Lausanne, Switzerland · UTC+2
Convert time from Lausanne
Lausanne sits above Lake Geneva on terraced hillsides, a city that climbs steeply from the lakefront to the cathedral on the ridge above. It runs on Europe/Zurich time: UTC+1 in winter (CET), UTC+2 in summer (CEST). Switzerland follows EU DST transitions as a practical matter, despite not being an EU member.
The International Olympic Committee has been headquartered in Lausanne since 1915, making the city the administrative capital of international sports. The IOC’s headquarters coordinates events on six continents, and Lausanne time (Central European) is the reference for much of that coordination. Every Olympic event time listed in the program is ultimately reconciled against the CET clock in this city.
700 years of the cathedral nightwatch
Lausanne Cathedral has maintained a “nightwatch” since the 13th century: a watchman calls out the hours from 10pm to 2am from the cathedral tower, every night, a practice unbroken for 700 years. In a city of precision watchmaking culture and diplomatic timekeeping, this ceremonial relationship with the clock feels entirely appropriate.
At 46 degrees north, the seasonal light difference is noticeable but not extreme. Summer evenings extend past 9:30pm during CEST. Winter afternoons dim by 5pm.
9am in Lausanne is 8am in London in winter, one hour ahead of GMT.
Sources
Read more about time in Switzerland →Same time as Lausanne
Compare Lausanne with
Questions about time in Lausanne
- What timezone is Lausanne in?
- Lausanne is in Central European Time (CET), using the IANA timezone
Europe/Zurich. The standard UTC offset is UTC+1 in winter. During daylight saving time (summer), it becomes Central European Summer Time (CEST) at UTC+2. - Does Lausanne observe daylight saving time?
- Yes. Lausanne observes daylight saving time. In 2026, clocks spring forward one hour on Sunday, March 29 and fall back one hour on Sunday, October 25. During DST, the UTC offset shifts from UTC+1 to UTC+2.
- What is the current UTC offset for Lausanne?
- Lausanne is currently at UTC+2. It is currently observing daylight saving time.
- What is the time difference between Lausanne and New York?
- Lausanne is currently 6 hours ahead of New York.
- What is the time difference between Lausanne and London?
- Lausanne is currently 1 hour ahead of London. Both cities observe daylight saving time on the same schedule (last Sunday of March and October), so the gap stays consistent year-round.
- What is the time difference between Lausanne and Los Angeles?
- Lausanne is currently 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles.
- What is the time difference between Lausanne and Tokyo?
- Lausanne is currently 7 hours behind Tokyo. Tokyo does not observe daylight saving time, so this gap changes by 1 hour when Lausanne transitions to/from DST.
- What is the IANA timezone name for Lausanne?
- The IANA timezone database identifier for Lausanne is
Europe/Zurich. Use this string in programming languages and APIs: JavaScript (`new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', { timeZone: 'Europe/Zurich' })`), Python (`pytz.timezone('Europe/Zurich')`), or any IANA-compatible library. - Is CET the same as CEST?
- No. CET (Central European Time, UTC+1) is the standard winter time used by Lausanne and most of Central Europe. CEST (Central European Summer Time, UTC+2) is the same zone during daylight saving time. The abbreviation changes, but it is the same IANA timezone — the offset shifts by one hour.