Categories: Learn French, Lyon Area
I spent six full days in Lyon in March this year, and I came away thinking it deserves a lot more attention than it gets. This Lyon travel guide is based on my own visit and a conversation with Mikayla Sibner, an American-born French teacher who's lived in Lyon for years and runs a French-learning company called Pardon My Learning. She showed me around, and this episode is everything we covered.
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Getting Around Lyon
Public transportation in Lyon is genuinely good, possibly better than what I have at home in Toulouse. If you're flying in, the Rhône Express train to the airport runs about €16 one way, or €32 round trip, and it's cheaper if you book 60 days ahead. A taxi will run you far more, especially late at night. There's also now a bus option if you want to save money.
My best piece of practical advice for this Lyon travel guide: buy the city pass (NOT an affiliate recommendation) for however many days you're staying. I got the four-day pass, and it covered every bit of transportation I used. When you don't know a city, a pass that doesn't require you to track individual trips saves you from the small mistakes everyone makes, like exiting the metro at the wrong stop.
Vieux Lyon and the Traboules
Vieux Lyon, the old town, is almost entirely classified as UNESCO World Heritage. Cobblestone streets, medieval buildings, and the traboules, secret passageways that cut through buildings from one street to another. Merchants used them centuries ago to move goods without going the long way around. About 300 are still walkable today, out of thousands that once existed. Some are open on a set schedule since people still live in the buildings, so don't expect every one to be accessible whenever you show up.
Fourvière: Basilica and Roman Ruins
Above Vieux Lyon sits the Fourvière hill, home to the Fourvière Basilica and the Roman ruins of Lugdunum. The basilica has the same Byzantine-style gold mosaic interior you'd recognize from Sacré-Cœur in Paris, and it was built around the same period. Below it, the Roman amphitheater is free to visit and still hosts concerts in the summer. Lyon was the capital of the Three Gauls under Roman rule, which explains how much Roman infrastructure survived here. A funicular (now folded into Metro Line C) gets you up and down the hill without the climb.
Lyon's Silk History
Lyon built its wealth on silk. French kings kept ordering more of it, which pulled in demand from across Europe, and the city became one of the world's great silk-production centers alongside Italy and China. The Jacquard loom, invented here, is why so many buildings in the Croix-Rousse neighborhood have unusually tall ceilings: the machine itself stood about four meters high, and the weavers, called Canuts, lived and worked in the same space. You can see this history firsthand at the Maison des Canuts or Association des Soieries Vivantes. I enjoyed both, but the one done by the association was more in depth IMO.
Murals and Street Art
Lyon has more murals than any other French city I've visited. The Mur des Canuts is a massive trompe l'œil painting made to look like a real street, and it's convincing until you look at it from the side and realize it's flat. Down near the river, Les Fresques Lyonnais depicts famous people connected to Lyon, including Saint-Exupéry and the Lumière brothers.
Museums Worth Your Time
The Musée des Confluences is a modern natural history museum with genuinely well-done exhibits. The Musée du Cinéma et de la Miniature has movie props and sets, including a full-size alien from the Alien films. If you're interested in early filmmaking, the Lumière Museum covers the brothers who invented motion pictures in Lyon.
Where to Eat
Lyon is France's gastronomic capital, and it shows in the food: salade lyonnaise, quenelle, saucisson brioché, and cervelle de canut. The local specialty to bring home is the praluline, a pastry made with pink pralines. Buy it at the airport in a tin if you're flying home; it travels well. Les Halles Paul Bocuse is worth a visit, though prices run high since it caters more to professional chefs than everyday shoppers.
Day Trips from Lyon
If you have extra time, the medieval stone villages of Oingt and Pérouges are both easy day trips, though you'll need a car or a tour to reach Oingt.
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TranscriptCategories: Learn French, Lyon Area