Lausanne, Switzerland

Lausanne rises in dramatic terraces from the northern shore of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), the capital of French-speaking canton Vaud and the second-largest city on the lake after Geneva. Its defining feature is its topography: the city climbs roughly 500 vertical metres from the lakeside resort district of Ouchy at the water's edge, through the Flon valley and the central squares, up to the medieval Cité crowned by its cathedral — a steepness that gave Lausanne the only metro in Switzerland, the fully automatic m2 line that hauls passengers from the lake to the hilltop in minutes. Lausanne is, above all, the Olympic Capital: the International Olympic Committee has been based here since 1915, the lakefront at Ouchy holds The Olympic Museum (one of the most visited museums in Switzerland), and dozens of international sports federations have their headquarters in the city. Its historic heart is the Cité, the old town on the hill, dominated by the Cathedral of Notre-Dame — the finest Gothic church in Switzerland, from whose tower a night watchman still calls the hours aloud, a tradition unbroken since 1405. Below it spread the lively central squares of Place de la Palud and the Riponne, the covered Escaliers du Marché stairs, and the regenerated Flon — a former warehouse district turned into the city's design, shopping and nightlife quarter. Lausanne punches far above its size in culture: the Plateforme 10 arts district beside the railway station gathers the cantonal fine-arts museum (MCBA), the photography museum Photo Elysée and the design museum mudac; the Collection de l'Art Brut, founded by Jean Dubuffet, is a singular museum of outsider art; and the city is a world centre of dance, home to the Béjart Ballet and the annual Prix de Lausanne. Along the lakeshore, Ouchy's promenade and the Belle Époque paddle steamers of the CGN fleet open onto the whole of Lake Geneva, and just east the UNESCO-listed Lavaux vineyard terraces step down to the water toward Montreux. A young city thanks to its university (UNIL) and the neighbouring federal technology institute EPFL, Lausanne pairs lake-and-mountain scenery with an outsized cultural and sporting life. The climate is temperate, the lake moderating warm summers and mild winters; late spring through early autumn is the loveliest time on the water and in the vineyards.