Lyon, France

We spent five weeks in Lyon, our favorite French city, this summer; it's great to stay in a real French city with few tourists (well, relatively; once you leave Presque Isle and Vielle Lyon you can spend weeks without hearing English). I'll sit down soon and send you a private email. How long will you be there? Have you a place to stay lined up? You should also go on Amazon and purchase: Lyon Cartoville (Gallimard), which has the best maps and main sites to see by each city area CitySpots Lyon (Thomas Cook) Michelin Green Guide Auvergne Rhone Valley (English) The best guide is in French: Lyon-Rhone (Gallimard).

Dennis, I know this thread is a month old, but I'm really interested in spending some time in Lyon next year (yes, a year away...) and wondered what specifically makes it your favorite French city? Spending weeks sounds amazing, but we'll have less than a week, I'm guessing somewhere around 3-5 days. How much time (I know that's an awful question) do we need to dedicate to Lyon and what are your favorite things to do there, including any favorite day trips?

Great restaurants of all types, wonderful museum of Roman artifacts, lively, happy city with a great plaza for people watching.We stopped on a whim and spent two days and wish we had much more.

In the two short times I was there, I enjoyed shopping, the silk museum, hanging out in the main square, walking along the river, walking around the "old city", taking the funicular to see the basilica and the Roman amphitheatre, and eating lots of wonderful local specialties! I'm sure there's much more to do than that. :-)

Why Lyon, over so many other French cities to love? We've stayed in most of the big cities and quite a few smaller ones. Lyon has few tourists, outside the one major thoroughfare in Vielle Lyon, so you are immersed in French people who are (as always) friendly and welcoming. There's a terrific combination of old (Vielle Lyon, Presque Isle) and new (Part Dieu, with the largest shopping center in France). It's beautiful at night, and safe to walk in. The transportation is absolutely wonderful. The restaurants are outstanding (well, forgetting the interesting innards dishes in the local cuisine) and not overpriced. You can get a great apartment for a month that would cost the same as a week in Paris. The Parc de Tete D'or is simply beautiful to walk through, with every variety of plant and scenery (and a free zoo). Going to a performance of Guignol is memorable (le baton! la fenetre!) and the stories hilarious. There's two rivers to walk along with great walkways. Everything is to scale - a big city, but walkable, and not jammed. You are living in a true French experience. I've never felt the same way staying in Strasburg, Dijon, or any number of smaller towns north or south. Nearby, 30 minutes by train: Vienne, with a wonderful Roman museum, and Perouges, a wonderful medieval village. BTW, you are close to the Beaujolais, Burgundy, and Cote du Rhone wine regions. Next year we're trying something different, a week in Zurich and 7 weeks in Berlin, our favorite German city (along with Mainz).

Thanks for chiming in, everyone! I've heard the food is wonderful; I'm excited to visit. It sounds like a perfect city for us; just what we enjoy most in a city. Walkable, few tourists, and good food. Thank you!

I second the mention of Perouges. It's an exceptional medieval town, with difficult to walk streets of hard-set, rounded stones. My hotel report is out of date, but we stayed in a luxurious (and expensive) renovation of an elderly building, with a jacuzzi and a back yard overlooking the countryside. This was a detached building up the street from the management, L'Hostellerie de Pérouges. I think breakfast was brought to our room. The 1973 Michael York "Three Musketeers" film was shot here.

Just don't get on a train that says "Gare de Lyon" when you want to go to the city of Lyon, otherwise you will end up in Paris instead. This can happen when leaving Avignon.

Thanks for the suggestion, Tim. I've added Perouges to our list!

A further thought. Many tourists eat in the old part of the city, Vielle Lyon. A better and more lively experience is to eat with the locals on Rue Merciere on Presque Isle (try a quenelle of pike with crayfish sauce!), then amble up to see the Bertholdi fountain in the Place des Terraux. Remember to call and make a reservation when you arrive to see a Guignol puppet show - you usually can't buy a ticket at the door. I'm envious of the reader who stayed in Perouges.