When we finish our Village Italy tour we plan on a couple more days in Lake Orta then travel to Lyon france for a few days and would like some advice on location to pick hotel, and a hotel recommendation, we dont really want a big chain style hotel and we dont mind a bit of quirkyness. Also tips on things to do in Lyon. After that we will fast train to paris for a few days before flying home. Thanks for any tips
We liked Hotel Bayard Bellecour… a lot! Stayed there two months ago for 3 nights. I posted a lengthy review on TripAdvisor under Loves2TravelandRead. You’ll find my trip report (posted last month…”Busy in Burgundy…” on Fodors forums under Janeyre (you’ll see a section on the first page of Europe forum on trip reports and just scroll through).
Thank you will read your review and look up that hotel.
In 2015, we stayed in Rick's recommended https://www.hotelcelestins.com/uk/hotel.html. Friendly staff, good breakfast and cute rooms. The location is very good. We had a Superior room on the Theater side although it looks like they have bigger rooms you might want to check out.
We enjoyed Lyon very much!
Here's my review of our 2023 hotel, Hotel Des Remparts. It hadn't been our first choice, but we were delighted with it nonetheless.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france-reviews/hotel-des-remparts-lyon
We also stayed in the Célestins hotel mentioned by Christine. It was a typical RS type of recommended hotel. There is a tiny elevator. Our stay was in 2024.
We also stayed in Lyon at Hotel des Celestins in May of this year (2025). It was a great location for sightseeing and dining, and the room was very nice. The (tiny) elevator goes from the street door up to the lobby, although some descriptions inaccurately say you have to walk up the first set of steps. https://www.hotelcelestins.com/uk/hotel.html
We also have stayed at the Hotel Célestins twice - loved it both times, Small, lovely breakfast room, nice rooms and great staff. The location is wonderful! You can walk over to Vieux Lyon (old town) easily and we found a great restaurant there Bouchon Les Lyonnais, which we loved! Also, try to find the secret passageways used by the Resistance in WWII - traboules! There is an excellent Resistance Museum in Lyon. We did a food tour as well, which was terrific! LOVE LYON!
Really appreciate all these fine recommendations looking at all of them
With so many hotels to chose from your advice has been super, Celestin had no vacancy but the lovely looking Hotel Bayard Bellacour did, it looks lovely