Things to do in Lausanne

Lausanne sits on Lake Geneva around 3 hours from Interlaken by train via Bern and Fribourg (roughly CHF 55 second class, one change usually required). The city climbs steeply from the Ouchy lakefront up to the old town, which is why the m2 metro line, Europe's steepest, was built at a gradient of up to 12%.

The Gothic cathedral, consecrated in 1275, still runs a night watchman who calls the hours from the tower between 10pm and 2am, a tradition kept since the 1405 fire. Down at Ouchy, ferries and the Olympic Museum (CHF 22 for adults, closed Mondays outside summer) sit a five-minute walk from each other. The Flon district, once a warehouse quarter reached by its own funicular, is now bars and shops below the station.

Expect a long day if combining Lausanne with Interlaken, given the return journey alone takes around 6 hours.