Lyon Travelers Recommend

With three days in UNESCO-listed Lyon, you have plenty of time to experience the city’s history, cuisine, and surrounding vineyards. Cross the Saône and Rhône rivers, step into the cathedral, taste world-renowned wine, and more. Here’s how to make the most of 72 hours in Lyon.

Day 1: Sights and cuisine

Get your bearings with a sightseeing adventure. Start your day on a hop-on hop-off bus tour, or try an e-bike or Segway tour. Visit Lyon’s famous squares, including Place Bellecour and Place des Terreaux, and stop by attractions such as the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière (Théâtres Romains de Fourvière).

Foodies shouldn’t miss the chance to sample the cuisine in one of the top culinary destinations in the world—so spend the afternoon on a food tour with a stop at Paul Bocuse Market (Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse). Alternatively, history fans might opt for a tour about Lyon’s past. End your day wandering the cobblestoned streets of Old Town (Vieux Lyon), or ride the funicular to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière) for sweeping views of the city.

Day 2: Vineyards and Alpine villages

Lyon is the perfect home base for a full-day French wine excursion to Beaune, Burgundy, Beaujolais, or Côtes du Rhône vineyards. A guided small-group or private tour from Lyon is your most convenient option for tasting local wines and exploring the rolling hills of the Lyon countryside.

Alternatively, several historic towns in the nearby Alps are also ideal day-trip destinations. Check out medieval Pérouges, or visit Annecy and its picturesque lake. End the day with dinner at a traditional bouchon.

Day 3: Museums and views

Time to hit the museums, so grab a sightseeing pass for discounts. The Cinema and Miniature Museum (Musée Cinéma et Miniature) is a must for movie buffs, while the Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux-Arts) offers a more traditional gallery experience.

Later, take a break in Place des Terreaux, notable for its fountain. Then, hop on a tram up to the Croix-Rousse neighborhood, once the home of Lyon’s silk industry. Savor the city views before relaxing over dinner at one of the area’s celebrated restaurants. Wind up your stay in Lyon with a stop at the Big Pebble (Gros Caillou) for more fantastic views, then head down the hillside on a traboule.

With two days in Lyon, not only can you see the sights, but you’ll also have time to sip fantastic wine, indulge in views from Fourvière hill and Croix-Rousse hill, and dive deeper into Lyon's culinary scene at world-renowned restaurants and markets. Here’s how to make the most of 48 hours in Lyon.

Day 1: Sightseeing and Museums

Morning: Sightseeing early is a great way to avoid crowds, so visit Lyon's top attractions and city squares with a morning hop-on-hop-off-bus tour or Segway tour. Food walking tours are also a great way to sample local cuisine, while culinary e-bike tours offer the best of both worlds.

Afternoon: Spend the afternoon soaking up culture. Fine-arts aficionados can visit the stately Fine Arts Museum or Lyon Printing Museum—both free with a Lyon City Card, which you can buy in advance for citywide deals. End your afternoon at central Place des Terreaux, before heading to the Croix-Rousse neighborhood.

Night: Take the last afternoon tram tour to Croix-Rousse for panoramic vistas, then take your pick of several neighborhood eateries for dinner, including restaurants with a coveted Michelin star. After a fantastic meal, stroll to the Big Pebble (Le Gros Caillou) for outstanding views and a digestif.

Day 2: History, Wine, and Cuisine

Morning: Because Lyon is surrounded by wine regions, start your day with a half-day or full-day tour to nearby wineries. Travelers that want a half-day tour can head to nearby Côte-Rôtie and Beaujolais. Enjoy direct travel from Lyon as you're whisked through charming villages to regional vineyards for tastings.

Afternoon: Continue your vineyard tour, and spend the afternoon in the tasting rooms of Beaune, Burgundy, or Pérouges. Some tours stick to vineyards, while others offer sightseeing in nearby medieval towns. End the culinary-themed afternoon in Lyon with a guided food excursion in the Old City.

