Three days between two rivers: a Renaissance quarter threaded with covered passageways, a Roman hill above it, and the food culture that makes this France’s kitchen.
Lyon · 3 days France
Best time: April to June and September to October.
Vieux Lyon and FourviereDay 1
📍9:30 AM
Vieux Lyon
One of Europe’s largest Renaissance quarters, its blocks pierced by traboules built for the silk trade.
🚶 ~6 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.2 mi
📍12:00 PM
Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere
The nineteenth-century basilica on the hill, reached by funicular, with the city and the Alps behind it on a clear day.
🚶 ~5 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.2 mi
🎭3:00 PM
Roman theatres of Fourviere
Two Roman theatres cut into the hillside from 15 BC, still used for summer performances.
The peninsulaDay 2
📍10:00 AM
Place Bellecour and Presqu’ile
One of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe, at the centre of the peninsula between the Saone and the Rhone.
🚶 ~26 min · 🚗 ~3 min · 1.0 mi
📍12:30 PM
Les Halles de Lyon
The indoor market where the city buys its cheese, charcuterie and quenelles, best before two.
🚶 ~24 min · 🚗 ~3 min · 0.9 mi
📍4:00 PM
Musee des Beaux-Arts
In a seventeenth-century abbey off Place des Terreaux, with a collection second only to the Louvre in France.
Croix-Rousse and the confluenceDay 3
📍10:00 AM
Croix-Rousse
The hill of the silk weavers, with tall-windowed workshops built for looms and the longest traboule in the city.
🚗 ~10 min · 2.9 mi
📍2:00 PM
Musee des Confluences
A deconstructivist crystal at the point where the two rivers meet, mixing natural history and anthropology.
🚶 ~53 min · 🚗 ~7 min · 2.0 mi
⛴️5:30 PM
Rhone riverbanks
The redeveloped left bank, a long promenade of walkers, cyclists and moored barge bars.
✈ Live flight status🚶 Travel time between stops🌤 Weather each day📎 Passes & receipts🔗 Share with your group
This is how Petrel lays out a trip. Upload your own confirmations and it builds this for your dates: flights and hotels included, with live flight status and the travel time between stops.
The route, mapped
Every stop below, numbered in the order you would do them.
Make this Lyon plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
Best time to goApril to June and September to October. Early December brings the Fete des Lumieres, when the whole city is lit as an installation.
Getting aroundMetro, trams and two funiculars up the Fourviere hill. The peninsula between the rivers is walkable end to end.
Local tip: The traboules are private covered passages cutting through buildings between streets. Many are open to walk during the day; push the door and close it behind you.
The same day-by-day plan as text. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: Vieux Lyon and Fourviere
9:30 AM
Vieux Lyon
One of Europe’s largest Renaissance quarters, its blocks pierced by traboules built for the silk trade.
12:00 PM
Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere
The nineteenth-century basilica on the hill, reached by funicular, with the city and the Alps behind it on a clear day.
3:00 PM
Roman theatres of Fourviere
Two Roman theatres cut into the hillside from 15 BC, still used for summer performances.
Day 2: The peninsula
10:00 AM
Place Bellecour and Presqu’ile
One of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe, at the centre of the peninsula between the Saone and the Rhone.
12:30 PM
Les Halles de Lyon
The indoor market where the city buys its cheese, charcuterie and quenelles, best before two.
4:00 PM
Musee des Beaux-Arts
In a seventeenth-century abbey off Place des Terreaux, with a collection second only to the Louvre in France.
Day 3: Croix-Rousse and the confluence
10:00 AM
Croix-Rousse
The hill of the silk weavers, with tall-windowed workshops built for looms and the longest traboule in the city.
2:00 PM
Musee des Confluences
A deconstructivist crystal at the point where the two rivers meet, mixing natural history and anthropology.
5:30 PM
Rhone riverbanks
The redeveloped left bank, a long promenade of walkers, cyclists and moored barge bars.
Make this Lyon plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
