Things to do on own
I will have a day and a half on my own before the Crown Jewel tour begins. I'm having trouble finding things to do in that time, other than go to the open air market on Wednesday morning. I've looked at the Viator and Get Your Guide offerings, but they seem to be pretty expensive for short tours. I could go for a cruise on the lake and/or walk around on my own. How have others filled free time in Lausanne?
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From my Sep 2021 tour review - "we used our hotel provided Lausanne passes to take the metro from the Flon station nearby down to Ouchy so we could tour the Olympic museum – got held up slightly as it was Sun and a triathlon had streets somewhat blocked – the museum is really well done even if you aren’t a sport fanatic – we then stopped at a Coop quick mart and a Pain de Fleur for some lunch items – headed back to the hotel to rest a bit – later we metro’d to Ripon station and walked/climbed up to the cathedral – great view of the city". Ouchy is right on the lakeside and has lovely walks along it. It's also where you'd take a boat ride from.
The free metro pass is very handy since Lausanne is built on a steep hillside. It also has some other perks. This link will give you the details and some suggestions of other sights.
https://www.lausanne-tourisme.ch/en/lausanne-transport-card-and-more/
MCD,
Not on this tour but independently, we strolled through Parc de Milan which is located just south of the train station. The botanical gardens there are maintained by the University and offer a nice respite.
Sorry, Cathy we only flew into Geneva and didn't have a chance to see anything of the city. I think though that many of the same day trips available from Lausanne you can do there. Visits to the Alps, boat trips on Lake Geneva/Lac Leman, etc. One of the things included on the Switzerland tour was going to Gruyere which has an interesting castle to tour, a lovely quaint village to shop in and loads of restaurants serving fondue. It's also near the Cailler chocolate factory so several tours include that. Kathy0529 went to Cailler and took chocolate classes so she call tell you all about that.
Cathy,
When you are in Switzerland try raclette. We had it while we were in Gruyere and preferred it to fondue. It's a block of cheese heated under a light or filament and then scraped off and served on bread. I'm not sure what type of cheese but it's very good.
Also in Gruyere there is a beautiful church in the valley. We were there around noon and the bells were beautiful.
For something off-the-beaten-path in Geneva, you might enjoy the Patek Philippe Museum which chronicles the history of Swiss watchmaking. Some amazingly beautiful pieces are housed there. The surrounding neighborhood is also nice for strolling.
Thanks for the suggestions!
...or a tour inside of the United Nations. That is, if they have tours. A tour of a chocolate maker sounds interesting too..
We really enjoyed a tour with Swiss Riviera Wine Tours. Highly recommend.
If you are staying in Geneva: grab the train to Annecy, France for a day trip. If staying in Lausanne take the train or ferry(or one each way) and spend the day in Vevey or Montreux skipping Chillon that you will see the next day. Take the cog wheel up to Rochers de Naye for a little hiking. And while in the area go on a Lavaux wine tour.
We did a Viator tour to Lavaux wine tour before our first meeting of the tour. We did paragliding on our own in Interlaken which was fantastic! We booked a Tours by Locals to Pilatus at the end on the free time in Lucerne with a wonderful guide. All were great.
We took the train to the wonderful Callier chocolate factory.