As you surely know if you’ve been following my travel tips and deals for a little while now, I’m originally from Lyon. Paris is merely my adopted city; even though I truly love it and have found my place and rhythm amidst the Parisian hustle and bustle, I still hold a special fondness for the city where I grew up and studied. So, every year during the holiday seasons and throughout the summer, I migrate down to Lyon for several days to spend time with family, taking the opportunity to rediscover the city that once felt so familiar and that I now take such pleasure in exploring all over again…
Here are a few tips, sightseeing ideas, and great addresses that I’ve dug up for you in Lyon (in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) during my recent stays in Lugdunum, and I regularly update this article with new discoveries. I also have another special article featuring great foodie spots in Lyon where you’ll find a selection of restaurants, tearooms, coffee shops, and more…
Table of Contents
Practical Info for Getting to Lyon
How to get to Lyon from Paris?
- From Paris, it’s very easy to get to Lyon by TGV high-speed train (only a 2-hour journey from Gare de Lyon heading towards Gare de la Part-Dieu and Gare de Perrache).
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How to get to Lyon from Corsica?
- From Corsica, you can take a direct Figari / Lyon flight with Air Corsica.
Sightseeing Ideas in Lyon
In this section, I’m sharing a selection of places to visit during your stay in Lyon. The Capital of the Gauls is a fairly vast city, and you won’t necessarily be able to do everything on foot, but I strongly recommend using public transport—which, while sometimes lacking in reliability, is at least convenient. Be sure to explore the city’s different neighborhoods: Old Lyon (Vieux Lyon), the slopes of La Croix-Rousse, Fourvière Hill, the Presqu’île…
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The Lyon City Card
This card is ideal if you are visiting Lyon for a few days and want to see as much as possible. This Lyon Culture & Leisure Pass is available for 24h, 48h, 72h, or 96h. It grants access to numerous museums, attractions, guided tours, cruises, and many other benefits in Lyon. You can also travel freely around Lyon, as everything is included!
On the program:
- Free admission to 27 museums and temporary exhibitions
- Unlimited access to the entire transport network (metro, funicular, bus, tram)
- 1 guided tour of your choice with ONLYLYON Tourisme
- Many other perks and exclusive benefits to discover
Lyon City Card
Prices: 24h €29 / 48h €39 / 72h €49 / 96h €59
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Take a Guided Tour of the Croix-Rousse District
We took advantage of the City Card to go on a group guided tour back in 2021 in the Croix-Rousse district. The history of this neighborhood is tied to the textile manufacturing trades, and particularly to the invention of a mechanical loom by Jacquard at the very beginning of the 19th century. During the tour, you notably pass through the Maison des Canuts (see below) to discover silk weaving techniques. The tour also helps you identify the typical Croix-Rousse buildings, constructed in the 19th century to house the Canuts (who lived and worked in the same place).
We also took the opportunity to “trabouler”—meaning to take the famous Lyonnais traboules (secret passageways made famous by the French Resistance during World War II) which allow you to get from one street to another by cutting through building courtyards.
Tour taken in 2021
Guided tour “The Maison des Canuts and the slopes of La Croix-Rousse”
Free with the Lyon City Card
Prices: starting from €19
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Visit the Maison des Canuts
This house is emblematic of the Croix-Rousse district and offers an insight into collections related to the canuts—the silk workers of this Lyon neighborhood—particularly featuring functional looms as well as elements connected to the history of silk and its industry. You can see a Jacquard handloom, similar to those used back in the day by the canuts. It took about 5 years of apprenticeship to become a skilled weaver of Lyonnais silks.
Visited in 2021
La Maison des Canuts
10 Rue d’Ivry, 69004 Lyon
Access to permanent collections Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 6pm, Saturday from 10am to 6pm
Prices : €2 adult / €1 student / free up to 11 years old
Free with the Lyon City Card
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Visit the Cinema and Miniature Museum
Located in Old Lyon inside a magnificent Renaissance-era building, this museum presents both a collection centered around cinema and the largest international collection of miniature art in the Dan Ohlman gallery. Here you can discover faithful 1/12th scale reproductions of our living spaces. Astonishingly realistic, this impressive collection features over 1,000 masterpieces of patience and dexterity crafted by various miniature artists from around the globe. On the cinema side, you’ll discover a thousand original works, costumes, and iconic props that have made entire generations dream across 2,000m² of exhibition space.
