, there are plenty of parks, and the tree-lined ... More
Overview of Lausanne, Switzerland
Information by Rough Guides
 

Lausanne tends to inspire hyperbole. In a country of spectacular natural beauty it is the most beautiful of cities, Switzerland's San Francisco – a city of incredibly steep hills that has developed tiered above the lake on a succession of compact, south-facing terraces. Vistas of blue water, glittering sunlight and the purple and grey of the white-capped Savoy Alps peep through between gaps in buildings or at the ends of steeply dropping alleys. Much of the city is still wooded, there are plenty of parks, and the tree-lined lakefront promenades spill over with beds of vibrantly colourful flowers. Attractive, interesting, worldly, and well aware of how to have a good time, it's simply Switzerland's sexiest city.

The comparisons with San Francisco don't stop at the gorgeous setting. If Switzerland has a counterculture, it lives in the clubs and cafés of Lausanne, a fact which lies broadly within the city's long tradition of fostering intellectual and cultural innovation. It remains a grand-looking city, full of shuttered foursquare mansions and ritzy shopping streets, and with its own glamorous lakeside resort of Ouchy; there are few cities in Europe that so actively value and support the pleasure principle. For decades, the municipality has subsidized art and culture of all shades, resulting in a range of festivals, live music, clubs, theatre, opera and dance to rival a more sluggish metropolis ten times bigger.

Aiding the dynamism, a defining feature of the city is its international population of students, attracted to the prestigious University of Lausanne, Switzerland's biggest, and the French-language arm of the Federal Institute of Technology. This youthful, outgoing spirit, and the city's hilly aspect, have also given Lausanne a new role as European blading and skateboarding capital: when the sun shines, every public space hisses with the spinning of tiny wheels, and the Ouchy waterfront in summer echoes to the clack of skateboards.

 
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Sculpture on Lac LeMan
Lausanne shopping
lausanne - place de ripponne - musee
Lausanne Ouchy
lausanne - gare
Fontaine de la Palud in Lausanne
Fontaine de la Justice
lausanne - incline to st francois
montreux - water troughs - they are everywhere in swiss
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Top Things to Do for Lausanne from Yahoo! Travelers

     
    HOTELS
     
     
    THINGS TO DO
     
     
    RESTAURANTS
     
1
Lausanne Cathedral (Cathedrale ...
Rue Charles-Vuillermet 6
2
AquaSplash Renens
avenue du Censuy 36
3
Angehrn
rue Pichard 11
4
Lausanne Tourisme
Avenue de Rhodanie 2
5
The Bike
Avenue de Lavaux 4
6
Bellerive-Plage
Avenue de Rhodanie 23
7
Passe Montagne
Avenue de France 34
8
Cathedrale de Lausanne
Place de la Cathédrale 1
9
Olympic Museum
Quai d'Ouchy 1
10
Globus
Rue du Pont 5

Top Restaurants for Lausanne from Yahoo! Travelers

     
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1
Cafe de L'Eveche
Rue Louis-Curtat 4
2
Cafe Romand (Le)
Place Saint-François 2
3
Manora
Place Saint-François 1
4
Da Carlo
Rue Caroline 2
5
Au Canard Pekinois
Place Chauderon 16
6
Elephant blanc (L')
Rue Cité-devant 4
8
Le Berceau des Sens
Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne
9
Via Veneto
Rue de la Barre 5
10
Cafe de l'Hôtel de Ville (Le)
Place de la Palud 10
 
 

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