
TRABOULES ARE THE STARS OF THE SHOW

Here’s some more info on tours and traboules themselves. We only did a few of them in the Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) area, and please remember to respectful if you decide to check them out as they’re located in people’s apartment complexes.

In the Vieux Lyon area, they’re often marked with a bronze plate. In Croix Rousse, they’re denoted by a sign with a lion’s head.


- 27 Rue St Jean connecting with 6 Rue des Trois Maries
- 54 Rue St Jean with 27 Rue de Boeuf
- 31 Rue du Boeuf with 14 Rue de la Bombarde
- 2 Place du Gouvernement with 10 Quai Romain Rolland
- 9 Rue des Trois Maries with 17 Quai Romain Rolland
- 16 Rue du Boeuf (The Rose Tower)






THE PRETTY OLD TOWN IS OH SO PRETTY


THE COLORS JUST KILL ME (IN A GOOD WAY)

LESS HUSTLE & BUSTLE

As I travel, I’m reminded time and time again that BIG cities really just aren’t my jam. Instead of feeling energized by all the people and (often loud) city life, I feel totally drained and filled with anxiety. I’d honestly say that this is probably the main reason I preferred Lyon!


THE VÉLO’V BIKES ARE LIFE CHANGING

I know I didn’t TRY biking in Paris so maybeee I’m wrong, but I feel like I would probably accidentally cause 15 car crashes. Also, the roundabouts (namely the one right below the Arc de Triomphe) had NO LANES and it was a complete free for all and we saw people weaving in and out of traffic on their bikes and narrowly missing passing cars and to that I say NO THANKS.

We wished we could’ve spent a whole day riding around, but we checked them out too late in the day and the weather was not so nice. It would’ve been lovely to ride them in between different stops and have a picnic somewhere.

MUCH SMALLER & MORE WALKABLE


This was especially useful as many businesses/restaurants DON’T USE YELP. So, you kind of just have to walk around and stumble upon things. There are some that do, but it’s also kinda nice to stumble!

Plus smaller cities are so much less overwhelming to me, and typically have an overall friendlier vibe. The night life was also concentrated in a central area which was nice. We could just walk from bar to bar and not have to worry about taking the metro back to our AirBnb late at night.
THE FRESQUES ARE SCARY REAL

My crappy photo above does not at all do it justice. It’s huge and so so majestic.
EASILY ACCESSIBLE & PRETTY VIEWS





THE CHEAPER PRICE, DUH

Food is a little cheaper, too. And a lot of the things we did were free (walking around, checking out all them views, finding traboules) or very inexpensive (Musée Miniatures et Cinema), whereas in Paris we paid more for a lot of the attractions we visited (view from the Arc de Triomphe and Sacré-Coeur, etc.).

DA FOODZ



IT FELT A LOT CLEANER & SAFER

I also felt safer in Lyon. Granted, we weren’t staying in the BEST area of Paris, but overall I would’ve felt more comfortable in Lyon had I been traveling alone. That said, I definitely wouldn’t say that Paris is dangerous (so by all means, solo travelers rejoice!) but I just felt a smidge safer had I been wandering around alone in Lyon.
GETTING TO LYON

There are two train stations in Lyon – Perrache and Part Dieu. We went to Perrache. I don’t think it really matters which one you go to either way, just make sure to get off on whichever one is closer to your accommodation.

LOVE IT? PIN IT!
I used to live about 2 hours away from Lyon and had the luck of visiting many times and eating lots and lots of yummy food! It is such a walkable city – plus they have an IKEA which was aweseome for my apartment!
Wow you’re so lucky to have lived near Lyon (and in France in general!) And yes, the food there is so so good!
Oh this is so helpful! I’m going to get to France either next year or the year after, and of course Paris has always been top of my list, but I hadn’t considered Lyon. The Old Town looks so charming!
I never considered Lyon, either (and hadn’t really heard of it to be honest), until my friend’s cousin said it was his favorite city in France! Now I’m glad we visited haha.
I loved your description of your eyes doing a mega heart dance! Lyon looks gooooorgeous.
I do like Paris, but if I am honest, I nearly always prefer France’s smaller cities. Amazing food and secret passageways sound right up my street!
It was so pretty! And yes, I feel the same – pretty much about every place with big cities! I always end up preferring the ones that I usually hadn’t heard of before haha.
I’ve just moved to Lyon for work, and wow this city is fantastic! So clean, friendly, not too busy at all. Food is amazing. The public transport is brilliant. Lyon is my kind of city. Although I have been coming to France for over 35 years and lived here for a number of years also, I’ve never once visited Paris. That will change next month as I have to support our Paris office. Tough life
So happy to hear you like Lyon, Joseph! I could definitely see myself living there as well. Amazing you’ve managed to avoid Paris for that long, but fortunately it’s only just a visit!