In another thread I was asked: I do not know much about the Lausanne area, as I usually take the train from Geneva airport straight to my beloved Valais
I hope that more knowledgeable people will chime in, but from my very limited knowledge I can say:
The famous Lavaux vineyards (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) extend almost from Lausanne to Vevey, you can hike as much or as little as you please. Wine tastings are possible along the way
The Jura mountains are northwest of Lausanne, straddling the border between Switzerland and France. Lots of excellent hikes there.
I know very little about the Alpes Vaudoises, but they are a well known hiking area, accessible by a mountain railroad from Montreux.
Further off, take the train from Lausanne to the Valais, where there are innumerable hiking opportunities on both sides of the valley. Since I speak French, but not German, I hike in the western part of the Valais; an excellent book (in English) is Valais West . Another book, by an English author, is Walks in the Valais , which covers the entire canton.
Let me suggest that you ask your Swiss colleagues at work for suggestions; I am sure that many of them are hikers!
There are some great walks on "The Balcon du Jura"- Ste-Croix,Bullet & Mauborget. Take the little train up from Yverdon to Ste-Croix and start from there. Look at the website www.ste-croix.ch to get some ideas. I have loads of info on lots of different walks in the area if you want any more info
A little info to add here - Wine tastings are generally only possible on Friday and Saturday evenings (from about 5pm - 9pm), or by prior appointment, or during special festivals.
Two good sources of info on walks around Lausanne are:
There is a brochure/book produced by Lake Geneva Region tourism called "Discovery Trails - Our most beautiful, interesting walks." I just picked one up from the tourist office in the Lausanne train station this weekend. It is all in English, with rough descriptions of each hike and a good map index. You will need to buy other maps in addition to that.
There is also a book that you should be able to find in most local bookstores called "Guide de Randonées: Lac Léman - Les plus belles randonées pédestres" by Daniel Anker, published by Rother. The descriptions are all in French, but there are also good photos and useable maps - you may be able to get away with just using these, especially if you can understand the directions that are written in French.
I've to visit a lot of places. I've seen some pics and is impressive the beauty of the places and very close to Lausanne. I've looked at the train timetables and this sunday I'll go to my first hiking activity to Saint-Croix.
Or the mountain railways from Aigle to Les Dialerets and Bex to Villars/Col de Bretaye. Both Aigle and Bex are on the main SBB/CFF lines from Lausanne and the mountain railways leave from the SBB stations. As well as hiking trails there are some excellent mountain biking trails.
We go hiking a lot, winter and summer, and there are a lot of places near lausanne.
For example you can go to a little nice hike in Les Paccots, about 1 hour to a buvette and then back down to the parking lot.
Also, there is a nice hike in Móleson and they have a local website. The same for Villars, many hiking trails and beautiful buvettes where you can stop for food and drink.
I guess it depends on the definition of a reasonable distance, but we have found this site very good for some hikes in the Haute Savoie region of France: