Lyon, Dijon, and Rouen Suggestions

can only speak to Rouen. Top spots I was attracted to visit were:

• Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen (marvelous cathedral made famous by a series of paintings made by Monet)
• Le Gros-Horloge (huge clock in an arch over the walking area).
• The Rouen Museum of Fine Arts
• Walking the old roads threading through medieval, half-timbered buildings.
• Catholic Church of St Joan of Arc.

Day trips out of there would be tough without a car. Normandy is mostly rural, and public transportation to notable sites is scarce to non-existent. With a car, there are loads off places. I can recommend are Abbaye de Jumièges, the Castle of La Roche-Guyon and Giverny.

Travis,
In Rouen, rent a car just for the day and take the D982 along the Seine River (wonderful drive!) to the Route des Abbayes. There are some fabulous abbeys to see. The ruins of the Abbaye de Jumieges are beautiful. If you are a Victor Hugo fan, there is a small Hugo museum in Villequier, a small town along the way. Might have limited hours though. This is a great drive through one of the prettiest parts of rural France, IMO. Turn in the car the same day to avoid the parking issue in Rouen. I' m glad you will visit it. One of my favorite memories and cities in France....the cathedral, the museums, the Joan of Arc connections, Julia Child's first meal in France, the fantastic architecture and ambience. Enjoy!
I don't have any suggestions for Lyon and Annecy, having never stayed there. My Dijon experience is too short to advise about it. But there is the mustard, of course!
Happy travels!

Lyon is considered the culinary center of France and the storied food history you would expect.

The Les Halles du Paul Bocuse - nearish the main train station - has some of the finest food products in France and several small restaurants and eateries - markets close early so go by 1:00 or so.

Had an amazing dinner at Café Comptoir Abel in Lyon which is (I believe) the oldest surviving bouchon in Lyon. People more in the know call it "inconsistent" but a local chef from Lyon said when his parents come back to Lyon it's where they eat which was good enough for me.

There have been several recent threads about restaurants in Lyon - use the search box to pull those up and dig through the previous answers. The "bouchon" is the dining hall that has deep roots in Lyon's history so you have to do at least one of those.

Because the two rivers cut through Lyon there are effectively 4 riverbanks to explore. From my wandering the are roughly old town, shopping, civil area and modern life including walking/biking paths. Lyon also has a very strong history of street and public art so there many large sanctioned murals as well as many street arts murals and decorations which makes it in a really good walking town.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Lyon - take a look at getting the Lyon 48 hour pass. We used it for museum admissions, Saone River Cruise, Silk District/History walking tour and for buses and metro. You can stop at the tourist “i” at Place Bellecour, get lot of info, see if the pass is a good fit for you and book walks or tours all in one stop. There are shorter and longer passes available.

Dijon. Le Caveau de Saulx. Blind wine tasting and food. Fun. https://www.lecaveaudesaulx.fr/ You can also look on TA. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187111-d7046090-Reviews-Le_Caveau_De_Saulx-Dijon_Cote_d_Or_Bourgogne_Franche_Comte.html

These are some great suggestions!

My husband and I visited everything in the RS guidebook for Rouen except the ceramics museum which was closed a couple of weeks ago. I believe it's a long time closure. His highlight was the Joan of Arc museum. I probably would say the cathedral for me and I did like the art museum and just walking around seeing the half timbered houses.

Rouen - spent 4 nights, late Sep 2025.
Two experiences stand out ; the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles - a wrought iron museum. Believe me, you will be amazed.

And Pascaline restaurant. A local’s favorite.
Oh, one other place - great for afternoon wine and charcuterie- TERROIRS LA CAVE

Enjoy.

The last time we visited Lyon I was very disappointed with the Halles Paul Bocuse. It has transitioned from a marvelous covered market with countless fresh meat, fish, cheese and produce vendors to largely being a collection of restaurants. I'd recommend visiting the many more local markets mentioned here: https://en.visiterlyon.com/taste-the-finest/markets-of-lyon/lyon-s-markets-by-day.

I definitely recommend visiting the Croix-Rousse and Confluence districts. The eco-centric Confluence is a fascinating place with futuristic energy efficient apartment buildings and parks. I love Lyon.

Le Pré au Clercs in Dijon was a red-letter dinner for my group.

In Rouen Le 6ème Sens was sumptuous.

One small change to the itinerary. Due to a booking error, we cannot stay in Dijon, but I think we ended up with a better situation. We are now staying down the road in Beaune instead.

In Lyon we took a tour of the old silk district on a small bus. It was quite informative. And the large park (I believe that it has the name Lion in it) was fun to see. We tried one Paul Baucuse restaurant and were disappointed. Try one of the smaller restaurants.