r/travel • u/AutoModerator • Jan 25 '18
Advice r/travel City Destination of the Week: Lyon
Weekly topic thread, this week featuring the city of Lyon. Please contribute all and any questions / thoughts / suggestions / ideas / stories about this travel destination.
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Unhelpful: Read my blog here!!!
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u/Cocopoppyhead Jan 26 '18 edited Jan 26 '18
I've been in Lyon a few times recently, so I've a few things listed that I can copy/paste from my planner. Unfortunately, i didn't get to eat at Paul Bocuse's restaurants, but Lyon has plenty more to offer.
Top Attractions
- Basilique de Fourvière, Cathedral, 8 Place de Fourvière, 69005 Lyon
- Cathédrale Saint Jean, Cathedral, Place Saint-Jean, 69005 Lyon,
- Musée des Beaux-arts, Museum, 20 Place des Terreaux, 69001 Lyon
- Tête d’or Park/Zoo, Natural, Boulevard des Belges, 69006 Lyon
- Groupama Stadium, Stadium, 10 Avenue Simone Veil, 69150 Décines-Charpieu
- Vieux Lyon – Old City, Monument, 69005 Lyon
- Musée des Confluences, Museum, 86 Quai Perrache, 69002 Lyon,
- Musée d’art contemporain, Museum, Cité Internationale, 81 Quai Charles de Gaulle, 69006 Lyon,
- Musée miniatures et cinéma, Museum, 60 Rue Saint-Jean, 69005 Lyon
- Aquarium Lyon, Aquarium, 7 Rue Stéphane Dechant, 69350 La Mulatière, Lyon
Places to Stay
Best Places to Eat
- La Cave d'à Côté, 7 rue Pleney, Lyon
- Le Comptoir du Vin, 2 rue Belfort, Lyon
- AOC Les Halles, 102 Cours Lafayette, Lyon
- Bouchon Le Jura, 25 rue Tupin, Lyon
- Le Jean-Moulin, 22 Rue Gentil, Lyon
- Brasserie Chantecler, 151 Boulevard de la Croix-Rousse, Lyon
- Le Sud, 11 place Antonin Poncet, Lyon
- In Cuisine, 1 place Bellecour, Lyon
- Le Bouchon des Filles, 20 rue Sergent-Blandon, Lyon
- Canut et les Gones, 29 rue Belfort, Lyon
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u/tickleMyBigPoop Oct 17 '23
best places to eat
no L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges? Two stars last i checked.
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u/HarryBlessKnapp East East East London Jan 26 '18 edited Jan 26 '18
Loved the open air swimming pool in Lyon.
Also loved the riverside markets. And those boat pubs by the river. Especially during happy hour. And I especially loved having a few beers at the boat pubs on the river, then popping to the markets and eating a picnic on the river bank.
It's a cool city to walk around. Especially the brand new district at the bottom of the island.
Edit: fyi if you go to the pool, Speedos are obligatory. I'm serious. They won't let you in.
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u/Cocopoppyhead Jan 26 '18
The open air swimming pools are great, as are the giraffes in the park :)
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u/HarryBlessKnapp East East East London Jan 26 '18
Shit yeah. Forgot about the zoo. Amazing considering it's free.
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u/Thisislyon Mar 12 '18 edited Mar 12 '18
Hi! So glad Reddit is putting together this thread! Lyon is such a nice city.
I'm Jenna, an American, but I currently live in Lyon and work for ThisisLyon.fr, which is an online magazine (in English!) that catalogs everything to do and everywhere to go in and around the city.
As already mentioned, the traboules are a definite must-see as they are very unique to the city. Of course everyone also needs to stroll around the berges du Rhône and see the Parc de la Tête d'Or.
