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.