Built in tiers on the hills above Lake Geneva, Lausanne is the capital of the canton of Vaud and the Olympic capital: the IOC has its headquarters here, and the Olympic Museum, right on the lakeshore, draws visitors from around the world every year. That dual identity, institutional and sporting, comes with an intense student life, driven by the University of Lausanne and EPFL, two of the largest higher-education campuses in Switzerland.
A city that moves differently
The city’s steep terrain has produced an unusual transport network: two metro lines, m1 and m2, link the upper districts, the centre and the lakeshore, alongside a dense bus network. The railway station, one of the busiest in Switzerland, sits on the Geneva–Bern–Simplon line and puts Geneva around half an hour away.
Districts with distinct identities
Every district has its own character: Ouchy with its lakefront buildings, Flon with its old warehouses turned into nightlife venues, Chailly with its residential villas, or Sous-Gare with its late-19th-century apartment blocks. That diversity, combined with tens of thousands of students and professionals drawn by local businesses and international organisations, keeps rental demand among the strongest in the canton, with turnover that stays brisk in every price bracket. Our figures by district, updated with every edition, are gathered on our price-per-square-metre page.
LCR Immo, an agency based in Nyon since 2015, works in Lausanne as it does across French-speaking Switzerland and the neighbouring French border area: valuation, staging and full support, whether renting or buying.