Night: From the Old Town, head to Lyon's incredible hilltop church: the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. Take the funicular up the hillside, or try a traboule —or medieval walkway—along the Montée des Chazeaux. Snake through Lyon's historic buildings toward the cathedral, and when you arrive, enjoy stunning views from the Fourvière esplanade.

Once used by silk merchants to reach the bustling markets of Lyon without damaging their wares, the city's traboules, or passageways, hark back to a bygone era. Here's how to escape the city streets and explore these hidden, secret alleyways.

Lyon Traboules History

The traboules of Lyon date back to the fourth century, when residents of what's now known as Vieux Lyon needed swift and simple access from their homes to the banks of the Saône River for water. Come the 18th century, Lyon's silk-weaving industry boomed and the traboules also became the perfect way for silk workers—known as canuts—to transport their products from their homes on the outskirts of town to the markets in the new city center on the Presqu'ile, between the Rhône and Saône rivers. Still in place today, the passageways offer access to many of Lyon's residential apartment buildings, with some 40 of them open to the public.

Ways to Experience Lyon's Traboules

• Follow a tour guide on a walking tour of Lyon's historic Old Town, and hear colorful stories dating back to Renaissance France.

• Take a theatrical walking tour in Lyon to learn of city life in the 16th century, and listen as an actor-guide sheds light on the best spots to buy silks.

• Stroll through the UNESCO World Heritage–listed streets—from Bellecour Square to Terreaux Square and Fourvière Hill—and explore the historic courtyards and traboules of Saint-Jean Square.

• Sample some of the praline sweet treats for which Lyon is famous at a local patisserie, then head to the Museum of Fine Arts and discover Lyon's silk-printing history.

• Wander through the Croix-Rousse district to the ancient traboules and feel like a true Lyonnais.

• Explore streets such as Rue du Boeuf and Rue Saint-Jean, where daily life ticks by at a relaxed pace.

Celebrated for its cuisine and fairy-tale-like architecture, Lyon is packed with attractions. Visitors shouldn't miss the Old Town and Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière—Lyon's answer to Paris' Notre Dame. Because of the city's manageable size, you can cover the highlights in just a few hours. Here's how to make the most of a day in Lyon.

Morning: Museum Visit and Panoramic Views

Lyon has a rich arts legacy, so start your day immersed in culture with a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts. For a great value, pick up a 1-day Lyon City Card in Place Bellecour, and stop in a nearby boulangerie for a pastry. After wandering the museum's stately galleries, hop on a tram tour to Lyon's Croix-Rousse neighborhood to take in the panoramic views. You can also try a hop-on-hop-off-bus tour, since most tours visit multiple sights, making it easy to get around.

Afternoon: Sightseeing and Culinary Delights

After a cultural morning, spend your afternoon exploring the picturesque city and tasting local cuisine on a culinary-themed e-bike tour. Culinary walking tours and private food tours are also great ways to sample local specialties at nearby markets, including the famous Halles Paul Bocuse. But if you just want to see the sights, Segway tours are your best bet, since they often stop in Parc de la Tete d'Or—Lyon's celebrated city park. End your afternoon at the hilltop Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, and use your Lyon City Card for a free tour of the church's tower.

Night: Historic Lyon and Bouchon Dinner

Spend your evening in the Old Town, enjoying the Renaissance buildings and cobblestoned streets. If you're tired, take the funicular back from the basilica (free with a Lyon City Card), but if you don't mind a hike, use a traditional traboule —a medieval alley along the hillside, once traversed by Lyon's famous silk workers. Find one off Montée Saint-Barthélémy, which takes you into the Old Town. Along Rue Saint-Jean, look up every now and again to see gargoyles peering down: This is the place for dinner. Stop in a traditional bouchon Lyonnais, and sample favored local dishes, such as pork sausage and duck pâté.

In the heart of French wine country, Lyon makes a strategic base for wine-themed tours. With Beaujolais and Burgundy to the north, the Rhone Valley to the south, and the little-known Bugey and Jura wine regions close to the Swiss border, here are some options for Lyon wine tours.

