Roman sites around Lyon

I haven't been to Vienne, but I remember that a knowledgeable poster mentioned Roman sites there. There's some high-level info in the Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienne,_Is%C3%A8re

It's a short train trip, as little as 20 minutes. There are departures from both of Lyon's stations.

Vienne was a major Roman city and port with a series of at least five sites to visit today. There is an excellent Roman museum across the river from Vienne. In addition, Vienne has an excellent Gallo-Roman through early Medieval museum in a de-consecrated early-Medieval church called Musée archéologique Saint Pièrre. I've been to a lot of Celtic, Gallo-Roman, and Medieval sites and museums all over France. This one was especially memorable, along with the Roman museum across the Rhone.

Lyon has an excellent Celtic and Gallo-Roman museum; the whole area is a haven for Gallo-Roman and Medieval. Lyon was the capital of the Gauls.

Islandteacher, Lyon Part Dieu's train station is a 1h 30m direct train ride from Nimes Pont du Gard station. Pont du Gard is FRs most spectacular Roman site.
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?revia=yes&existOptimizePrice-deactivated=1&country=GBR&dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0059_qf-bahn-svb-kl2_lz03&start=1&protocol=https%3A&REQ0JourneyStopsS0A=1&S=LYON&REQ0JourneyStopsSID=A%3D1%40O%3DLYON%40X%3D4863811%40Y%3D45702255%40U%3D80%40L%3D008796002%40B%3D1%40p%3D1621371582%40&Z=N%C3%AEmes+Pont+du+Gard&REQ0JourneyStopsZID=&date=Mon%2C+07.06.21&time=07%3A00&timesel=depart&returnDate=&returnTime=&returnTimesel=depart&optimize=0&auskunft_travelers_number=1&tariffTravellerType.1=E&tariffTravellerReductionClass.1=0&tariffClass=2&rtMode=DB-HYBRID&externRequest=yes&HWAI=JS%21js%3Dyes%21ajax%3Dyes%21#hfsseq1|ey.020699176.1621913754
And you can return back to Lyon after 5p.

Lyon to Nimes Pont du Gard by TGV isn't available at this time. A visitor could also get off at Avignon, but from either station, they would have to rent a car. Thirty minutes is pretty fast even for a TGV.

Another incredible vestige is the Roman theater in Orange, but again, it's too far for a day trip.

The fastest rail connections I see right now (direct TGVs or Spanish AVEs) take about 1 hr. 20 mi. from Lyon to Nimes. Those trains seem to be taking a straight route, only stopping in Valence.

Vienne is worth a full day easily so long as you've done your homework beforehand and/or get a good guided walk through the local TI -- I happened to luck out one morning there at the cathedral (where Pope Clement nixed the Knights Templar in the 14th c) and sat in a back row at a baptism that included a little organ recital on their very old instrument.

There is a park with some protected (poorly) paving stones from the Roman road similar to what you see in south Rome but with 1/10th the people traffic, and a patina-ed statue of native poet Andre Rivoire as well
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Rivoire

The medieval castle ruins up the hill are privately held but if you apply a little ingenuity and sweat equity you can check them out as well.

Lyon Part Dieu's train station is a 30-minute direct train ride away from Nimes Pont du Gard station

I'm sorry but that just can't happen. It is about 300km between the two stations and the fastest TGVs only do 320km/hour. It takes 1:20 by TGV. Then you have to get to the Pont du Gard which is 21 kilometres away - about 25 minutes if you have a car, and then a fair walk.

That's a tough day trip.

In addition to Lyon's Gallo Roman museum, There are three main roman sites in Lyon itself: two on Fourvière Hill which the Gallo Roman museum overlooks (ampitheatre and odéon), and a smaller ampitheatre at the base of Croix Rousse, a hilltop section of Lyon that formerly was a center for silk weaving. The ruins at the foot of Croix Rousse were for the Gauls, the Celtic people native to the area, whereas the two on Fourvière were for Romans. Lyon (Roman name Lugdugnum) was the capital of Roman Gaul because of its location at the confluence of two major rivers and other transportation routes to what is now Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. Two Roman emperors were born in what is now Lyon (Claudius and Caracalla). I've read that there have been some thermal baths excavated in Lyon, but I've never seen them. I think they're in the 5th arrondisement south of Fourvière.

Roman Lyon also was served by aqueducts, and there are several remnants of the Aqueduc du Gier (fed by the Gier river, a tributary to the Rhône) scattered around the area. Probably the biggest remnant is located southwest of central Lyon, near Chaponost.

Others have mentioned Vienne, so I won't address that. A medieval spot you might want to visit near Lyon is Pérouges, which one can reach by mass transit from Lyon and a hike up the hill to the town. It's quite photogenic and has been used as the setting for several films set in the medieval era.

There are several active monasteries around Lyon, but not all of them are tourist spots. Some, especially to the north in Bourgogne (Burgundy) welcome tourists, such as Fontenay. And of course there are the ruins at Cluny, about 70 minutes from Lyon. I'm sure there are folks who know far more about those than I do. One thing I thought I'd mention, though -- if you'll have a car there's a remarkable network of romanesque churches, most if not all attached to Cluny, scattered around the area north of Lyon. Paray le Monial (about 90 minutes northwest of Lyon) has one of the larger ones, but one can find them in many towns and villages in Bourgogne. This site (in French) has a useful inventory, broken down by département, with links to each structure that provides additional details.

I'm sorry but that just can't happen.

Hi Nigel, I edited my post. I meant to put 1h 30m. I also included the link to show you.