Lausanne is built on a steep hillside above Lake Geneva, and the five places in this guide follow that slope: the railway station near the bottom, the cathedral and the bishops' castle at the top of the old town, and the Palais de Rumine and the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Valentin just north of the old centre. Between them they show the two faces of the city: the medieval town of the bishops and the confident cantonal capital that grew up around 1900. All five are stops on our scavenger hunt.
Lausanne railway station
Most visitors arrive at Lausanne-Gare, and the building deserves a look before you head uphill. The opening of the Simplon tunnel in 1906 put Lausanne on a major international route, and in 1908 a competition was held to replace the station of 1856. It was won jointly by the architects Monod & Laverrière and Taillens & Dubois, whose façade, more than 200 metres long, combines tall windows with restrained Art Nouveau decoration. The station was restored in the 1990s and is now in the middle of a long modernisation project, so expect building work around the platforms. It is the first stop of the scavenger hunt.
- The station buffet on the west side, which keeps its original woodwork and painted panels from 1916 showing destinations you could reach from Lausanne.
- The m2 metro under the station square, a rubber-tyred line that climbs straight up the hillside and is one of the steepest metros in the world.
Lausanne Cathedral
The Gothic Cathedral of Notre-Dame stands on top of the Cité hill and can be seen from much of the city. It was consecrated in 1275 by Pope Gregory X in the presence of Rudolf of Habsburg, King of the Romans, and has been a Protestant church since the Reformation of 1536. It is often counted among the finest Gothic buildings in Switzerland, and the terrace beside it gives a wide view over the roofs to the lake and the Alps. It is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
- The Painted Portal on the south side, whose 13th-century statues still carry traces of their medieval colours.
- The rose window in the south transept, with 13th-century stained glass showing the world as people imagined it then: the seasons, the months, the elements and the signs of the zodiac.
- The night watchman, who still calls out the hour from the bell tower every hour from 10 pm to 2 am, a tradition kept since the Middle Ages.
Château Saint-Maire
A short walk north of the cathedral, the Château Saint-Maire looks more like a fortress than a palace. The bishops of Lausanne began it as a fortified residence in 1397, under Bishop Guillaume de Menthonay, and it was completed under his successor Guillaume de Challant in the 1420s. When Bern conquered Vaud in 1536, the bishops left and a Bernese bailiff moved in. Since 1803, when Vaud became a Swiss canton, the castle has been the seat of the cantonal government, so it is a working building rather than a museum. It is a scavenger hunt stop.
- The mix of materials: sandstone in the lower part and brick in the upper part, which is unusual in this region.
- The statue of Major Abraham Davel against the front wall, put up around 1890. Davel led a failed attempt to free Vaud from Bernese rule and was executed in 1723; today he is remembered as a hero of Vaud.
Palais de Rumine
The Palais de Rumine fills one side of the Place de la Riponne with its Renaissance-style façade inspired by Florence. It was paid for by a bequest from Gabriel de Rumine, a young man of Russian origin who died in 1871 and left the city of Lausanne money for a public building. Built between 1898 and 1906 to designs by the French architect Gaspard André, it long housed the university and now holds several cantonal museums, covering archaeology and history, geology, zoology and coins, together with the cantonal and university library. In 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne, which fixed the borders of modern Turkey, was signed here. It is a scavenger hunt stop.
- The richly decorated façade, a statement of civic pride from Lausanne's boom years around 1900.
- The Place de la Riponne in front, a large open square where markets are held.
Basilica of Notre-Dame du Valentin
After the Reformation of 1536, Catholic worship disappeared from Lausanne for a long time. Notre-Dame du Valentin, built from 1832 under the direction of Henri Perregaux, was the first Catholic church built in the city after the Reformation. A century later, from 1932, the architect Fernand Dumas enlarged it, adding a monumental staircase, a portico and a 38-metre bell tower. Pope John Paul II gave it the rank of basilica in 1992, and it is the largest Catholic church in Lausanne. It is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
- The fresco in the choir, completed in 1934 by the Italian painter Gino Severini.
- The tall bell tower from the 1930s, which stands out on the skyline north of the old town.
How to see them in one walk
Start at the station and head uphill, on foot through the steep streets or with the m2 metro. The scavenger hunt goes by way of the Esplanade de Montbenon and the Place de la Palud before it climbs to the cathedral. From the cathedral, walk north past the cantonal parliament to the Château Saint-Maire, then go down to the Palais de Rumine on the Place de la Riponne. Notre-Dame du Valentin is a short walk north of the Riponne; from there the route turns back towards the Église Saint-Laurent and ends in the Flon district.
See Lausanne with World City Trail
Our Lausanne scavenger hunt turns the city's slopes into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from Lausanne-Gare to the Flon district, and all five places in this guide are among them. At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Lausanne.
Play the Lausanne scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Lausanne →
Play the outdoor escape game in Lausanne →
Facts checked in October 2026.