If you’ve arrived on this page, it must be Sunday and you must be some combination of bored, under stimulated, depressed and restless. We understand; we’ve been there too. Walking around town can feel like everyone has been invited to an amazing party except for you. Where is everybody?!?
So what’s the deal? The truth is that Sunday remains a day of rest and family time in the minds of many Swiss. It’s a day for hiking, eating together with family or friends, and generally recovering from the previous week and preparing for the next one. Occasionally the Swiss vote about extending store hours, and the cultural consensus seems to be that they are happy with the forced down time. And honestly, even if this used to baffle us, now we get it. And much of time, we even love it!
But in our effort to survive a lonely Sunday, we’ve collected the following addresses of restaurants and attractions that are still open for business.
Restaurants
- Luigia
- Duo Thai and Sushi (evening)
- Le Pointu
- Java
- Bleu Lezard
- Au Couscous
- Café St. Pierre
- Etoile Blanche
- Chalet des Enfants
- Brasserie de Casino de Montbenon
- Snack de la Gare
- The Great Escape
- A la Bossette
- Blackbird Coffee & Breakfast Club
- Blackbird Downtown Diner
- Holy Cow
- Café des Avenues
Practical
- Post office at the train station
- 24 hour Pharmacy
- Groceries: Coop Pronto (Ouchy, Gare), Migros Ouchy (seasonal)
- Laundromats
- During the warmer months, there’s a small farmer’s market in Ouchy
Activities
- Catch a movie
- Head to the museums, some of our favorites: Musée Elysee (photography), Fondation de l’Hermitage, Musée de l’art brut, or Musée Olympic (which has a Sunday brunch with a gorgeous panoramic view!)
- Take the train to Chexbres and grab lunch at Bidingmeyer Boulangerie
- Head over to Mon Repos park, have a coffee at La Folie Voltaire then visit the exotic birds
- Lac de Sauvabelin, perfect for a Sunday stroll where you can meander along a path while feeding a few animals, then climb the tower and peer over all of Lausanne.
- Take the CGN boat from Ouchy to Château du Chillon–you also have the option to eat on the boat while taking in the gorgeous sites of Lavaux (tip: first class isn’t that much more, and is totally worth it!)
Photo by Álvaro Serrano