Lyon – sights for a city trip

“How do you do it with your holidays?” friends and acquaintances sometimes ask me. “Holiday optimization,” is my answer. The first of May fell on a Friday this year. The ideal opportunity to enjoy the long weekend with a short trip to a nearby country.

Travel to Lyon by TGV

Especially on a trip where you start the journey on Friday and have to be back home on Sunday in the evening, the train is an ideal means of transport. You can arrive at the station five minutes before the train departs and don’t have to worry about any luggage to check in. Nice and uncomplicated. Last year, among other things, we planned our short trip to Tuscany by train. With great astonishment, I found out about two months before the planned departure that supposedly only 1st class tickets are still available at Trenitalia. “That can’t be,” was my first thought. Fully convinced of my incompetence, I visited the Railtour travel agency at Zurich station. I had already booked a trip to Paris with the train tour operator and therefore I thought that they could certainly conjure up second class tickets for me. Nothing there, even the gentleman at the counter said, shaking his head “that’s strange” and then offered me that he would book me the tickets for 1st class right away. With a twinkle in his eye, he then said, “they don’t have to pay the usual consulting fee, they would have booked it on the Internet anyway”. Sympathetic.

This time, the choice fell on Lyon, the capital of the Rhône-Alpes region and the third-largest city in France, located only about 4.5 hours by train from Zurich. You can either travel by TGV via Mulhouse or by regional train via Geneva. We tested the first option for the outward journey and the second option for the return journey. This time, the train, and hotel were organized directly by Frantour – the French specialist and partner of Railtour. Tickets, hotel vouchers and a small compact travel guide were delivered to me before departure. Perfectly prepared, we were able to start the long weekend.

Slept: Our hotel in Lyon

Grand Hotel Terreaux | 16 Rue Lanterne

Centrally located between Bellecour and Place des Terreaux on the peninsula between the Rhône and Saône, the Grand Hôtel Terraux is one of the oldest hotels in the city. For us, this is the ideal starting point to discover the highlights of Lyon on foot.

Done: Sights and hidden gems in Lyon

Peninsula | Places

Interestingly, Lyon does not yet seem to have moved onto the travel radar of the Swiss. It’s actually astonishing when you consider how quickly you can reach France’s gourmet center and the abundance of sights Lyon offers. We start our tour on the Presque’île. Here, between the Rhône and the Saône, there are two remarkable places. Framed by the town hall, the Palais Saint-Pierre and the Museum des Beaux-Arts, the Place des Terreaux is an important hub. If the weather is bad, it’s worth taking a look at the Museum des Beaux-Arts. If you walk south from Place des Terreaux, you can hardly miss Lyon’s largest square: Place Bellecour.

An architectural highlight that is a must-see is the Parking des Célestines between the secluded Places des Jacobins and the Place Bellecour. In an impressive way, the architects M. Target and J.M Wilmotte have created a unique staging in collaboration with the artist Daniel Buren. In the middle of the underground car park, a rotating mirror was installed to reflect the interior of the building.

To the north, at the junction with the Croix-Rousse district, are the “Fresque des Lyonnais”. The work, which depicts a total of 31 influential personalities in Lyon, was created by the Cité de la Création. There are other murals by the troupe of artists to marvel at in the city of Lyon. Keep your eyes open!

Old Lyon | Traboules

In 1998, part of the peninsula and the old town – Vieux Lyon – were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nestled from the banks of the Saône to the green slopes of the Fourvière, on which the cathedral is perched, Vieux Lyon invites you to stroll with its alleys and magnificent Renaissance buildings. Hidden between the rows of houses is one of Lyon’s celebrities: the traboules. The corridors connect the numerous courtyards with each other. Not all traboules are open to the public. On the Rue de Boeuf and Rue Saint-Jean, the attentive eye will find one or two open entrances. If you want to get a detailed insight into the branching world of traboules, it is best to take part in one of the Traboules Tours Lyon.

Confluence | Futuristik

What an architectural grab bag Lyon actually is becomes apparent at the latest when you cross the Gare de Lyon-Perrache in a southerly direction and end up in the Confluence district. Lately, the old industrial buildings have been replaced by a colorful ensemble of new buildings. Rounding it all out is the futuristic-looking Musée des Confluences. Actually, the building was supposed to be completed in 2005 – the opening was delayed by almost ten years and the implementation costs increased fivefold – nevertheless an impressive work from Coop Himmelb(l)au.

United States | Tony Garnier

Lyon has not only produced world-famous chefs, but also influential urban planners. Tony Garnier has worked in his hometown on several occasions. On the one hand, there is the concert hall Halle Tony Garnier, which was originally planned as a slaughterhouse in 1905. Another impressive example is the Quartier des Etats-Unis. Completed in 1933 as one of Lyon’s most modern social buildings, some buildings are now in a frighteningly poor condition. Remarkable, however, are the 25 or so original frescoes that adorn Tony Garnier’s pioneering urban planning ideas. The frescoes were complemented by modern works by the artist group CitéCréation. The Musée Tony Garnier offers an explanatory tour of the estate.

Blue Hour | Lyon lit up

Lyon really glows at the Fêtes des Lumières, which takes place every December. Nevertheless, nighttime lighting also plays an important role on the remaining days of the year. Lyon, for example, was the first city with a Plan Lumière. A good overview of the shining city can be found from the platform of the basilica. But the opera and the Place des Terreaux are also worth seeing during the Blue Hour.

Eaten: Restaurants in Lyon

Coffee break | Cafe Mokxa

Excellent freshly roasted coffee is available at Café Mokxa, near of the opera. A perfect place to go for a morning refreshment. Or to give tired legs a break in the afternoon.

Brasserie-Lunch

If you simply order any dish on the menu out of sheer thirst for adventure, you shouldn’t google in the meantime what you have actually ordered. If I hadn’t known what was actually hidden under the nice-sounding name andouillette (a regional specialty made from the intestines of pigs), I might have enjoyed the dish with a little more enthusiasm. Exotic digressions are part of life in France. One place that is always filled to capacity is Le Bouchon des Filles (20 Rue Sergent Blandan). Here, home cooking is interpreted in a modern way and menus are served in the “share” principle. Recommendable. Among the locals, head to the Bistrot de La Passerelle (36 Quai Saint-Antoine). Brunch is particularly popular. The very casual service takes some getting used to.

Tartar for dinner

Of course, you could feast your way through Lyon’s Michelin-starred cuisine and stop off at Bocuse & Co. We chose the rustic option this weekend and tried our way through the restaurants near the hotel. Good tartare (and after a hearty lunch you can have something light for dinner) is served at the Butcher (30 rue Lanterne).

Absacker

A late-night highlight is the bar L’Antiquaire (20 Rue Hippolyte Flandrin). In this classic cocktail bar, everyone will definitely get their money’s worth. Santé!

A note about traveling on the first of May: I had expected the shops to be closed on the first of May. What I didn’t know, however, was that in Lyon all public transport comes to a standstill on the first of May and, with very few exceptions, all museums are closed.

This trip was supported by Frantour – thank you very much for that! As always, my readers can be sure that I always represent my views and enthusiasm.