Université de Lausanne (UNIL)

One place definitely not to be missed is La Barbare near the cathedral, which serves the best hot chocolate anywhere!! The central refectory, known affectionately as 'la banane' is very tasty and healthy and very good value for money. In town, Manora's great for good and healthy food when you're on a budget and the Bleu Lézard and Les Brasseurs are good bars. The city's beautiful so the view from virtually anywhere's great and in Ouchy you've got both a lake and mountains to look at!!

Luckily my student accommodation in Lausanne was excellent - there were places which did not have better facilities but overall the student accommodation is very well organised and well priced.

It was difficult at first as I'd not really been immersed in French before, and especially the Suisse-Romande accent so communication with flatmates was difficult at the start! But it got so much easier and the language teaching at the university really helped a lot.

Swiss trains! Train travel is relatively cheap and can be brought down by buying a one year half-fare card (demi-tarif) which gets you half price tickets on train lines, and the vast majority of buses and boats. It costs about 150CHF but it is most likely that it will pay for itself. Overall, I found that Switzerland was cheaper than people say it can be, once you get to know where to cut costs.

Best place to travel to is to Geneva airport and go from its train station direct to Lausanne. If you feel a bit homesick or feel like you're not meeting enough people, the university has the Association pour les EtudiantEs Concerné par une Echange (AEcE, the international society) which organises loads of events and nights out.