Must-Try Varietals

Each region has its own specialty, ensuring that every wine lover’s tastes are catered to. Within the Burgundy wine region, the Côte de Nuit appellation is known for its pinot noir red wines, the Côte de Beaune for its fine chardonnays, and the Côte Chalonnaise and Maconnais vineyards for their aligoté and pinot noir wines. The Beaujolais wine region of the Saône Valley has the best wamay wines, while south of Lyon, the hilly vineyards of Côte Rôtie, Côtes du Rhône, and Chateauneuf du Pape in the Rhone Valley are best known for their rich reds—most notably syrah and grenache.

Must-Do Experiences

• Visit the historic wineries and cellars of the Mâconnais and Rhone Valley regions on a small-group or private tour. 

• Meet the winemakers, discover the importance of terroir, and learn about the cru classification system on a guided winery tour. 

• Sample a variety of great wines without leaving the city, with an expert-led tasting at a traditional Lyon wine cellar.

• Enjoy a gourmet wine tour with a fun twist and explore the Beaujolais vineyards on a bike or Segway. 

Lyon was an important Roman settlement and the provincial capital of Roman Gaul. You can still see evidence of its ancient past in the Fourvière district of the city, where not one, but two, well-preserved Roman theaters stand. See below to find out more about these ancient performance venues. 

Ancient Theater of Fourvière

The larger and older of Lyon’s two ancient theaters, this semicircular theater dates back to about 15 BC. In centuries past, the venue was probably used to stage gladiatorial battles in front of audiences of up to 10,000 people. Now, it mostly functions as a historic attraction, though it’s occasionally put to use: Every year in June and July, during the annual Nuits de Fourvière festival, the theater hosts a range of music, theater, dance, circus, and opera events. 

Odeon

The smaller of the pair, the Odeon theater dates back to around AD 161. In its heyday, it hosted poetry readings and music recitals, and most likely would have been covered by a roof, though no remnants of that remain. This type of theater was common during ancient Greek and Roman times, and is one of only two such theaters in the Gaul region to have survived. The other Odeon theater is in Vienne, south of Lyon. 

As the long-reigning gastronomic capital of France, Lyon will satisfy even the most difficult-to-please foodies. The proud home of world-renowned chef Paul Bocuse and the Méres Lyonnaises (the Mothers of Lyon), Lyon’s restaurants boast an impressive 24 Michelin stars between them. Here are your options for unforgettable Lyon food experiences.

Must-Try Dishes

Celebrated for its abundance of fresh, regional produce and time-honored recipes, Lyon’s menus are vast and varied. Enjoy fresh fish and seafood sourced from the Rhône and Saône Rivers; delicious meats such as Charolais beef, Bresse chicken, Jésus de Lyon cured ham, and rosette pork sausage ; and wines from the nearby Beaujolais, Burgundy, and Rhône Valley wine regions.

Popular dishes to look out for include quenelles de brochet (meat or fish dumplings in a cheese sauce), gâteau de foies de volaille (chicken liver cake), salade Lyonnaise (served with croutons, diced bacon, and a fried egg), or classic coq au vin (braised chicken in red wine) made with local Burgundy wine. Finish it off with local cheeses such as Saint-Marcellin or Cervelle de Canut, a slice of tarte aux pralines (praline tart), a plate of bugnes (fried donuts), or delicious poires à la Beaujolaise (pears poached in red wine).

Must-Do Experiences

• Feast on Lyonnais specialties on a walking tour of the legendary Paul Bocuse Food Hall (Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse) with an epicurean guide.

• Explore the foodie hot spots of Lyon’s atmospheric Croix Rousse neighborhood on a small-group tour including food and wine tasting.

• Zip around the UNESCO World Heritage–listed monuments of Old Lyon (Vieux Lyon) on an electric bike, stopping to sample Lyonnais delicacies along the way.

• Enjoy the undivided attention of your guide on a private tour of Beaujolais wine country and the Dombes lake region.

• Tuck into traditional cuisine accompanied by Côte de Rhône wines at one of Lyon’s historic bouchons (a pub or bistro dating back to the 19th century).