I know a lot of people say it's really hard to eat vegetarian or vegan in France too (it is the country of saucisson and cheese) but we've had a few community members suggest some places to eat if you're trying to meet a dietary restriction. There's also a restaurant and cafe called Celest at the top of the "Crayon" at Part-Dieu (ie. the big reddish tower with a point on top that sort of looks like a pencil), which has 360 degree views of the city. And the markets, of course! The Croix-Rousse and St. Antoine ones are notoriously the best, and the Halles is a really cool experience too if you've never been to an indoor food market before (which I hadn't).
In response to @goodstuff10, you are so right about the brioche praline! It's a Lyonnais specialty so it is a must! I've heard some of the best ones can be found at Boutique Pralus which has three locations in the city, in Vieux Lyon, on the Presqu'ile near Cordeliers, and up in Croix-Rousse.
@nsuarezdiaz also has a point to make sure you eat lunch around noon or shortly after. It's really difficult to find an open restaurant between the hours of 2:30 and 6:30 pm, so definitely be aware of that when scheduling. Although I can highly recommend the Restaurant L'Epicerie on Rue de la Monnaie near Bellecour, which is open from 11 a.m. until midnight nonstop. It's so cute and very French (their specialty is tartines/open faced sandwiches), without being over the top blood and guts French because I am not ready for that. They also have the best mousse au chocolat in the city :)
Since so many of you are mentioning events to do in the summer or fall, or just specific times of the year, I'll put it out there that we do have a list of top events in the city that comes out every month. So if you're planning on visiting and want to know about the big things that are on that month definitely go give it a read.
As for places to stay, there's a lot of interesting hotels and hostels opening up, including HO 36, Away Hostel and Coffee Shop, and Le Flâneur (or the Wanderer) just to name a few.
And while I totally recommend spending as much time as you can in Lyon (I did move here after all), you can definitely still visit the city in a couple days if you're pressed for time, so here's our guide for that.
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u/TheJessKiddin Jan 30 '18
About 9 years ago I did a homestay in Lyon for 3 days. I had the chance to stay with the nicest French family who played Zorro and Malcolm in the Middle for us American kids while we had our breakfast. It was the first time I tried Nutella. Anyways, I traveled to multiple French cities and towns and have to say Lyon had the nicest people. The mother took us to one of their street markets to get dinner items for some quiche she was making that night. I don’t remember the name of it, but there was a large fountain in the middle of it and the produce carts were scattered around it. Again, just the nicest people in a truly picturesque setting. Hopefully this doesn’t break the rules too much.. I enjoyed reminiscing about that wonderful family and my time in their city. Oh.. and sunflower fields for days!
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u/nsuarezdiaz Jan 29 '18
Hello! Lyon not only has great architecture, but it has AMAZING food. Parc de la Tête d'Or is one of my favorite places to hang out. Also, it has great Michelin-starred restaurants, but I prefer the small places to eat. Have a Captain Jack burger at Les Frangins or a BANOFEE PIE at Le Kitchen Cafe. My main recommendations to enjoy the city are:
- Try to bike to walk everywhere, it's so pretty!
- Put all your hunger and energy for lunch, but make sure you get have it by noon because some places close after that.
- Stay at an airbnb, its way cheaper and they have really nice places!
- Make sure to visit the local markets! I have a list of my favorite places with a map that you can check out here :)
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Jan 27 '18
My favourite French city. Only other thing I can suggest other than what’s here is to try a brioche praline. I don’t even remember the names of the bakeries i tried them at but the quality never seemed to change. My god are they ever good
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u/Eldona Switzerland Jan 29 '18
Spent a semester there on Erasmus exchange.
For going out and electronic music I can recommend Le Sucre, Maison Mere and Café Gallerie.
Place Sathonay is awesone for hanging out during summer especially the café "sur le bout de la langue"
Traditional bouchon Lyonnais are great but only offer really heavy food I recommend le boucon des femmes
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u/arabesuku Jan 29 '18
Planning on visiting Lyon sometime in September - Is that a good time to go in terms of tourism/weather/events going on?
