Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts (Musee Cantonal des Beaux-Arts), Lausanne

Advantages: Hundreds of famous works of art.
Disadvantages: Sensory overload.

...If you enjoy visiting art museums, Paris really is the place to go to. In the last 20 years or so, Paris museums re-organised their collections and the musée d'Orsay became the receptacle for art dated between 1848 and 1914. ~The Gare d'Orsay~ ********************** The building that houses the collection used to be a train station and hotel, which due to its proximity to the Louvre needed to be built sympathetically. Its inauguration in 1900 revealed a very fine building where the stone façade hid the metal structure inside. At the time, the painter Edouard Detaille wrote ""The station is superb and looks like a Palais des beaux-arts...". Little did he know that he was writing a prophesy… After 1939, the progressive electrification of the railroads meant that the platforms were now too short to accommodate the new, longer... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Beautiful medieval city, relatively cheap, lots to do, excellent transport links
Disadvantages: none

...If you were asked to name some Swiss cities which ones would spring to mind? Bern? Geneva? Zurich?Lausanne? Chances are that you won't mention Fribourg and possibly have never heard of it, which was certainly the case for me before I moved here last year. A recent visitor described it as a 'hidden gem' and 'where the Swiss go on holiday' and that is very true, you find very few foreign visitors and lots of Swiss nationals visiting Fribourg. So why is this and what does Fribourg have to offer? ****Location and getting there***** The city of Fribourg (pronounced free-bour) / Freiberg (pronounced fry-berg) is in Western Switzerland and is situated in the canton of the same name. It is about 35km southwest of Bern and is located on the main train line between Geneva and Zurich. You can fly into Bern (40 minutes by train), Geneva (90... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great sports, great shops, breathtaking views, boat ride to Evian, calm and relaxed atmosphere
Disadvantages: Expensive trains, doesn't really cater for some food allergies such as coeliac

.... A little further into the city is the Olympic Stadium. This hosts not only football but also athletics meetings. Lausanne-Sports are the local football team, and even before their season starts in mid-July, there are often matches in pre-season such as the recent tournament involving Auxerre and Galatasaray. If sport doesn't appeal to you, it doesn't matter. Lausanne caters for every different type of person. Not only a leading centre for sports, it is also a centre for shopping. Although Lausanne doesn't quite rival Milan in this category, it has some of the best shops in Switzerland. There is also the Musee historique de Lausanne (Historic Museum of Lausanne) which would appeal to keen historians and the Bejart Ballet in Lausanne caters for those interested in ballet dancing. Those looking for a university in Europe need look... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful