Best places to live in Lausanne?

Accomodation, House and Garden
21
We also used to live not too far from Lausanne's prostitution strip, but never noticed anything going on except for very profitable business. Although not many expats seem to know about it, the rest of French-speaking Switzerland appears to. On a Friday or Saturday night it was surprising to see the range of car number-plates cruising around that area looking for something that intrigues them. I guess they don't have such regions in Neuchatel or Valais, so they all come to Lausanne.

22
All these postings on how nice Lausanne is are warming my heart! I have never been to Lausanne myself but will be moving there in May.

I have a 1-yr old little girl so any ideas on the "ideal" neighborhood would be very much appreciated...Driving is not my favorite thing but I love walking around so could you help on where I should be looking for a house / flat? Many thanks in advance

23
Hi folks

Thanks for all of your help. Sorry for my delay in thanking all of you. My wife and I traveled through Switzerland for a month 25 Aug 2007 through 26 Sept. We went to Zurich, Bern Lausanne, Lugano and had a great time. We loved the place but especially Lausanne and have decided that Ouchy would be a good neighborood.

One thing I did not expect to do in Switzerland was to break up a fight! We were in Lugano walking back to our hotel through a pedestrian tunnel from the railroad station to the other side of town. It was empty except for a young man walking in the opposite direction. Suddenly another guy we had not seen rushed from the side and attacked him. He began punching and kicking and the young man fell to the ground while the other continued kicking him. I rushed toward them yelling while my wife called for the police. The attacker broke off and the young man ran away. I know this is a common occurence in the US but a surprise for us to encounter this especially in the laid back town of Lugano. One other unexpected site was people begging in the streets and on their knees! Begging is quite common in San Francisco but again we did not expect this in Switzerland. Given the horrid state of the economy in most countries now I expect this problem will grow.

Since Ann, my wife, is Swedish she can move to Switzerland anytime. But, although the Swiss consulate said there would be no problem for me I still have to apply. They want me to give them an adddress in Switzerland which I do not have. Apparently a relative or a friend's address would do but we do not have those either. So, we are looking to rent an aparment through the internet. One agent replied and said she would be glad to help. Anyone have experience in this area? Are these agents reliable? What do landlords think about renting to someone site unseen?

24
We wonder whether you and your wife have considered Evian-les-Bains. Wonderful place, right opposite Lausanne but much less expensive. There is a cosmopolitan atmosphere here; your wife would have absolutely no difficulties entering and living France as she is a EU citizen. The town is pretty and clean, very beautiful due to the care taken with thousands of flowers and shrubs: lots to do, an international club full of interesting people; regular boats to Lausanne but the cost of living on this side is much cheaper than in Switzerland. Think about it..... and if you need any further information, please contact us by private mail.

25
Evianers, when you say lots to do in Evian can you expand a bit. From my part of Vaud I can drive there as quick as I can get to Lausanne. I've been a few times (usually stopping off on the way to or from Yvoire) but it always seems a bit of a backwater to me and in winter has the air of an out of season seaside town. It's nice to walk along the long lakefront promenade in Summer and look across to sun soaked Lausanne on the other side. The old town is nice too but really it's one street and you can walk from one end to another in five minutes. Granted there is a Casino which holds no attraction to me and an excellent wine merchants up in the old town. But what else is there to do? What am I missing? And can you recommend any good restaurants? I don't mean to run down the place. I only know it in passing and I'm just glad to hear there is more to it than I'm aware of.

26
Of course, it is very different if one lives in a specific town/city, or one is just visiting: the tourist office in Evian prints a free brochure with all the events taking place throughout any particular month. Something to do for every age group. There are superb free concerts which take place throughout the year: we have had many English choirs, school orchestras, soloists etc. playing here. The musical fountain. There is a very well attended international club where members attend lectures, outings, fetes, visits to spas and, and, and. Walking in Les Hauts d'Evian is beautiful [and free of course], ski-ing in Thollon, Plateau du Gavot; Les Tilleuls, Le Relais, Les Cygnes, as well as a numerous variety of restaurants in the centre of town; and of course cheaper than in CH most of the time. The Source Cachat [free if you bring your own bottles]; and from May to September, the 100 year old Funicular which leaves centre of town and rises steeply to pass the Royal hotel before reaching the leafy heights of the Ermitage Hotel area. What more could one ask? We have loads and load of sunshine here too........[especially if, like us, one used to live in Belgium]!

