How Long in Lyon?

We LOVED Lyon (also Colmar btw). Oddly I had been there several times on business and always wanted to go for fun, so did after retirement. Lots to see and do, and you won’t eat better anywhere in France IMO. You can easily do 4 nights.

I know I am not directly answering your question--Lyon is a big convention city and hotel prices can be sky high when there are major business events. Do bear this in mind.

If 4 nights means 3 days, then you’d have a better stay than just 2 days. Spend one day seeing the upper parts of town: Croix Rousse neighborhood with silk weaving and an amazing outdoor market, and then take the funicular up to Fourviere hill for the basilica and ancient Roman theater and archaeological museum. That leaves you 2 days for the lower parts of town: Place Bellecour, old town and trabules, the overwhelmingly outstanding Musee des Tissues, the Lumiere Brothers Museum, a bike ride in the park, and the Confluences museum in the newest part of town. Four nights gives you 4 dinners, too. Are you thinking of at least one Michelin-starred restaurant?

Locals joke that the basilica, stunning inside, looks like a white upside-down white elephant from down in the city. Perched on the hill above town, its 4 white towers do resemble the legs, if an enormous elephant was laying on its back, legs sticking straight up. Don’t look for any trunk or tusks, though.

If you’d consider a cooking class in THE French food city, Lucy Vanel is outstanding. She runs the Plum Lyon https://www.plumlyon.com/ , and can take you through the Croix Rousse market to gather ingredients, before turning them into fabulous dishes.

Thanks for the quick and informative replies. I’m convinced, 4 nights it is! A cooking class sounds fantastic. One of my favorite memories of my 6 total weeks in Italy (2 trips of 3 weeks each) is the cooking class we took at Lake Como. I will look into a cooking class. I haven’t thought about restaurants yet. This will be about a 6 week trip and we have another trip scheduled that will probably be mid-Aug until the end of October next year. Approximately 6 weeks of that trip will be in Ireland and the U.K., so schengen shouldn’t be an issue. I have to consider the budget for two long trips in a year.

Hi Andrea,

I've been to Lyon at least three times and it is one of my favorite cities and I became good friends with a woman who has lived there for 20-plus years. If you're looking for great French Cuisine, check out "L'Atelier d'Ainay," (not too far far from Place Bellecour. I think it's on Rue Vaubecour). They're only open for lunch and sometimes a reservation is needed. It is excellent. Also great are "Le Dandee," also walking distance from Bellecour and located near Le Bourse. Finally, if you're a foodie, check out "Les Halles Paul Bocuse," the market/restaurant hub created by the late, legendary chef. Good luck

Steves' suggestions already available on this site:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/lyon

Thanks Southam. I’ve seen what he says. I like to know what travelers that may stray off the RS path have to say.

Just a quick clarification regarding this

Finally, if you're a foodie, check out "Les Halles Paul Bocuse," the market/restaurant hub created by the late, legendary chef.

Les Halles in Lyon was in its 145th year when it was renamed for the famous chef from the Lyon area, Paul Bocuse. It wasn't created by him, it was renamed in honor of him. The facility's website has a brief history.

It's different from a lot of les halles in French towns -- arranged a bit more like a department store than the continuous flow of side-by-side food vendors one typically sees.

It's a great place to see and purchase some interesting food-related things and catch a quick meal, especially shellfish, though there are a variety of restaurants in the building, including middle eastern food, asian food, and quenelles de brochet -- oversized dumplings made from pike that are a local favorite and hard to find in some other parts of France.