Last visit in 2021
Cinema and Miniature Museum
60 Rue Saint-Jean, 69005 Lyon
Prices: €15.90 / €13.90 reduced / €10.90 child / free from 0 to 3 years old
Free with the Lyon City Card
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Visit the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
This is obviously a major museum in the city of Lyon, located in the heart of the Presqu’île within the setting of a 17th-century former abbey and its cloister: the Saint-Pierre-les-Nonnains Abbey. It opened its doors very early on, in 1803, and was designed from the start to be the premier regional museum outside of Paris. It houses collections of antiquities, paintings and sculptures, graphic arts, art objects, and medals. I also spent a lot of time here when I was an Art History student at Lyon II University.
During our visit to Lyon in the summer of 2024, we took the opportunity to check out the temporary exhibition “Connecting Worlds” held at the museum from June 21 to September 1, 2024. The exhibition highlights the concept of universality in the art and museum world, presenting a collection of artistic forms from all eras to show that art truly has no borders or geographical boundaries. It was put together in collaboration with the Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art.
My tip: the cloister of the former abbey (open for free during museum opening hours) is a little haven of peace in the city and is very popular with locals; don’t hesitate to take a stroll through it, even if you aren’t visiting the museum.
Last visit in 2024 - invitation
Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
20, place des Terreaux, 69001 Lyon
Prices (permanent collections): €8 full price / €4 between 18 and 26 years old / free for under 18s
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Visit the Gadagne Museums: MHL and MAm
These two museums are housed in Old Lyon within a Renaissance building, the Hôtel de Gadagne. This historic monument showcases typical Renaissance architecture in Lyon: a magnificent inner courtyard, spiral staircases, monumental fireplaces, a painted ceiling, and 15th- and 16th-century decorations.
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The MAM: Museum of Puppetry Arts
Hôtel de Gadagne is notably home to the Museum of Puppet Arts. Inside, you can discover a Guignol puppet, which is one of the oldest known to exist. It also features a section dedicated to the history of the city of Lyon. At the back of the building, don’t miss the museum’s hanging garden (open and free of charge during building opening hours from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM, Wednesday to Sunday), which is full of charm and invites peace and quiet.
Last visit in 2021
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The MHL: The Lyon History Museum
The complete overhaul of the museum’s museography was completed in December 2023. Carried out in four stages from 2019 to 2023, the new permanent exhibition route of this history and society museum offers 4 thematic exhibitions representing 4 ways of telling the story of Lyon:
- Portrait of Lyon, finding your bearings in the city: offering reference points to understand today’s city through its past and evolution, it’s a great introduction to understanding the city / not to be missed, the interactive augmented model that helps you navigate the urban space.
- Feet in the water, living with the Rhône and the Saône: recounting the eventful relationship between the people of Lyon and their two rivers / not to be missed, the centerpiece of this exhibition, a 16th-century dugout canoe-livewell discovered by archaeologists in 2004 in Lyon during the excavations of the Saint-Georges parking lot (I remember it well because I was an archaeology student in Lyon at that exact time).
- What are you making, industrial and working-class Lyon: tracing Lyon’s industrial adventure with a focus on working-class memory / not to be missed, the section plunging us into the history of the silk industry, which heavily impacted Lyon from the 17th to the 19th century.
- Women and men of Lyon! Powers and commitments in the city: showcasing the story of Lyon’s political history through figures of power and examples of civic engagement / not to be missed, Olivia Paroldi‘s mural on social struggles.
