Echoes Along the Rhône: A Lyon Story
- Saheli Chatterjee
- Apr 4
- 7 min read
What do you do when you have a weekend to spare and you're planning to travel from Paris to the French Riviera? The answer is simply to take some time to explore our favourite city, Lyon. It is a city where you can go to slow down, relax, eat and take a break from the fast paced life of bigger cities like Paris. Sitting in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Lyon lies at the confluence of the Saône and the Rhône rivers. The city is a wonderful amalgamation of historic conservation and modernity. In this blog, we take a deeper dive into Lyon's history, gastronomy and the sight-seeing attractions.
A Brief History of Lyon
Lyon is one of the oldest cities of France and it's history began with the Celts, who inhabited this area for a long time. It was founded as a Roman colony in around 43 BC as Lugdunum, and later was designated the capital of the Gallia Lugdunensis province. After the decline of the Roman empire, it was eventually integrated into the Frankish kingdoms. During the middle ages, more people settled along the Rhône river bank and that area is called Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) where you'll find the famous Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cathedral. Florentine bankers, like the Medici, settled in Lyon during the Renaissance which established the city financially along with the flourish in silk trade. The famous Traboules (secret passageways across the city) were also first built around this era. While the city saw a lot of hardships later, during the French Revolution, it remained resilient and ultimately recovered. It served as the most important hub for the French Resistance during the second World War and was eventually liberated in 1944. Because of this rich history, the Historic Site of Lyon was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998, covering approximately 500 hectares, which includes Fourvière hill, Vieux Lyon (Old Town), the Croix-Rousse district, and the Presqu'île.
Cuisine of Lyon
While the city's total Michelin stars make it the culinary capital of France, Lyon also boasts a history of traditional cuisine served in Bouchons. These old establishments are known for their simple red and white table cloths, traditional recipes and cosiness. If we were to pick our most favourite dish from a Bouchon menu, we'd pick the Lyonnaise Salad every day!
Women played a key role in shaping bouchon lyonnais. In the 19th century, working-class women, who cooked for the bourgeoisie, began serving their own food, creating simple, flavorful dishes from leftovers, inexpensive cuts, and offal. This gave rise to the legendary Mères Lyonnaises (“Mothers of Lyon”). Some became iconic figures, including Eugénie Brazier, the first woman to earn three Michelin stars; Mère Fillioux; and Mère Guy. Known for both their talent and strong personalities, these women helped define Lyon’s gastronomy at a time when women were mostly invisible.
Pro tips:
We would suggest the following Bouchons and restaurants, based on our research and experience: 'Au Petit Bouchon Chez Georges', 'Cafe Comptoir Abel', 'Le Vieux', 'L'Osteria Lyon Confluence'
The famous Bouchons do get booked out way ahead, so it's highly recommended that you book ahead to ensure a table.
Must-See Attractions
The metro system in Lyon is extensive and runs very smoothly between most attractions. We also found that using the tram system very efficient within parts of the city. With that in mind, this is a list of the places that you shouldn't skip out, when in Lyon.
Fourvière Hill
There are two ways to reach the famous Notre Dame Basilica on the top of the Fourvière Hill; one is to walk up the entire hill and the other is to ride the cute Funicular that runs up from the Vieux Lyon Metro station. We highly recommend taking the Funicular up the hill, since it's pretty cheap and saves time and energy. The top of the hill boasts some of the best views of the entire city and it's best to arrive there early in the day to avoid crowds. The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière was built between 1872 and 1896, inspired by Byzantine and Romanesque architectures, overlooking Lyon from a prominent hill. It stands on the former site of the Roman forum vetus (Forum of Trajan), which gave rise to the name “Fourvière.” Within walking distance of this Basilica, lies the famous Gallo Romain ampitheater ruins (image included in the history section), which has been used for social gatherings since the Roman era. There's also a museum there for the history buffs to spend more time in.
Pro tip: Just a short walk down the hill from the Roman ruins will take you to the most scenic view of the city (belvedere cardinal henri de Lubac).
