Itinerary help in Lyon

Make sure you visit the Halles Paul Bocuse, the city covered market, which is a little way away from the main tourist area, towards Part-Dieu railway station. Excellent food and drink shopping possibilities.

An under-rated attraction is the Lumiere Museum, which deals with the local film pioneers the Lumiere Brothers.

Get a guided tour of the Traboules as many of the most interesting ones are now not open to the public. locals used COVID to shut down access to many (they generally involve courtyards of apartment buildings and locals get tired of noisy tourists in their space). We visited many on our own and they were interesting but I regret not getting a guide with better access.

Don't miss the L’histoire, essentielle au présent - a museum detailing the WWII resistance in Lyon. It's well worth the price of admission.
Lyon has a metro and it's easy to get around. We were there for 3 days in May and I don't think I would want to drive in Lyion. Uber works very well in the city too.
We did the Lyon Old Town Food Tour. You learn a lot about Lyon and the food was great - a cheese shop, wine stop, bouchon, gelato and finally a tea shop where we had the famous praline tart.
We ate only one dinner out, but it was a great one - Les Demoiselles de Rochefort . It's a small eclectic place with a chef and another person that serves as bartender, server and busser.
I second the recommendation for Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse
Be aware of pickpockets. We encounter one as we were getting out of the metro, but they were not successful.

I have been to Lyon twice the past year for a total of 8 days and nights as my daughter lived there for 9 months working as a teacher's aide.

Depending how you like to fill up your day, if you follow RS's France guidebook recommendations, you'll experience the city in full within 4 days. if staying longer, then augment those sights with a visit to the city park and zoo, with a walk around the opera house. definitely dine at one of Paul Bocuse's 4 restaurants (his East restaurant is lovely).

Alternatively, I would consider hopping off the train at Beaune for 2 nights. This is a pleasant wine village, with local historical sights and plenty of fine dining. a bike ride along the southern wine road for lunch is an excellent experience. then continue your travels to Lyon for the remaining 4 nights.

I second the recommendation to visit the main park in Lyon, which is called something like Parc d'Or. I would not recommend Paul Bocuse restaurant. We tried one and found it to be rather corporate, with so so food. There are many other good food choices in Lyon that I do not think you will have a problem finding very good restaurants. We took a guided bus tour of the silk weaver area of Lyon and found it very enjoyable. Peter

we visited Lyon for 6 days last spring and loved it - a mini Paris but so much more manageable. The city is lovely, filled with sparks and fabulous restaurants, at a fraction off Paris prices. We spent hours in the Musee Confluence, which traces the history of life on earth and often has wonderful special exhibits; the Musee des Beaux Artes is one of the best outside Paris and, as someone else mentioned, the Resistance Museum is very interesting. The Basilica of Notre Dame (way upon the hill - you take the funicular up) is gorgeous; there is also a Roman museum and amphitheater nearly - quite good. We took the boat trip around the Saone (the river) but found it underwhelming - you basically go to the point of the river and turn around - we would not recommend it. The Musee Lyon was closed when we were there but gets very goods marks - if you are in luck, the renovations will be completed by the time you are there. We enjoyed dinners at Le Viverais and Cort Bouillon and at Paul Bocuse Sud. And, if you want a day trip, Avignon is just an hour away by train.

Hi Jim,

6 days in Lyon is a bit long in my opinion. Lyon is certainly worth a visit, but you may run out of things to do. The resistance museum is worth a visit, as Lyon was their main base. I would recommend checking out the Roman theatres as well.

If you like wine, take a day trip to Hermitage. It's about an hours train ride from Lyon and the train station is walking distance to a couple of world class wineries.

Safe Travels

The following was a wonderful tour that my husband and I took in 2023. https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g187265-d17306770-Lyon_Highlights_Secrets_Walking_Guided_Tour_small_group_including_Funicular-Lyon_R.html
Somewhere on the forum, we followed RS advice and bought the (city pass?) for transportation --forgot the name, “The pass also covers all public transportation, including the Fourvière Hill funiculars." It was just for transportation and was so convenient and reasonably priced.
Our day of arrival, we had lunch at Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. I don't remember the name of the restaurant but had a great salad. It was heavily frequented by "working men" who ate with gusto and immediately cleared out about 45 minutes later--back to work. So, it was frequented by locals.

We spend 9 days there via a home exchange. We used the light rail to get around. The Park Or was just okay, but we were there during the height of a hot, dry summer. A couple highlights.
1. Walking old town foodie/history tour. Link below.
2. Musee de confluence
3. Wine tour (link below)
4. Nice shopping mall at the main Gare. :)

https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/407011
https://www.tastylyon.com/en/type/wine-tours/

We had three nights there a few years ago and loved the town.

Our favourite activities were the Paul Bocuse market, amazing, and searching out as many murals as we could. There are plenty. We also did a self guided walking tour of the traboules.

We loved the Notre Dame church with spectacular views and also the amazing Gallo Roman museum there. Unfortunately we couldn't enter the amphitheatre due to snow, it was January.

We did eat at Nord in the Paul Bocuse chain and were not at all impressed. Possibly the worst meal of our trip.

Don't miss the Croix Rousse area; many tourists seem to miss it, as it requires scaling a steep hill to access (or else take the metro line C). Possibly the best Lyon neighborhood for restaurants, and the silk museum (La Maison des Canuts) is well worth visiting.

I was disappointed by the Bocuse Halles last summer. I had visited it several years previous when it housed primarily individual produce, poultry, meat and cheese vendors. But it has since become home to more restaurants and fewer raw food vendors. I think maybe rents got too high for the latter. There are a few outdoor markets in the city where fresh foods are available in wide array and at lower prices.

Hi Jim,
We spent two weeks in Lyon on a home exchange in 2019 and loved it. You've gotten some great suggestions so far and I wanted to add a few notes.
You didn't specify when you'd be there: we visited in August and it was HOT. Several days over 40 degrees c. We swam at the Centre Nautique Tony Bertrand which is a public pool. There is a very specific list of instructions, including acceptable bathing attire for men and women. We really liked the Musee des Confluences - that was good for half a day. We also went to Grenoble on Flixbus for a day (12 euros return!). We found Lyon very easy to navigate in terms of public transportation and the local bike rental scheme. The one thing we did not prepare for was the number of shops and restaurants that would be closed. Our meals were excellent. But there were definitely fewer options as so many places were closed for holiday. May be worth doing more research than we did if you're looking for something special.
Have a great trip.
Nancy

Someone else mentioned it, but a nice day trip is to Tain-'lHermitage. There you have M. Chapoutier winery (my Rhone favorite) and also the Valhrona chocolate factory. Valhrona is really excellent chocolate. They have a museum (with lots of free samples!) and also a lunch cafeteria that uses chocolate in all the recipes. You need a reservation for lunch. M. Chapoutier has a variety of tours available (from simple self-guided walking) to more extravagant options. Their website has details. It is about a 35 minute train ride from Lyon Part Deux train station to the Tain train station.