27
without a permit, is really hard to rent an appartment. maybe you are rich enough to convince the landlord, I am not unfortunately

28
May be this may not be what you are looking for but I think you may want to try out Montreux, it does have a more warmer feeling than Lausanne, its also has great place for meeting people of different cultures and the scenery is much nicer

http://www.montreux.ch/index_en.html

29
Sorry for my ignorance, I heard it was more expensive to live in france because of the euro. Can you shed some light on this

30
There is a man who carves wood outside his shop. He makes peace birds, which is a dying tradition.

The shop:

Le Bois de Lune

11, Place Charles de Gaulle

Evian

31
Evianers

Thank you for your reply but as nice as it is my wife and I prefer the larger cites. Lausanne is about as small as we want to go. However, after the description you gave, I am sure we will be visiting Evian many times.

32
Cheese = 1 euro for normal sized Camembert [special offer]

Apples = 1.10 euro per kg [this may be similar price]

6 beetroot in a shrink-wrapped package 0.65 cents

bus fare = 1 euro

wallnuts = 2.39 euro / kg

rhubarb [seen yesterday in Lausanne at 6.30 a bunch!] 1.50 euro

housing - nothing less than 1m for a decent individual house in/around Lausanne; here in Evian 400,000 euros.

But I am sure someone will contradict these prices!

33
We are moving to Lausanne where our young daughter will be attending school at ISL. We will be looking for a 4-bed apartment (5.5 rooms, right?) to live in. Wanted to ask what might be good areas in Lausanne to look for housing given that both of us work fulltime (one from a home-based office though), yet want to be within a close commute to ISL in order to be able to pick up/drop our daughter?

Thanks in advance.

34
Hi,

we are in the same situation, looking for a place to live close to ISL, where did you end up ? We are still abroad and wonder how difficult was it to get your daughter into ISL ?

Thanks

Markus

35
My husband and I are moving to Lausanne. Will probably make our first trip in early June to look around. In the meantime I am browsing sites etc. I have so many questions and have spent hours reading bits and pieces on many sites. I am hoping someone here can help me with a bulk of info all in one place. Here goes:

I read lots of generalities about housing but would like more specific info. For example, everyone says finding housing is difficult. Difficult to find due to shortages or so expensive. What makes it so difficult?

Can you rent in advance of moving there if you have your visa? or is it best to be in temporary housing and look while there?

We have no children, but we do have a dog. We love to walk to cafes, restaurants etc. but don't want to live in a very small apartment so we are open to other areas close to to the city center if that means we can have a place that is a bit larger. What are some villages/towns nearby Lausanne that have some life of their own (cafes etc) yet easy access to Lausanne? I don't want to be in a suburb where there is nothing when I walk outside my door. Can you be specific with the town names so I can search them further?

Any recommendations on language classes? A good school to recommend? I live in Puerto Rico now and have taken two classes at the Alliance Francaise.

Appliances: Do any US appliances work there. We lived in Argentina everyone said I could use transformers for some of my appliances (expresso machine, etc) and they ended up being ruined. Any thoughts on this.

Any other info you would be willing to share with me would be great.

I thank you so much in advance for any info you are willing to share. I am so excited to move there!

36
Hi - anyone who live or knows Lausanne - please can you help?

We are moving to Lausanne end of August from London. Would really appreciate some tips or thoughts on which areas of Lausanne are good to live in? And where to avoid? ( I know its a matter of taste but advice welcome to a soon to be novice in Lausanne)

I have only spent a day in Lausanne when I came over for my final interview! !

Not sure if we should look for the centre of the city or the outskirts? at present we live on the outskirts of London in a leafy quiet area. So not sure if we should look at the centre of the city or look for a short commute into the city living in surrounding areas?

Thanks for your help and please pass on your thoughts and advice.

Next step will be to start the actual search when we arrive ! If you someone walking around with a look of confusion and a map - that will be me!

also - realistically what price are we looking at for a 2 bed apartment - thats 2 bedrooms! with balcony with view!

R

37
Hi

I would highly recommend Lutry or Pully. Both are an easy commute to Lausanne with direct bus routes that take 30 minutes max.

Good Luck

Nats

38
Lausanne is expensive, especially if you are asking for a view of the Lake and the Mountains. But then you are used to London rates

I think that you are looking at 2000 to 2500 CHF assuming that you are lucky enough to find an apartment (see previous threads on EF about housing in CH). Best is to check homegate.ch , immostreet.ch and ask the relocation agent (if the company provides one). Good luck with the move, once you've settled you'll never want to move CH is fantastic

39
I'm not sure if you're looking to rent or buy, but anywhere in the centre or towards Vevey is nice. Towards Renens is not so good.

Depending how far away you're willing to live, I would look at Ouchy, Chailly, Pully, Lutry, and further that direction.

Also, I found anibis.ch the most valuable website when looking for rentals.

Best of luck.

40
Agreed. If you're up to a 10 to 15 min train ride or short drive you might also think of Morges or Vevey to expand your options.