Vieux (Old) Lyon area
The most prominent attraction in the old part of the city is the Saint-Jean-Baptiste cathedral, designed combining Gothic and Romanesque styles of architecture. This cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon and historically has been the seat of power. We regret not being able to admire the astronomical clock inside the cathedral because we only had two days. The cathedral is also known for its beautiful stained glass windows.
The cobblestoned streets in this area of the city feel like they're straight out of a fairytale, and each corner reveals delightful boutiques. We really enjoyed tasting jams with blended flavours (such as orange and lemon), spreads, and other condiments, and we even took some home with us. Some of the oldest restaurants in this are very famous for their traditional recipes and even though getting in might be quite a wait, we recommend having lunch or dinner here. We chose the Le Vieux restaurant, and even though the service was slow, the food was really worth it.
Musée des Beaux-Arts (Museum of Fine Arts) de Lyon
In the heart of Presqu’île, the Museum of Fine Arts occupies a former 17th-century Benedictine abbey, offering a grand setting for art lovers. Its vast collection spans antiquities, medieval and Islamic art, and major European painting traditions, making it one of Europe's most important museums. The 19th and 20th centuries collections especially feature artists like Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Édouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, and Pablo Picasso. The former cloister now serves as a peaceful sculpture garden, while interiors feature medieval, Renaissance, and later sculptures. The antiquities sections heavily feature Egyptian artifacts but unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to admire that section. We really enjoyed studying some of the early works of Monet and Courbet featuring the sea at Étretat.
Place des Terreaux
After spending a long time in the Museum of Fine Arts, we were looking to spend some time in a lively area with lots of food options and we stumbled upon this next area. The Hôtel de Ville faces the lively Place des Terreaux, one of Lyon’s most famous squares. This grand city hall is not just an administrative building, but also a striking example of Baroque architecture, defined by its symmetry, grandeur, and rich detailing. Its façade features ornate sculptures, Corinthian columns, and reliefs illustrating Lyon’s history. A short walk from this building led us to the National Opera house, which in itself has quite a unique style of architecture.
This square also houses the famous famous Bartholdi Fountain, made by the architect of the Statue of Liberty. The fountain portrays France as Marianne, seated on a chariot and guiding four rearing horses that symbolise the country’s great rivers. Though dynamic and expressive, the horses are arranged in a balanced, symmetrical composition, their reins formed from water plants.
Other important squares
One of the most famous square in Lyon is Place Bellecour, which gets quite busy given that it's the largest pedestrian square in Europe. Across the Saône, Vieux Lyon and the Lyon Cathedral face the square, while high above, Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière rises on the hill, watching over it all. In the centre of the square, there is an equestrian statue of the Sun King, Louis XIV, by François-Frédéric Lemot. It is accompanied, at his feet, by two allegorical statues of the Saône and the Rhône. Even though this area is rich in history, we didn't spend too much time in the crowds here.
We absolutely loved walking to some of the smaller squares, that are walking distance (or a couple of metro stops away) from Place Bellecour. Walking around these calmer areas is what made us really fall in love with this city. One of these areas was Place Ampère, which attracted us because the centre of the square featured a statue dedicated to André-Marie Ampère, famous French physicist and founder of classical electromagnetism. The S.I. unit of electric current (ampere) is also named after this scientist.
Disclaimer:
There are many things in this beautiful city that we couldn't experience but would definitely like to get to the next time around:
Lyon is home to the largest mural in Europe, the Mural of the Silk Weavers, located on Boulevard des Canuts in the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood where the weavers used to live in the 19th century, depicting the the day-to-day lives of silk weavers.
One of the oldest astronomical clocks of Europe resides in the Saint-Jean cathedral in Lyon, which was built nearly 650 years ago.
Exploring Lyon’s secret, history-filled passageways (traboules) could take a full day on its own. First created as early as the 4th century to reach the Saône River, they later became vital during the Renaissance silk trade, when Canuts carried delicate fabrics through them, safe from the elements. During World War II, the French Resistance used these hidden routes to evade Nazi forces. Of the roughly 400 traboules in Lyon, only about 40 are open to the public today.
If you're interested in reading more about our adventures in France, we suggest checking out our other blog posts:
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