This new museography allows the museum’s different audiences to tailor their visit by exploring all the exhibitions or just one or the other depending on their interests and available time. The museum as a whole is very interactive and offers many mediums to listen to, observe, or even play with, such as films, models, audio setups, slide shows, a fabric library… In short, it’s a very modern museum in both its museography and its approach, where you can spend hours discovering or rediscovering many aspects of the beautiful city of Lyon.
Last visit in 2023
Gadagne Museums
1 Place du Petit Collège, 69005 Lyon
Admission for both museums: 8€ / 6€ reduced / free for under-18s, job seekers, and recipients of social welfare benefits
Free with the Lyon City Card
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Visiting the Musée des Confluences in Lyon
I waited for a very long time for the opening of the Musée des Confluences. Ever since, as an archaeology student in Lyon, I started dreaming of working there… Failing Lyon, I now work in the museum sector, but in Paris…
So you can imagine how extremely moved I was when I discovered this fabulous museum, whose crystal-cloud-shaped architecture has been offending the eyes of the people of Lyon for several months already. Every time I talk about it with my family or friends in Lyon, a lot of questions arise around this venture. What is this shape? What is this museum going to be about? I think this vagueness surrounding this institution stems, perhaps first of all, from the project’s long history, which consequently took a very long time to get off the ground, as well as from the highly innovative ambition of the very essence of this place. A plural museum, at the confluence of Lyon’s two rivers but also at the confluence of museum disciplines.
This kind of blending is actually quite rare in the cultural world, which is often well-organized and categorizes its collections by theme in specifically dedicated locations. The multifaceted aspect of the museum’s collections stems intrinsically from the heritage of the former Guimet Museum of Natural History in Lyon, collections built up and cross-referenced for 5 centuries already. The Musée des Confluences therefore has the ambition to tell the grand story of humanity through 4 distinct exhibitions that present the question of the origins and destiny of Man through the diversity of his cultures and civilizations, as well as his articulation with animality.
The museum also presents temporary exhibitions and started right from its opening with a cabinet of curiosities titled “The Chamber of Wonders” and a thematic exhibition “The Treasures of Emile Guimet“, which looks back at the journey of this humanist entrepreneur from Lyon. The Musée des Confluences has thus become a living and meeting place for the people of Lyon, who have made this new cultural center their own, as it richly deserves their visits.
Musée des Confluences
86 quai Perrache CS 30180 69002 LyonAdmission price: standard rate €9 / reduced €6 (for everyone starting at 5:00 PM) / youth 18-25 years old €5 / free for under-18s, students under 26, Lyon City Card holders, job seekers, and recipients of social welfare benefits
Free with the Lyon City Card
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Visiting the Fondation Renaud at Fort de Vaise
During our trip to Lyon in December 2023, we went to the Fondation Renaud, located in the Fort de Vaise, to discover their current temporary exhibition: La Fabrique du Regard, les filiations lyonnaise de Gustave Moreau. Through a scenographic tour, we plunge into the painter’s studio and discover the various artists who went from students to masters, following in the footsteps of Gustave Moreau. To illustrate this theme, the exhibition features 5 artists who mutually inspired each other and shared a master-student relationship. To give a little background on this foundation, it was created in 1994 by Serge and Jean-Jacques Renaud, sons of architect Pierre Renaud (1888-1954), a key figure on the Lyon art scene during the interwar period. The collection today brings together more than 8,000 objects and works of art illustrating the history of Lyon’s arts from 1880 to the present day.
After the visit, we took part in a special holiday workshop related to the exhibition. It was a great opportunity to make a small handmade macramé Christmas tree for the holidays, which is always a lot of fun. For information, the Foundation offers several activities alongside the exhibitions, including concerts, guided tours, and workshops…
Visit made in 2023
Fondation Renaud / Fort de Vaise
27 boulevard Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 690009 Lyon
Exhibition “La Fabrique du Regard, les filiations lyonnaise de Gustave Moreau”
From December 1, 2023 to February 11, 2024
Prices: self-guided visits €6 or €3 / guided tours €8 or €5 / special holiday tour-workshops €9 or €6
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Take an unusual tour on the rooftops of the Fourvière Basilica
This unusual tour offers a look behind the scenes of this 19th-century basilica built at the top of Fourvière Hill in tribute to the Virgin Mary, which is now one of the emblems of Lyon. During this tour, you notably go onto the rooftops of the basilica, offering breathtaking views of the city. Whether you are from Lyon or a tourist, this is a tour I really recommend doing at least once!
