Last Updated on March 29, 2026 by Adrienne
We used some of our time in Geneva to take a quick day trip to Lausanne, and found a lot to love about the city! Read on to learn more about some of our favorite family-friendly activities and spots to eat during our day in Lausanne.
How to Get to and Around Lausanne
Lausanne is just a short ~1 hour train ride from Geneva’s central train station. The train station and the Old Town area are up in the hills and quite a walk from the waterfront and Olympic museum. Lausanne is a very vertical city, so Google map distances and walking times can be deceiving. If you have little legs with you you may want to consider taking the metro from the train station down to the waterfront and – especially – back up again. It’s just a few stops on the M2 line.
Kid-Friendly Things to Do in Lausanne
The Olympic Museum
Lausanne is the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee and has an excellent Olympic Museum. I fully admit to being a bit of an Olympics nerd (seeing a Games in person is high on my bucket list), but I think this museum will delight even those who aren’t as obsessed as I am. It includes interactive displays about the history of the Games, stuffed mascots from many Games, scale models of iconic Olympic buildings like Beijing ’08’s “Bird’s Nest,” and sports gear worn by many famous athletes, including Michael Phelps’ goggles, Jesse Owens’ running shoes and Torvill and Dean’s Bolero ice dance costumes.
There’s also a great indoor, shoe-free play area for kids, which seemed only vaguely related to the Olympics (it focused on the ways we use sports and movement in our daily lives and integrated athletic activities into themed pretend play areas), but was one of the most engaging indoor play areas I’ve seen. It entertained my 7 year old for hours.
Note that the Olympic Museum is closed Mondays, except it’s open on Mondays that are public holidays in Switzerland.
Chocolate Making Workshop at Favarger
Another Swiss city, another chocolate experience! After our chocolate tasting walking tour in Geneva, I wanted to do something a little different in Lausanne, and a chocolate-making workshop at Favarger fit the bill perfectly. For 20 CHF (as of 2025), kids – or anyone – can become a chocolatier for a day. Friendly staff walk you through the chocolate-making process from picking a mold and pouring dark or milk chocolate to decorating your chocolate with an assortment of delectable toppings. It’s not a long experience at about 20-30 minutes, but I think the value is pretty good, considering you get to take home a large piece of good quality chocolate, and also get a hot chocolate to drink while you wait for your decorated chocolate to set. Reservations are not required in advance (unless you’re coming with a large group). Favarger also has a store in Geneva and you can do the same workshop there as well.
Lausanne Waterfront
Walking along the scenic waterfront is a great way to pass some time in Lausanne. The path is paved (for miles, it extends basically from one end of Lausanne to the other) so it’s stroller-friendly. If it’s a warm day, there are beaches you can swim in, right in the heart of the city. You can also rent paddle boats.
Old Town and Cathedral
Lausanne’s Old Town section is fairly small, but worth a quick visit, especially for the stunning Gothic cathedral dating back to the 1100s. It’s free to enter but a small fee applies to climb the bell tower.
Where to Eat on a Day Trip to Lausanne
We had a great meal at Brasserie de Montbenon, which was recommended to us by friends who used to live in Lausanne. You can sit on their outdoor patio with lovely views of the water, and the food was great. It’s very close to the train station, which also makes it a convenient place to eat dinner before catching a train home at the end of a day trip to Lausanne.
We also had really excellent gelato at Manu, which has outposts in Geneva and a few other Swiss cities as well.
