For the first time ever I made a trip alone. I’ve been to many places but never on my own, there was always family or friends. I’m not a huge fan of being solo, I know there’s people out there that love being alone and traveling alone. All of you who are like that my respects and admiration, but I’m more of the companionship kind.
But solo traveling happens to be an experience and something everybody should probably do at least once and that’s how I decided this was my time to travel solo. It was 3 days, nothing big, but something to test the waters of the solo-traveling-world.
My destination was Lausanne, a French-speaking city in the south of Switzerland, located beside the Lake Leman. I picked this city because the pictures and reviews were very good and the youthhostel was one of the view that had space for me on those days. You got to take what you get!
Day 1
When I arrived at the train station it took me a while to figure out where I had to head to, in order to leave my backpack at the hostel and be free to walk the city. I decided to walk there, it was 45min with some slight confusion with Google Maps of where exactly the youthhostel was. When I finally found it, I left my things there and headed to Ouchy-Olympic.
Ouchy-Olympic is the part of the city located closest to lake. I made my way to the Olympic Museum. This museum tells the story of the Olympic Games and gives an insider view of the athletes, their routines, equipment and the procedures of the games. You can also try out some of the sports at a simulation room! There’s a whole collection of medals and torches that’s really worth seeing.
After the museum I walked the Ouchy Promenade and sat at the lake with an ice-cream before heading back to the hostel.
Day 2
On my second day at Lausanne I made a day trip to the vineyards nearby. I took the bus to Pully, a town 20min from Lausanne. Once there, I headed uphill and to the right until I reached the vineyards. I hadn’t a specific road in mind, so I searched my way through the little towns and the huge vineyards until I ended up in Cully. The views from up there are simply beautiful and worth the effort of heading up. In CulIy I headed downhill to the lake to take a swim and cool off.
(Tip: search for the chairs on the rocks just beneath the lake, they’re awesome to enjoy the view!!!).
I ended my day at the Ouchy-Promenade with an ice cream on the lake.
Day 3
The third day was my last day, so I woke up early to get the most out of the time I had left. I made a trip to Morges, a little town 2h walking away Lausanne. Google Maps wanted to direct me through streets and highways, but I preferred to make my own way along the lake and it turned out to be a very good idea. Most of the time I walked beside the lake, with the beautiful view of the water and mountains on the other side! At some point the road goes through a path with trees on both sides and little stone-beaches to take a break and take a swim!
You know you are in Morges because there are flowerbeds of all colors adorning the sidewalk beside the lake. Morges has it’s castle, a stone fortress, now a museum for artillery.
In May the Park de l’Independence is full of tulips, but because I went in the last week of June I didn’t get to see them. Never the less it’s a great place for a picnic. Search for the biggest tree in the park, a willow, and make yourself comfortable under it’s protecting branches, that encircle you with their leaves creating a little tree fortress. It has even a low hanging branch to climb and sit on. Looking up, into the sunrays shining through the branches, you can feel yourself being transported to a fairytale clearing.
Wandering deeper into the city there are a few little streets with some shops and boutiques and some restaurants to sit at.
At 2:00pm I was back at Lausanne, exploring the center of the city. On your list you should definitely add the Cathedral of Lausanne, it’s a Gothic building with huge pointed arches and intricate stonecravings that will blow your breath away!
The wonders are not only inside. Outside the cathedral, there’s a balcony overviewing all of Lausanne.
I also went to the Museé d’Eliseé, a museum of fotography, but I really think I should have skipped it. It’s very little and not impressing at all. I would rather have tried the Museé de l’Art Brut, with unique artworks made by self taught artists that distance themselves from conventional art.
With that my trip to Lausanne was ended. I would recommend to spend 2-3 days there. It depends on your rhythm for visiting and how many of the buildings and museums you want to go to. But if you visit the ones I did, you can easily fit them into one day and make the day trip to the vine yards on the second day, or you can take it slow as I did, split the city into two and get to know it in two days.
Last tip: if you stay at a youthhostel or hotel, ask for the transport card, it gives you free access to all public transport in the zone for your whole stay!
With that I let you to decide what to see in Lausanne and how to enjoy it best!
