Lausanne on Lake Geneva is Switzerland's fourth largest city and a place of exceptional cultural weight: home to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and numerous international organisations. The city on hillsides above the lake combines the Francophone elegance of a university town with a vibrant urban life and outstanding gastronomy.

The Olympic Museum, the Gothic Lausanne Cathedral – the most important Gothic church in Switzerland –, Plateforme 10 (new arts quarter with multiple museums) and the Lausanne market on Place de la Palud are the city's highlights. The Ouchy harbour with its lakeside promenade on Lake Geneva is the anchor of summer city life.

Lausanne is reachable by train from Zurich in around 2 hours, from Bern in around 1 hour and from Geneva in around 40 minutes. The M2 metro connects the city centre with Ouchy on the lakeshore. By car, take the A1 motorway.