Visit made in 2023
Unusual tour of the Fourvière Basilica
Duration: 1h30
Prices: €14 adult / €7 reduced / children aged 5 to 18 €7
Free with the Lyon City Card
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Visiting the Fourvière Museum
The Musée de Fourvière (located right next to the basilica) is a private museum of religious art managed by the Fondation Fourvière. It has been around since 1960, but reopened its doors in 2024 following several years of renovation. It features a permanent exhibition built around two themes: the history of the construction of the Fourvière Basilica in the 19th century and Marian devotion (with a focus on Lyon’s specific traditions), boasting a rich collection of approximately 10,000 works. Obviously, they aren’t all on display at once, but the majority of the items rotate every 6 months. The museum is also housed in a former chapel belonging to Jesuit teachers who left France in 1880.
In addition, the museum hosts a major temporary exhibition every year. During our visit in 2025, we had the pleasure of discovering the exhibition on Eugène Viollet-le-Duc with the museum’s curator, Mr. Berthod. The exhibition highlights a little-known aspect of the famous 19th-century architect’s work—who was deeply passionate about the Middle Ages: his creation of goldsmithing and liturgical furnishings.
Visitors can admire remarkable liturgical pieces originating from the Treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris (some of which I was already lucky enough to see in Paris during the exhibition on the Treasury of Notre-Dame held in 2023/2024 at the Louvre Museum). The exhibition runs at the Musée de Fourvière until November 2, 2025.
Visited in 2025 - Invitation
Musée de Fourvière
7-8 Place de Fourvière, 69005 Lyon
Exhibition “Viollet-le-Duc’s Unseen Treasures” from June 28 to November 2, 2025
Prices: 10 € / 6 € reduced / free for under 5s
Good deal : free late-night openings on the last Monday of the month from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Things to do in Lyon? A few outing ideas
In this section, I am sharing a small selection of outing ideas in Lyon and shows to see if you are passing through the city (or even if you live here!).
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Where to go see improvisation shows in Lyon? L’Improvidence
L’Improvidence is a Lyon-based café-theatre entirely dedicated to improvisation that recently opened its doors a few months ago in the Fosse aux Ours district. In this space, a whole community of performers shares the stage, their experience, their reputation, their expertise, and their shared passion. The program is diverse, reflecting the nature of the discipline—because an improv show is also a unique moment to step back and reflect on themes that can be universal, sometimes painful, and often very funny.
For my part, it made for a relaxing family outing; we had a good laugh, a wonderful time, and I definitely think we’ll do it again the next time I’m in Lyon. I actually first discovered this discipline—which is unfortunately often poorly understood—thanks to a colleague who took me to see an improv match in Paris between the French Improvisation League and the actors of Hero Corp (a series by Simon Astier, of whom I am an absolute fan).
Plus, the prices aren’t excessive at all (between 6 € and 16 € per ticket), so honestly, it’s an experience I warmly encourage you to try. It’s guaranteed to lift your spirits, I promise!
New Year’s Eve Tip: A fun idea for New Year’s Eve, L’Improvidence is hosting an event on December 31 at 8:30 PM featuring a 2-hour “Live” show by the Bandits Manchots, the only 100% improvised concert, complete with finger food and champagne during the intermission.
Tested in 2015
L’Improvidence
6 rue Chaponnay 69003 Lyon
Where to stay in Lyon?
As usual, below you’ll find my selection of great accommodation addresses in Lyon that we’ve had the chance to test during our various getaways with my favorite photographer. Since my parents live in Lyon and I used to live there myself, I must admit I know very few (if any) hotel recommendations in my hometown. However, when I go back, I sometimes have the opportunity to test out properties and share those discoveries here.
