Must see (do) in Lyon

1. Centre d'histoire de la résistance et de la déportation. website
2. Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. website
3. Fourviere funicular - Roman ruins and museum (Lugdunum) website and Lyon’s 19th century Notre Dame church are up the hill; Cathedral St. Jean-Baptiste is at the bottom of the hill
4. Walking along the Saone River through the street markets, there.
5. Silk District - Traboule walking tour

Get a 48 hour or other appropriate (24; 72 hour) “Only Lyon” Pass. You can pick it up at the Tourist “i” (info center) website in Place Bellecour on your arrival day or first morning. We used ours for ## 1,3 and 5 above plus the Musee des Beaux Arts and Saone River cruise (highly recommended in good weather) and all buses and Metro.

We missed the Musee Lumiere and Musee des Confluences. (We only were in Lyon 3 nights/2 full days.)

Amusez vous bien.

Without knowing your likes and dislikes it's difficult to say. This may be a start https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/lyon

You can also look at a couple of guidebooks to see what appeals to you, as well as some of the travel videos on YouTube.

If you're there on a Saturday you want to hit the flea market. One of the best regular ones in France. The Beau Arts Museum is fantastic. The Confluence Museum is OK. I spent 3 days in Lyon last June. Frankly the foodie thing seemed a bit over hyped, although I did find a good brew pub.

If you use the main train station, make sure you get your bearings, because it's easy to get turned around in the large underground portion.

I wonder what your interests are.

Lived in Lyon for several years. Might have some ideas if I knew more about what interests you.

Eat brioche praline rosé

Definitely visit the Paul Bocuse market if you like food, or markets.

There was also a wonderful one along the river.

We really enjoyed self guided walking tours of the traboules and also of the murals, there are so many and they are spectacular.

The Roman arena and its museum was great too, unfortunately it was snowing, since we were there in winter, so we weren't allowed into the arena due to risk (!!). The views were still good though.

I would highly recommend seeing the Traboules with a free Lyon Greeter. Request such a walk online a month ahead.

The sorbet and gelato place in the older part of town is great. Look for the line. Not far from the church.

The funicular was fun, too.

I liked taking a Saone river cruise.

I really liked seeing the frozen food store next tiles Halles Paul Bocuse. Iam forgetting its name. It exists all over France and I so wish we had a branch in NY.

Agree, 3 nights is enough. We stayed at a very central Mercure hotel, which I liked.

The traditional, touted foods of Lyon held no appeal for me so I didn’t partake.

The fine arts museum was missable but the nearby plaza with its large fountain is a must!

Lyon is an amazing city. The Musée des Beaux-Arts is worth checking out as is Notre-Dame de la Fourvière and the Roman-era arena nearby. We had coffee and ice cream at a lovely restaurant with a terrasse overlooking the city next to Notre-Dame. It was unreal.
We stayed at a hotel on the fourvière called "Hotel Fourvière." Sure, it's a way from a lot of things but it's accessible via the funiculaire. It's an old convent and was such a magical place.

Definitely take the “Navigône” water bus on the Saône - it’s only €3 and goes all the way to the Confluence (weather permitting - it was canceled due to a storm the day we wanted to take it down there). You can use your tourist card or any contactless payment method. (All TCL transport within Lyon is tap-to-pay now; no special card needed.)

Speaking of boats, there are some nice bar/restaurant barges moored along the Rhône in season. We really liked “Le Berzingue”, which has a huge menu of beers, ciders, and pastis.

That frozen food store chain in France is called Picard. I haven’t had the opportunity to patronize them, and I expect it might be difficult to take proper advantage as a visiting tourist without a kitchen, but I saw a travel/food TV show here where the presenter put together a delicious sounding French dinner with their products.