Lyon vs. Chartres': ONE-DAY DESTINATION DEATHMATCH!

I will play this silly game and vote for Chartres.

Lyon, hands down. Definitely some other stuff to look at, and major attractions. The Basilica, Old Lyon, the Resistance Museum. I presume travel time is about the same due to Chartres being TER and Lyon TGV? Also I presume you can leave early enough and return late enough for it to be worthwhile?

If you're maximizing your time and whirlwinding from the station by taxi, then Lyon is the place.
Fine arts museum is worth its own day, old town worth more than a day, plus many more sites depending on your particular interests, as hinted by other commenters. Plan the dining out ahead of time, and rehearse so your stamina is also maximized.

Note the importance of having a ripe Saint-Marcellin cheese at that time of year in that area of the Rhone!

HAHAHAHAHAA :-) I cannot weigh in on the substance of your question, but I heartily endorse your humor

I hope that your idea of a foodie paradise is a snout-to-tail world of chitterling sausage, blood sausage, tripe, headcheese, sweetbreads, and trotters. But I do like Lyon and if you arrive at Lyon Part-Dieu station, then I recommend walking to the market Les Halles Paul Bocuse, where you should be able to scrounge up something edible, like a macaron filled with fois gras. Then, take a taxi to the city center.

Mike, you have such a way with words......I vote for Lyon for the simple reason I haven't been there (yet) and have spent a couple of days in Chartres. It's a beautiful cathedral. Good enough?

I'm another one who votes for Lyon. For a true Lyonaise treat, have a quenelle at Cafe des Federations. But make sure you have reservations. There are a lot of sites to visit on foot and, if I remember correctly, a great outdoor market on the banks of the Rhine on Saturdays.

^^^ What Phillip said. And, that Saint-Marcellin cheese will likely be on your cheese plate at Cafe Fed.

I'm not a big foodie and have never been to Lyon except to change trains, so my answer is strictly biased. I loved Chartres and have been there twice once as a day trip from Paris and once as a place to drop a rental car and train to Paris. Definitely worth the time both for the cathedral and to wander around the town. And actually it's only a little over an hour by train to Chartres so you'd have more time to actually spend there.

On out last trip we visited both.

Chartres is less than 2 hours from Paris.

Lyon is more fabulous than Chartres (even with Malcolm Miller) but personally beyond my day-trip radius.

Say Mike, butcher your itinerary and spend 2 nights (at least) in Lyon. You'll be neither sorry nor hungry.

Although I am not wizened, I enter my opinion and vote for Chartres because it will be more of a change for pace from Paris than Lyon will be and is a more reasonable and doable day trip. Since when is Chartres 2 hours from Paris. The slowest train takes 1 hour and 16 minutes and the fastest takes 61 minutes. A day trip that involves four hours of transit time to see a city like Lyon means that unless you have been to Lyon before, you are allocating it too little time.

Since the cathedral at Chartres has been cleaned, it has lost a lot of its mystery, IMHO.
Lyon - both for the history, and the food. You won't run out of things to do, if you do some research.

Did anyone else read this like a boxing announcer? :)

Well Fight Fans, we had a good clean match! Chartres' held in there, but in the end, it was LYON wot won out! True, it has the disadvantage of being two hours outside Paris, but who can say "non" to the culinary epicenter of the entire world -- maybe even the universe! I plan to plow through bouchons like a Blue Whale through a sea of krill! I will feast upon all things porky, beefy and ducky! I shall sip Cote du Rhone in the afternoon and gorge on fromage until such time as I'm sated and jolly, and then I'll sod back off to Paris aboard the amazing TGV! Finally, I'll lie in bed for hours moaning, gripping my aching belly while I wonder what possesed me to eat like Henry VIII after he pulled a few bong rips.

And if you're all reeeeeeeaally good, maybe I'll even write an AWESOME TRIP REPORT about my excursion! Ooooo, won't THAT be exciting? Probably not, but you can't stop me from doing it anyway.

Thanks to everyone who lent their copious knowledge to this thread -- I appreciate it more than you can know.

-- Mike Beebe

Mike,

I look forward to reading your trip report :-)

I like your unique, and creative writing style!

And I was all set to tell you to vote for another week in Paris and take overnights to both, when I read the decision. bummer.

I would have voted for Chartres -- only an hour or so from Paris, and digestible (if that's the word) in a day trip -- but I see the verdict is in. I haven't been to Lyon, I'd like to go, and when I do I'll give it at least 2-3 days, and I won't mention your name. ;-)

Mike, are you the guy who shared his AWESOME British itinerary, featuring many pints, last year? Your style seems familiar.....

Mike,
without question it must be Lyon !!
Old Lyon, the Croix Roussy, the basilica on the hill along with the Roman forum, Beaux des Arts ........and then there is the food (we loved Bouchon des Filles). I agree the previous advice to go for broke and stay there 2 days, you won't regret it.
Have fun,
BT

Mike, are you the guy who shared his AWESOME British itinerary, featuring many pints, last year? Your style seems familiar.....

I am, in fact, the SUPER-AWESOME itinerary guy! Awesome is my aim and my aim is awesome! Actually, don't ask my wife about my aim -- getting old sucks!

Mike - you made a great choice, but you don't have enough time to do it justice. We spent two nights there and I'd have like a couple more. Anyway you could at least squeeze in one night so you can just roll into a local bed with your full stomach? You will not be sorry.
In addition to Le Cafe des Fed, which we didn't get to, you must go to Le Bouchon des Filles. Fabulous. On a Saturday, be sure to make your reservations in advance!

Glad to hear you survived your awesome Britannic trip and hope you enjoy this next one. Try the wine.

Chartres is only two hours by the local milk run, more like an hour on regular trains. Lyon is only two hours on a fast train, even then two hours seems optimistic.

Chartres is a great day trip, nice medieval center, iconic cathedral.

Lyon is a city.

This is like saying Chicago or Mackinac Island. Both are fantastic, but one is a major city.

don't ask my wife she has my sympathy. apparently she married this really awesome stud and now she's stuck with a geezer. TG for alcohol ☺

she has my sympathy. apparently she married this really awesome stud and now she's stuck with a geezer. TG for alcohol ☺

Oh, it gets worse than that -- this is the year I get the modern momento mori: an AARP card!

I swear I was 25 just yesterday!

Chartres is better for a day trip and I'd stay for the great evening light show on the cathedral and city buildings. One short day in Lyon ain't enough.

Bill in SoCal