Lausanne eats like a wine village that grew a city on top of it. Three days here run from the Riponne market stalls and cantonal cheese counters to fondue in Switzerland's oldest bistro and Chasselas poured above Lake Geneva.
Vaud's biggest street market fills Place de la Riponne and Place de la Palud every Wednesday and Saturday, 08:00–14:00: Gruyère and L'Etivaz wheels, saucisson vaudois, lake perch and Lavaux Chasselas sold by the bottle.
Cantonal shop stocking only Vaud producers: raw-milk Gruyère AOP, L'Etivaz from the alpine chalets, saucisse aux choux IGP, taillé aux greubons and Bovine cheese. The back counter serves hot croûtes au fromage and cold plates at lunch.
Chocolate house on Lausanne's smartest shopping street since 1850, still tempering in-house. The pavés lausannois, amandes princesse and truffles are made in small batches; the drinking chocolate is thick enough to hold a spoon upright.
Neighbourhood café in Sous-Gare, five minutes south of the station, with mismatched sofas, a chalkboard of Vaud plates and a long list of Chasselas and Gamaret by the glass. Locals arrive for apéro from 17:00 and stay for dinner.
Cramped café built into the wooden covered staircase climbing to the cathedral, known since the 1970s for a chocolat chaud made from melted couverture and served with a separate jug of cream. Two dozen seats, a small terrace above the steps.
Brasserie tucked down a passage off Saint-François, serving canton classics under yellow lamps since 1951: papet vaudois (leek and potato stew with saucisse aux choux), filets de perche meunière from the lake, tripe, and fondue moitié-moitié.
Twenty minutes by train into the UNESCO-listed Lavaux terraces, this cellar pours around 300 wines from the eight Lavaux appellations — Dézaley and Saint-Saphorin Chasselas above all — by the glass, alongside a film following a vigneron's year.
Lausanne's oldest bistro, open since 1780 in a low vaulted room seating around forty. Fondue moitié-moitié of Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois comes with cornichons, pickled onions and kirsch; croûtes and raclette fill the rest of the menu.
Corner café on the edge of the old town doing all-day brunch: baked eggs, house granola, tartines with Vaud butter and acacia honey, and properly pulled coffee. Plants, vinyl and marble tables; full of students and freelancers by 11:00.
The Swiss burger chain began on this street in 2009: Vaud beef, Gruyère or L'Etivaz, Boxer beer brewed in the canton and rosemary fries. Order at the counter, names shouted across the room, and you are back outside inside forty minutes.
Lausanne's best-known craft brewery, in an industrial unit a few metro-and-train minutes out at Renens. The taproom pours Embuscade IPA, Nébuleuse Blonde and seasonal tanks-fresh brews, with brewery tours and guided tastings on set days.
Café-bar spread over three floors since 1993, with a vaulted cellar club underneath. Apéro here means a glass of Villette or Épesses Chasselas with a board of saucisson sec, dried beef and Gruyère, and pavement tables that fill the moment the sun turns.