Lausanne

A watchman still calls out the hour from the Gothic tower every hour from 10pm to 2am, turning to each of the four directions. The custom goes back to the Middle Ages, and from the square below you can hear him. By day the tower can be climbed by its stairs.

On a rise above the Ouchy shore it gathers torches, medals and footage of past Games. Sculptures of the sports stand along the garden steps leading up, and the garden can be walked without a ticket. The top-floor cafe terrace looks across the lake to the Alps.

Once a fishing village below the old town, now a tree-lined promenade for walking and cycling. Boats from the pier cross to Evian in France, so some come with a passport. In summer, evenings bring people onto the lakeside grass to see the sunset.

Driverless trains climb the slope straight up from Ouchy on the lake to the hills north. On the steepest stretch, standing passengers feel pulled backwards. Hotels often give guests a city transport card, so the ride needs no ticket of your own.

Work by people with no art training, psychiatric patients and prisoners among them, gathered from Jean Dubuffet's gift. It opened in 1976 in the Chateau de Beaulieu, an 18th-century mansion. Entry is free every first Saturday of the month.

A Florentine-style palace above Place de la Riponne, holding archaeology, geology, zoology and coin museums under one roof. The permanent displays take no ticket. Stalls set up on the square each Wednesday and Saturday morning, so those days give you both.

Old locomotive sheds beside the station were opened up to put three museums in one quarter. Cantonal fine arts, design and photography museums face each other across a square. From the platforms it takes a few minutes' walk beside the tracks.

A wooden tower stands in the forest on the hill north of town; its spiral stair brings the lake and Alps into view over the trees. The tower is free. A pond and small animal enclosures nearby draw many families with children.

A roofed wooden stair climbs a lane from Place de la Palud to the cathedral. It was the way to market, so old front doors open right onto the steps. Below, the Palud clock sends out its moving figures on the hour.

A 19th-century villa on the hill used as a gallery for a few temporary shows a year. It closes for weeks between exhibitions, so confirm what is on before going. The garden looks down on the cathedral and the lake together.

Old warehouse streets down in a filled-in river valley, turned into bars, cinemas and shops. The Grand-Pont bridge passes overhead, so the city's two levels feel real. Weekend nights, Friday and Saturday, the crowds stay late.

On the lakeside lawns of Vidy, house plots and streets of the Roman settlement of Lousonna lie exposed. The ruins are open to walk around without a fence, and a small Roman museum nearby holds the finds. The lakeshore path links it with the Olympic Museum.

A large garden east of the centre; its old villa housed the IOC from 1922 until the late 1960s. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court sits on the north side. Under a tower, an artificial rock hides a small grotto and cascade.

A July performance festival in the lanes and squares around the cathedral, most of it free. Theatre, music and dance play on several stages at once; choose while drifting from lane to lane. The big hilltop stage needs a spot claimed early.

A lawn terrace on a rise west of the centre, facing Lake Geneva and the French Alps beyond. The old casino building houses a Swiss Cinematheque screen showing classic films. Locals picnic on its grass at dusk, watching the lake turn orange.

The church of a 13th-century Franciscan friary; the friary is gone but the Gothic church still stands on a central square. The square is a bus hub and a favourite place to meet. Inside it is quiet, a brief rest between shops.