Lausanne Shopping

Fleur de pains is a small chain of bakeries / pâtisseries that makes breads and more importantly, desserts. There are a few located around Lausanne. There are a couple on the Avenue d'Ouchy, which is a main street going from the train station/old town down to the waterfront.

What to buy: Try the macarons, which are delicious dessert "biscuits", for lack of a better word. They look like cookies, but are soft, and have a creamy-type filling in the middle, flavours like chocolate, berry, lemon, coffee...

What to pay: $5 - $20

Every Saturday and Wednesday morning, the pedestrian streets in Lausanne are covered with stalls. You can buy so many different things, from fresh flowers, spices, vegetables and fruit, bread, cheese, meat, etc.

It's always nice to walk up and down the streets, buying some cherries here, bring home a bouquet of flowers, chatting with the people you meet...

What to buy: There is one fruit stall I specially like, it's located next to the H&M store, accross from Globus. They have a lot of different exotic fruit : papaya, mango, pineapple but also local fruit. Everything is fresh, you can usually taste the fruit, they cut some up for you to taste...

What to pay: Prices are marked, but its worth looking around, prices might differ from one stall to another.

Without comparing it to Paris, Milan or London, the Olympic Capital does play a major role when it comes to offering everything that today goes to satisfy men and women in search of quality goods to eat, to don and to enjoy. But in Lausanne, you need not ply miles of boulevards to find what you are looking for! There all kinds of shops in the centre of town ? food stores, outfitters, watchmakers, opticians, pharmacies and bookstores. Each, according to his or her tastes, needs and purchasing power will find the desired article within this pleasant perimeter.

Things are so done here, such as the shop signs, that the visitor passing through ? whatever the original reason for coming to Lausanne ? will easily manage to buy just the right useful product, little folly or gift they were after and to do so just a stone's throw from the underground station, the bus stop or the parking lot during such pauses that his professional commitments or convention programme permit unless, of course, this trip to Lausanne was just an excuse for lounging around and a shopping spree! And all this, moreover, takes place in a town crammed with bars, tea-rooms, caf?s, restaurants and other cosy meeting places.

If you want to go shopping in Lausanne, Saturday morning is a good time. Untill noon, the streets are filled with market stalls selling mainly fruit, veg and flowers. You'll also find second hand goods on the Place de la Riponne.

As all the shops and boutiques are in these streets, this creates a very nice atmosphere and you can go from shop to shop stopping off at market stalls. Really nice way of shopping and mixing in with the locals.