Luxembourg meets the World
8 things to do in Lyon
Honestly, I’ve never thought about going to Lyon. It was only because Yannick’s brother started studying there that I start making researches about it. And I was really surprised about what this French city has to offer.
So, Lyon is located in the east central France, between Paris and Marseille. It’s the capital of the department of Rhône and also of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Lyon is, right after Paris and Marseille, the third largest city in France. Since 1998, Lyon is also declared as being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, simply because the long history of Lyon has played a major role in Europe’s development. Therefore, Lyon is the host of several international headquarters, like Interpol or Euronews.
I’ll try to present you the beauty of Lyon in this post by showing you 10 things that you have to do during your trip to Lyon.
Place Bellecour
The Place Bellecour is a large square in the center of Lyon. With 312 meters by 200 meters, it is the 3rd largest square in France and also one of the largest open squares in Europe. In the middle, there is a statue of king Louis XIV. The place is the central focus of the Presqu’île right between the Saône and the Rhône.
Basically, you cannot miss this place, because the tourist office of Lyon is also located on that square and it is the start of every shopping trip, because four major streets start here. The quarters of Vieux Lyon and Lyon Cathedral are facing the square over the Saône. When you’re standing on the Place Bellecour, you’ll have an amazing view of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.
So this is a really important square for the Lyonnais, because it is also the kilometer 0 of Lyon. This means that all the distances are counted from this point. Be sure to not miss it!
Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is better known in French as the Basilique de Fourvière. It is a minor basilica in Lyon, which was built between 1872 and 1884 in a dominating position in the city. It is located on the Fourvière Hill and therefore, you’ll have an amazing view over the city of Lyon.
Right next to the Basilica, there is the chapel and shrine, which was dedicated to Our Lady since 1170. In 1852, the old tower was replaced by a new one on which a golden statue of the Virgin Mary was standing. Nowadays, the Basilica is one of the landmarks of the city of Lyon.
When you’re planning to visit the Basilica and you want to walk a little bit, there is a path going from Vieux Lyon up to the Fourvière Hill and the Basilica. It’s really nice to walk, even though Yannick’s brother stressed us all the way up, because we were, as usual late.
Once you’re on the Fourvière Hill and behind the Basilica, you have the view on several highlights of Lyon, including the Place Bellecour. If you’re lucky enough, and it’s a clear day, you can even see the Mont Blanc, which is the highest point in Europe.
Vieux Lyon
The Vieux Lyon, in English „Old Lyon“, is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon. In 1954, Vieux Lyon was the first site in France, which was protected as one of France’s cultural site by the Malraux law. It is divided in three distinct sections: Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges.
The Saint Jean quarter was in the Middle Ages, the focus of political and religious power. In this quarter, it’s the Cathedral of Saint Jean, which is famous for their Gothic architecture. An extent of the cathedral is now a museum of the cathedral’s treasures. But this is not the only museum in the Saint Jean quarter. There is also the Museum of Miniatures and Film Sets.
The Saint Paul quarter was the Italian banker merchants in the 15th and 16th century. This section has also a church, which has a Romanesque lantern tower and a spectacular spire mark. And finally the Saint Georges quarter is the place where the first traboules were built.
Basically the Vieux Lyon is a really charming place where you really get to know the spirit of Lyon. It has a lot of restaurants and pastries to discover and try. If you want to try some speciality from Lyon, go and eat a piece of the Tarte à la Praline. This is like a pie, but with a real red top coat, which consists most of sugar and almonds. It’s really really sweet, but it’s very delicious. You’ll find it everywhere in Vieux Lyon. So give it a try.
Traboules
The Traboules are something really common for Lyon. Basically, the name traboule comes from the Latin and means „to cross“. So the traboules are like passageways, which were originally used by manufacturers or other merchants to transport their products.
The first traboule was built in Lyon in the 4th century to allow the inhabitants to get from their homes quickly to the river. During World War II, they were also used to prevent that the Germans took completely control over that area.
