This classic hangout occupying the ground floor of a lavish
19th-century apartment building has antique chaise longues and
slouchy sofas up front, perfect for curling up with a good book and
working your way through the extensive hot chocolate menu. There’s
sit-down dining at the tables in the back and, come evening, a
buzzy bar vibe prevails, making this a note-perfect all-day
brasserie. Want to take some schoggi (a Swiss colloquialism for
chocolate) home with you? Head to Durig Chocolatier,
a three-minute walk from the café, to pick up some tongue-tingling
Mexican-spiced cocoa.

A beautiful café and bookstore in the heart of the old town,
Madeleine offers delicious freshly baked madeleines, locally
roasted Torpedo coffee and a cleverly curated selection of
uplifting books courtesy of the resident bookkeeper, Aurore. Decor
is sleek and contemporary, with art nouveau flourishes creating a
sumptuous backdrop for people-watching. After 4pm, hot chocolate
gives way to natural wines and locally brewed beers, best enjoyed
alongside sharing platters.

A truly radical new addition to Lausanne’s esteemed café scene,
Deli Social is a food lab, magazine store and workspace run by a
British couple, designers Emily Groves and Rhys Williams. Hanging
out here feels like a crash course in innovative design – you’ll
leave with plenty of design inspiration for your own flat, or
future dream home. A word of warning: order a sandwich with dip and
you’ll never be satisfied with an ordinary sandwich ever again.

With a young, enthusiastic team and a reputation for championing
local designers (whose artworks and wares are displayed and sold
here), this is one of Lausanne’s best-loved café-bars. Cocktails
and draft craft beers are a highlight, but it also does a roaring
trade in non-alcoholic spirits and kombucha. Keep your night
rolling with a visit to Street Cellar, just down the road: the
rebellious wine bar serves bins by the glass or, if you’re feeling
fancy, in magnums.

“Lausanne is a city full of artists, designers, architects and
writers,” explains Jean Kehlhofer, owner of this contemporary yet
comfortable corner café just north of St-François. They’re all to
be found here, reading coffee-table books on Swiss tattoo artists,
or art brut, or fermentation, kept caffeinated on locally roasted
Goodlife coffee. Jacques Restaurant, two minutes’ down the road,
is well worth a visit when in this part of town, too.

We lost track of the number of people who instructed us to come
here and order Marta’s hot chocolate, so we did. More a chocolate
soup than a hot drink, it’s just the sort of fuel you’ll need if
you’re ploughing through a lengthy Victorian novel, or trying to
pen your own thoughts on life. This historic café dates back to
1952, but it’s only recently that Marta took it over and breathed
new life into it.