Also, any hostel recommendations? I'm mostly looking for something with a social atmosphere (but not a party hostel), affordable, and close to public transport. I don't really care how in the city center it is or if it's near touristy stuff, as long as it's within walking distance of a metro line I'm good.
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u/nsuarezdiaz Jan 29 '18
Hey! I recommend Away Hostel & Coffee Shop. It's cheap and very clean. September is perfect because the weather is not that cold, it may rain sometimes, but not every day. Lyon hosts the Lyon Dance Biennial and Contemporary Art Biennal in September too. Hope you found this helpful!
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u/AloisVanish Mar 22 '18
Everyone should go and visit Lyon, definitely my favorite city in France. I would not live anywhere else, personally, but a quick weekend trip to Lyon is a perfect way to discover the cities' main spots: everything is just so close from each other! The Presqu'île (city center) is a hot spot you cannot miss. From Place Bellecour to Place des Terreaux, you can get a grasp of the city's architecture, try some unique bouchon lyonnais in the famous Rue Mercière or relax in one of the many coffee shops that burgeoned lately in Lyon. The Place des Jacobins is probably my favorite place of all, especially by night. The light is incredible and make up for the most beautiful pictures. The perfect place for an Instagram post, trust me! I've recently discovered the website This is Lyon and this is a gold mine if you're looking for any information in English about Lyon. You should go check it out!
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u/UntoldMorselstravel Jan 31 '18
We loved Lyon too - great for a family break and a stop off on a road trip through France to Italy.
Lyon is a pretty city and has a relaxed feel about it. It has unique position on the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers and there are lots of fun riverside parks and activities. The confluence museum dedicated to humankind is interesting and in a cool modern building.
Parc de la Tête d'Or has an amazing free zoo with hundreds of turtles rescued from the oil spills in Florida. It's also a nice place to relax on the grass.
Exploring the secret passages in the old town known as traboules is a lot of fun. And of course the food is amazing. We grabbed a picnic from the Paul Bocuse markets but there are lots of cool bars there where you can eat.
Big thumbs up for the coffee culture and incredible pastries too.
More food, because you're in Lyon! The Marché Alimentaire on Quai St Antoine is a typical French produce market and well worth a visit.
I wrote about the best family activities in Lyon on my blog
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u/CycleAdventurous6379 Dec 20 '23
Just back from Lyon, first French city that I went too where I was totally disappointed. Firstly not a winter destination, with the river meandering in and out through the city and with a high volume of water, it was the coldest place I felt that I have ever been, though it was 1 degree Celsius, just totally unbearable and only able to stay outdoors - hour at a time. There are so many better cities in France, such as Bordeaux, Nice, Avignon. I stayed 3 nights but I think 2 days and 1 night in summer time and you would see everything. Architecture downtown is nice, but outside of downtown area, it is UGLY
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u/brazillion United States Jan 25 '18
I loved Lyon. Had lunch at La Mere Brazier, which was my first exposure to French haute cuisine in France. It's a legendary place.
Another must is to try a traditional bouchon Lyonnais. A bouchon is kind of a French tavern with rustic, heavy, and delicious food. The one I ate at is called La Meuniere.
I also had some of the best ice cream ever in the old town at a shop called Glacier Terre. They had so many crazy flavors. I ended up settling on 2 scoops - one was a local variety of pear and the other was pine tree.
If you're in Lyon in the summer, there are a lot of awesome live music events at the ancient Roman amphitheater. If you have a car, there are also more concerts at another theater in Vienne, a historic town maybe 30 minutes away. I went to one of my most memorable concerts ever there - Diana Krall live, with a bunch of cheese and charcuterie, wine, and a stunning sunset in front of me.
Also, tons of wine around. You are in the heart of the Northern Rhone - syrah country. I visited the wine shop of Chapoutier, one of the most renowned winemaking families in the world.
Finally, don't forget to check out the Paul Bocuse market hall near the train station. So much good food there to buy for the train ride.