Due to the architecture of Vieux Lyon, there are not many connecting streets which runs perpendicular to the river and so the traboules were serving the workmen and farmers to transport their products like clothes or grains without getting wet when it was raining.
Nowadays, the traboules are a really tourist attraction, but being a true Lyonnais means also to know about all the traboules in Lyon. Basically, they are located on private property and are very often also the entrance to appartments, that’s the reason why you have to be quiet when you pass a traboule.
Parc de la Tête d’Or
The Parc de la Tête d’Or means in English the Park of the Golden Head. It is located in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon and is a very large urban park. As there are not so many parks in Lyon, it is a very well visited park and so very famous.
Besides the lake where boats are floating in summer, it is also a host to many animals as it is also a zoo. But the park is also very popular for joggers and cyclists and all other kind of sports.
The idea of the park came in 1845 by Christophe Bonnet and in 1856 the work began. In 1857 it finally opened its doors, but until 2007 it has grown constantly. Its main entrance consists of a huge wrought iron gate, which is called the Porte des enfants du Rhône (in English: Gate of the children of the Rhône).
Something which is really unusual is that the park with its zoo is completely free. You don’t have to pay an entrance fee. But you can donate if you want to. As in a zoo, there are animals from all over the world like giraffes, deers, elephants and other animals.
I really loved the park with all its animals and all the different people who are all doing different things in only one public free space. I definitely recommend you to take one afternoon to explore this beautiful place in Lyon.
Bouchon Lyonnais
When you’re in Lyon, you simply cannot miss a bouchon lyonnais. Basically, this is the name of a type of restaurants in Lyon, which serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, like sausages, duck paté or roast pork. Contrary to the other forms of the French kitchen, the dishes in Lyon are quite fatty and heavy and almost all the time oriented around meat.
There are around twenty officially certified traditional bouchons in Lyon, but some establishments names themselves also bouchons basically to attract people.
I was really curious about the traditional food in Lyon, and so I ordered a „menu de dégustation“, which is a sort of tasting menu. As starter, I had a terrine, which was really good. The main course was composed of three different things. The first one was hot sausage with red wine sauce, the second was liver cake with tomato sauce and the third one were small sausages made of chitterlings with its mustard sauce. Two of them were really good, but I really couldn’t eat the third one, which were the small sausages made of chitterlings, which are intestines of a pig. After the main course, I had a cheese plate and finally the tarte praline.
I have to admit that almost everything I ate there was really delicious and I can only recommend the bouchon where we ate. Its name was Le François Villon.
Restaurant L’Institut Paul Bocuse
This restaurant is quite unique but very delicious. The founder, Paul Bocuse is a French chef based in Lyon who is really famous for its high quality cuisine. He owns a lot of restaurants, from which the most famous and luxurious one is the l’Auberge du Pont du Collonges near Lyon. But he owns also a chain of brasseries, which are named like the cardinal points.
But the Institut restaurant is different, because it is a school. You are served and cook by students, which doing their studies there. The interior design is really beautiful and you can immediately look into the kitchen and observe how the students are preparing the different meals and dishes. I really love that idea because the students are put in live situations in the restaurant.
Besides of all this, the food was really amazing and I can only recommend this restaurant school, even though it’s a little bit expensive.
Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or
Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon and only a 10 minutes bus drive away from the city centre of Lyon. It is a very charming small commune with a view over Lyon. You can even drive another 10 minutes with the car, to get to the mountain, where you really have an amazing view over Lyon. Unfortunately we saw this only by night, but even then it was amazing!
I only get to know this small commune because Yannick’s brother studied there. But I’m happy that we visit it, because it reflects the old french charm. We visited a market, where you can buy everything very fresh and everything looks very good.
So if you have a little bit of time, be sure to do a quick stop to Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or.
That were the basic points that I liked during my stay in Lyon and I hope that I could inspire you a little bit for your next trip.
„Absolutely an amazing structure, I feel though that it’s to high, to tall to be able to appreciate its beauty, you can only realise exactly how wonderful it is by studying photographs of it.“