A motorway through the middle of town
The A6 from Paris does not go round Lyon. It becomes the M6, dives under Fourvière hill and comes out beside the rivers, and since 1 January 2024 that whole stretch has been part of the low-emission zone. What you hear from the quays at rush hour is that motorway, a few metres from the water.
Rue Saint-Jean's menus and the drive up Fourvière
I would not choose dinner on rue Saint-Jean by the menus held out at the door. The street is lovely at ten in the morning; at eight in the evening I walk two lanes further and pick a bouchon with the association's label on the window.
My second skip is driving up to the basilica. The streets are steep and narrow, and I would not count on a space at the top. Park by the Saône and take the funicular from Vieux Lyon; a TCL ticket covers it.
Oysters at Les Halles on a Sunday morning
Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse is where Lyon shops for Sunday lunch. Most stalls close at 13:00 on Sunday, but the oyster counters stay open until 16:00. Order a dozen with a glass of white and eat standing at the counter. The LPA car park for the market is at 156 rue Garibaldi, across the street.
Crit'Air sticker on the glass before you cross the ring
The ZFE covers Lyon, Caluire-et-Cuire and the parts of Villeurbanne, Bron and Vénissieux inside the boulevard Laurent Bonnevay, 24 hours a day, and since 2024 the M6, the M7 and the northern ring road as well. Since 1 January 2025, Crit'Air 3, 4, 5 and unclassified cars are banned: roughly, diesel before 2011 and petrol before 2006. Every car in the zone must show its sticker, foreign plates included. The fine for a car is €68.
Order the sticker only from certificat-air.gouv.fr, weeks ahead: it comes by post. The Métropole's "petit rouleur" pass allows a banned car up to 52 days a year, but its pages do not say whether a foreign car qualifies, so I would not plan on it.
Two hills, two rivers and a covered passage
Notre-Dame de Fourvière is the view of the city. Take the funicular from Vieux Lyon. The gilded Virgin on the old chapel beside it is the statue of 1852 that started the Fête des Lumières.
The Roman theatres are a short walk downhill from the basilica. I would see them on the way down.
The traboules of Vieux Lyon are the reason to walk slowly. They are passages through the buildings from one street to the next; a door that looks private is sometimes a way through.
Place Bellecour is the centre everyone gives directions from, with Louis XIV on horseback in the middle. Antonin Poncet is on its south side.
The Musée des Confluences stands at the tip where the Rhône meets the Saône. I go as much for the building as for the collection.
Parc de la Tête d'Or is the free afternoon: a lake, glasshouses and a zoo you walk into without a ticket.
Quenelles, pralines and a bouchon with a label
A bouchon is Lyon's kind of bistro: pork, offal, red-checked cloths. Order the quenelle de brochet in Nantua sauce, a pike dumpling that puffs up in the oven, and finish with tarte aux pralines, pink with sugared almonds.
My pick in Vieux Lyon is Daniel et Denise Saint-Jean, Joseph Viola's bouchon, listed by the association Les Bouchons Lyonnais. It opens Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00–14:00 and 19:00–22:00, so book for the weekend. For a picnic, Les Halles sells the saucisson and the cheese.
Four nights of light and a week of chefs
The Fête des Lumières runs from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December 2026: 19:00–23:00, except Sunday, 18:00–22:00. This is the week for the park-and-ride and the metro.
Sirha Lyon, the food-service trade show that hosts the Bocuse d'Or final, runs 21–25 January 2027. It is a trade fair, but hotels fill, so book early.
What's on
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 5–8 December 2026 | Fête des Lumières: 19:00–23:00 each night, 18:00–22:00 on Sunday 6 December |
| 21–25 January 2027 | Sirha Lyon, the food-service trade show with the Bocuse d'Or final; hotels fill up |