The canton of Vaud is home to one of the most beautiful abandoned places in French-speaking Switzerland, a direct legacy of the era when Leysin was the world capital of the tuberculosis cure. Our map lists 77 geolocated Vaud spots, from high-altitude sanatoriums to the abandoned farms and manor houses on the heights above Lake Geneva.
The essentials in brief: the canton of Vaud has 77 geolocated abandoned places. This article presents the Sanatorium des Chamois and the Château de Gréchon, two genuinely abandoned sites in a canton that has massively repurposed its vacant heritage since 2010. Free GPS coordinates under each spot.
This article is part of our extensive dossier on the abandoned places of Switzerland. The terms abandoned places Vaud, urbex Vaud and urbex French-speaking Switzerland all describe the same reality. Under each spot, an Add to my map button drops the GPS coordinates into your profile, with no credit card required.
1. The Sanatorium des Chamois in Leysin
Photo: Werner Friedli, ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Sanatorium des Chamois is a former tuberculosis clinic above Leysin, abandoned since 2002. The physician Auguste Rollier opened his first heliotherapy clinic here in 1903, treating bone tuberculosis with sunlight; the building (originally the Hôtel des Chamois) went up the same year. From 1956 to 1967 it housed a Club Med, then served as a youth hostel. Since 2002 the building has stood empty; an upscale hotel project announced in 2016 never came to fruition, and reports from 2021 to 2023 describe advanced deterioration and a risk of collapse.
Discover all the abandoned places of the canton of Vaud on the urbex map.
2. The Château de Gréchon in Moudon
The Château de Gréchon is an 18th-century manor house left to abandonment in Moudon, in the Vaud Broye. Built between 1762 and 1781 by the notary and banneret Sigismond Trolliet, the building has been uninhabited since 1911. A heritage item of cantonal importance, it is actively decaying: water infiltration, dry rot, vandalism, collapsing interior walls. A listing application filed in 2020 was suspended pending a sale that never went through, and in 2024 the canton imposed a deadline on the owners to maintain the building, with no repurposing or sale to date. Unlike most Vaud sites, Gréchon has been neither repurposed nor demolished.
Discover all the abandoned places of the canton of Vaud on the urbex map.
3. Leysin, and why Vaud has so few abandoned places
The canton of Vaud is a special case: it has repurposed, demolished or redeveloped almost all of its vacant heritage. Leysin is the example: between 1890 and 1920, the resort had more than fifteen large sanatoriums (Grand Hôtel 1892, Mont-Blanc 1894, Chamossaire 1901, Belvédère 1906…), built for the high-altitude cure against tuberculosis. With the antibiotics of the 1950s, the sanatorium era came to an end, but almost all of these buildings were converted into schools (Leysin American School, Swiss Hotel Management School) or into residences. Likewise, the industrial wastelands of Yverdon (Leclanché, Paillard) became active neighbourhoods, and the Riviera palaces (Caux, Territet) became residences or clinics. This is what makes the Sanatorium des Chamois and the Château de Gréchon, which remained empty, all the rarer. For the same high-altitude cure history on the German-speaking side, see the Sanatorio del Gottardo in Ticino.
Other abandoned places in the canton of Vaud
Beyond these two sites, our map lists numerous freely accessible Vaud spots on the heights above Lake Geneva and in the district of Nyon: abandoned houses and slumbering manors. The following spots can be added directly to your map.
The abandoned places of the canton of Vaud at a glance
| Place | Type | Built | Status 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanatorium des Chamois | sanatorium | 1903 | abandoned since 2002 |
| Château de Gréchon | manor house | 1762-1781 | uninhabited since 1911 |
What are the abandoned places of the canton of Vaud?
The two genuinely abandoned and documented places are the Sanatorium des Chamois, above Leysin (empty since 2002), and the Château de Gréchon in Moudon (uninhabited since 1911). Most of the other Vaud sites have been converted into schools, residences or housing.
Why are there fewer abandoned places in Vaud than in Ticino?
Vaud has massively rehabilitated its heritage since the 2010s: the sanatoriums of Leysin, the wastelands of Yverdon and the Riviera palaces have all been repurposed. Genuinely abandoned sites are therefore rarer here than in the Ticino or Graubünden valleys, which have 791 and more than 200 spots respectively, against 77 for Vaud.
Is urbex legal in the canton of Vaud?
Looking and photographing from the outside is allowed. Entering another person's property constitutes a violation of domicile under article 186 of the Swiss Criminal Code, as soon as the place is fenced off or marked as private. We advise against forcing entry.
Where can I find the coordinates of the Vaud spots?
Under each spot in this article is a free button that drops the coordinates into your profile. The complete map of the canton of Vaud lists the 77 geolocated sites.
Conclusion
The canton of Vaud tells above all the story of the high-altitude cure, with the Sanatorium des Chamois in Leysin as its symbol, and that of a massively repurposed heritage, of which the Château de Gréchon is one of the last exceptions still left to abandonment. To discover the whole picture, consult the urbex map of Vaud or our national dossier on the abandoned places of Switzerland. Always with respect: take nothing, damage nothing, enter no property.