What to do in Lyon?

March 9, 2006 9:55 AM

Travelfilter: things to do in Lyon (France)?

My bf and I are going on a hastily-arranged holiday to Lyon next Monday, for a week - all we have so far are flights and two nights' accommodation near the conference centre where I have a one-day conference later in the week. But we have five days to explore Lyon and the surrounding area.

Constraints: not too horribly expensive. We both speak French so things needn't cater to anglophones. I was thinking of a little trip into the Alps but I guess it's ski season so things will be expensive... other than that, anyone got any ideas? Thanks in advance.

posted by altolinguistic to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

It's ski season, but it's far from the holidays here in France. You'd be better off going now than, say, in February or April.
Then again, the Alps might be a bit too far from Lyon. You'd have to go to Grenoble to at least make this daily fun.
posted by XiBe at 10:23 AM on March 9, 2006

Eat!! I was there last year, and the food is amazing. The old city is beautiful, and it's a great place to just walk around and pretend it's your home.
I was there for a conference as well, but we were in the hôtel dieu right in the centre of town. I'm not sure where the conference centre is.
There are tours of the old city, especially the secret passageways, or "traboules" of the old city.
There's a list of tours available here
If you like shopping, there is a large mall just outside the downtown, but there is also lovely street shopping downtown.
Take lots of pictures, it's a very beautiful city.
posted by nprigoda at 10:32 AM on March 9, 2006

I spent about 6 months in Lyon, and while there aren't a huge amount of touristy things to do (strange for a city that size) there are:
Traboules
Vieux Lyon
Tête d'Or Park (including a Zoo)
Not far outside Lyon is a seriously cool cave system that you can take a tour of. Grottes de la Balme.
Being in Lyon, you're only about an hour from Geneva, which has a bunch of stuff to do. If you like lakes and mountains, check out Annecy or Aix-Les-Bains. If you want to see where the olympics were held you can visit Grenoble too. And of course, one of my favorite places to go was Mont Blanc, it's a bit of a drive from Lyon, but it's an incredibly beautiful mountain/glacier/adventure.
You might also want to checkout the Official Lyon Tourism site.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:34 AM on March 9, 2006

FC Lyon
posted by DieHipsterDie at 11:25 AM on March 9, 2006

The zoo is creepy.
posted by Xalf at 12:28 PM on March 9, 2006

Nice ideas here (though we're not into football). nprigoda - the conference is in the Catholic University near Perrache station, and we're staying around there for two nights.
posted by altolinguistic at 12:52 PM on March 9, 2006

I spend 2 weeks eating pretty well in France a few years ago, including 3 days staying in the old city of Lyon, and my dinner at Paul Bocuse’s le Sud was my favorite meal in France.

The old city itself is totally amazing.

Lyon’s heritage as a silk center, and as the birthplace of the jacquard loom was very interesting to me. The Maison des Canuts (Silk-Weavers’ House) is a fascinating museum. And you must of course visit the Roman amphitheater at the top of the hill...

Have fun!
posted by dpcoffin at 2:47 PM on March 9, 2006

I agree with Diehipsterdie. Go See Olympique Lyonaise. The local football (soccer) team. They are riding high in the french league. And are a good outside bet for the Champions League too....
posted by gergtreble at 6:50 PM on March 9, 2006

As I mentioned, we're not into football, but I looked at Olympique Lyonnais' website anyway - there aren't any home fixtures while we're there.
posted by altolinguistic at 4:36 AM on March 10, 2006