Travel Series: Lyon, France

Traveling to France last month, I was able to visit several places I had only dreamed of seeing. One of these places was Lyon, the third largest city in the country. While I did not know much about the city beforehand, I was familiar with the name and was so excited to see new parts of France. 

I traveled to Lyon with my boyfriend, Thibaud. The hotel we stayed in was called the Collège Hôtel located in Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon). It was a really nice hotel and extremely well-located. While staying there for three days, we got to do so many cool things. Since I already wrote about restaurants and food, I’d like to share some other aspects of my time in Lyon:

1. La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière

This basilica sits at the top of a hill overlooking Lyon and the Saône river (one of the two rivers that divide the city). When visiting, there were so many police officers, which is understandable considering its size and tourist attraction. To get to the top of the hill, you could walk (but I don’t know if I’d suggest that), or you can buy a ticket to take the funicular (much more relaxing). The top of the hill has such a pretty view and I’d highly recommend visiting this while in Lyon.  

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2. Metallic Tower of Fourvière

Not too far from the Fourvière you can see the Metallic Tower. It looks exactly like the Eiffel Tower, which you can read more about here. You can’t go right next to this tower, but it was interesting to see nonetheless.  

3. Parc de la Tête d’Or

This is a huge 260-acre park with animals, lakes, rides and more. It is similar to Central Park, with lots of open space and things to do. I can imagine if I was living in this city it would be a great place to spend nice days. Luckily, the weather was absolutely perfect during my time in France when visiting these outdoor sights. 

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4. Tier electric scooters

While this is not a place, during my time in Lyon I was able to ride on the electric scooters. Despite being weary of my ability to ride it at first, I ended up loving the scooters. It allows you to go all over the city fast and inexpensively. We took the scooters several times and it was so much fun. To use it, there is an app that you put on your phone which makes the whole process super easy. There are many different brands of scooter companies, too, but we mostly used Tier. The scooters can be found in other cities, including Paris, but personally I felt that Lyon was a better place to ride with less people and cars. 

5. Ancient Roman Theatre of Fourvière

The Roman Theatre is located just a little ways from the Fourvière basilica, also at the top of the hill. The theatre is outdoors with several levels for sitting to look down on the stage. It was so interesting to see what remains and I believe there are still performances there sometimes today. 

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6. Musée des Beaux-Arts

There are several museums in Lyon, but this is probably the one that will first come up if you are searching for which one to visit. To be completely honest, I am not much of a museum person, as I much prefer performance art as opposed to static, visual art. Yet, I am still able to recognize that this museum was good and had a lot of work to offer. If you like museums and history, I’d certainly suggest visiting this one. 

7. Appartement Tour

One of the things I felt the most cool doing in Lyon was an apartment tour. Thibaud and I visited an apartment to see it in-person for his sister. I loved being fully integrated into a French setting like that and also feeling like a full adult looking at a place to live. While this is not really something most tourists would do, I love having experiences that make me feel as a part of French culture, so I felt extremely lucky to have done this. 

Those are some of my favorite things I did while in Lyon. Feel free to share if you’ve been there or if you have any questions. Next in the travel series: Cassis!