Lausanne, Switzerland

If you take the hourly direct express train from Geneva to Lausanne, you’ll get there in just 36 minutes. I probably find myself in Lausanne at least once a fortnight to share a drink with a colleague or go window shopping in the old town. Lausanne to Geneva is what Potsdam is to Berlin or what Baltimore is to Washington D.C., you can live in one and work in the other.

There’s a very relaxing vibe in Lausanne with beautiful architecture and interesting landscape in the old town. It’s frown jewel is the Lausanne Cathedral, which sits on the top of the town and is an important Gothic period building in Europe. The outside is best admired from the Flon pedestrian bridge where the whole hill is visible. The inside is best admired where the 7000-pipe organ is, the organ is unique in the world and has been a first in many areas including being built by a designer and incorporating all four organ styles.

Both the Montbenon and Mon-Repos houses have great gardens in front of them that provide a commanding view of Lausanne with the lake and French Alps in front of it. The Hermitage Foundation and the Olympic Museum are the two most famous museums to visit given their unique temporary exhibitions and Lausanne’s role as the home of the International Olympic Committee.

The cafés just below the cathedral are next to pedestrianised streets and can be pleasant in good summer weather. Alternatively, hong out with friends in Place de la Riponne to the backdrop of the Palais de Rumine, which contains 5 museums.

Just up the hill from Riponne is the 15th century Chatêau St. Marie, which is still a government building after 500 years of existence. The four towers on the quadrilateral structure is particularly stylistic of Vaudois castles.