Geneva versus Lausanne - Which has the better appeal?
 

I've done a bit of reading on here regarding Geneva and Lausanne. There has been a mixture of thumbs up and thumbs down in terms of opinions regarding Geneva. My sister and I will be in Paris in September, but we've decided to allocate one day as a day trip to Switzerland to visit relatives. I thought that either Geneva or Lausanne would be ideal places. Basically, we'll have about 6 hours in either place. For those who have been to both cities, which one is the more worthwhile of the two for such a short period of time? Thanks in advance for all suggestions/opinions!

I would vote for Lausanne. I think it offers more "charm" (whatever THAT actually means)..overall more pleasing to the eye, interesting catehdral and more of an old-world ambience throughout than Geneva offers IMO and you get a TGV to there from France, too.

Vevey
Montreux
Lausanne
Geneva

would be my order of personal preference and recommendation for places to base yourself in that area for a short stay.

although likely Lausanne will be the most convenient for train arrival, so might win out for that reason.

Yes, I have been to all four places.

I'd take Geneva over Lausanne though you can't go wrong.

If you only have one day as a day trip from Paris, my vote would be for Lausanne, as we found it to be more charming, built on a series of hills and with a lovely waterfront district, Ouchy, where one takes the steamboat to Chateau de Chillon, and also easier to see in just six hours. We found Lausanne just very pretty, elegant and slow paced.

But with just 6 hrs. you may want to omit the Olympic Museum, where we spent an entire afternoon.
There's a short "metro" ride from across the street from the Lausanne train station down to Ouchy-takes 6 minutes. On the Ouchy waterfront there are some delightful lunch spots, such as the outdoor terrace of the Hotel du Port on Place de Port.
I'd love to live in Lausanne.

For Geneva we needed two full days (we based in between for 5 days in Morges). For us "International Geneva" with visits to International Red Cross and the United Nations plus the Ariana museum of ceramics and glass took up one day. Our other day was spent strolling the Old Towm and visiting the cathedral of St. Peter, the Maison Tavel (delightful!), the Museum Barbier Mueller then a stroll along the park promenades and afternoon boat ride on the Swiss Boat around a bit of the Lake.

The only advantage to Geneva is that it's a quicker , non-stop ride on the TGV. 3 1/2 hrs. compared to 4 hrs. to Lausanne.

Thanks to all for the replies! I think we'll go to Lausanne. :)

Good choice!

Hope u see this. Lausanne is the place, however, the metro has been torn up for expansion. Don't know if it's open again for train station to Ouchy or Flon.