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Hôtel Lyon Métropole Résidence & Spa
This 4-star hotel belonging to the Arteloge group is set along the banks of the Saône river in a very pleasant, leafy setting. It opened its doors in June 1983, but recently underwent an expansion of its spa, which reopened in its current form in January 2022. It was established in the 1980s on the former site of the Lyon Sports Club, which featured an Olympic-sized swimming pool (which the hotel kept). Since 2012, the property has also featured a separate building offering apartments and studios for rent. Today, the hotel boasts a total of 174 rooms, split between traditional hotel rooms and aparthotel units.
During this stay, we stayed in the hotel section of the property, in a prestige room with a balcony overlooking the Olympic pool. Our room was spacious and quiet, and the bedding was of very high quality.
Hotel tested in 2023
Hôtel Lyon Métropole Résidence & Spa
85 quai Joseph Gillet, 69004 Lyon
Spa & Relaxation Offer : one night for 2 people, including: breakfasts, Spa access, and parking starting from 191€/night
Family Offer : one night for 2 adults and 2 children, including: breakfasts, Spa access, Kids Club, and parking starting from 299€/night
Epicurean Escape Package : one night for 2 people in a comfort room, breakfasts, Spa access, and dinner for 2 people at the Brasserie Lyon Plage for 285€ for 2 people
Good to know: parking is available for guests
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The Spa Lyon Plage
Inaugurated in its new version in January 2022, this spa is impressive in size: 8,000 sqm of wellness and fitness facilities (making it the largest indoor spa in France!). It is a major attraction of the property, which positions itself as a wellness destination in its own right. The Spa is primarily accessible to hotel guests (who have booked a stay with Spa access) as well as spa members. For peace and quiet, certain facilities are reserved for guests over 16 years old, while others are open to everyone. There is also an area exclusively reserved for women.
A beauty salon is also available on-site, offering a menu of treatments and massages (in partnership with Cinq Mondes, Shiseido, and LPG brands), alongside an exclusive Iyashi area featuring treatments centered around water rejuvenation.
On the agenda: an outdoor Olympic-sized pool (open from May to October), an open-air hydro-massage circuit, two indoor pools, a hot tub, as well as three relaxation zones featuring saunas, steam rooms, sanariums, infrared loungers, ice fountains, hot/cold foot baths, a grotto, a group fitness studio, a biking room, private coaching areas, and a Kids Club (allowing you to have your children looked after for 2 hours a day).
Spa Lyon Plage
For non-residents, you need to combine it with a package deal: spa access + treatments, or spa + meal at the brasserie
Package deal including hotel + spa access
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The Brasserie Lyon Plage
Designed by architect Alain Varo, this brasserie is set right along the edge of the hotel’s Olympic pool and features a very pleasant terrace where we dined during our stay at the hotel. In the kitchen, chef Georges Desriaux and his sous-chef Olivier Maindroult serve simple cuisine with Mediterranean influences, prepared using seasonal produce.
We tried : sardine and eggplant tartines with preserved lemon and butterhead lettuce hearts (18 €); salmon tartare with Thai sauce (18 €); whole plancha-grilled sea bass with vierge sauce (31 €); pan-seared lamb chops with thyme meat jus and garlic-parsley potatoes (32 €); cocktails 15 €; wine by the glass between 6.50 € and 9 €.
Brasserie Lyon Plage
continuous service 7 days a week from 12:00 PM to 10:30 PM
Gourmet Stopover Package: meal for 2 people (starter + main course + dessert) and food & wine pairing for 90 € for 2 people
Prices: starters between 16€ and 18€ / main courses between 17€ and 32€ / desserts between 9€ and 12€ / starter, main course, and dessert set menu at 29.50 €
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The Slo Living Hostel in Lyon
In 2014, I had the opportunity to visit this charming, modern, and friendly youth hostel. Located near the Saxe Gambetta metro station, it opened in June 2014 and offers both a lovely place to stay (the decor even charmed the Pinterest and Etsy teams, who came to organize workshops there) and a wonderful hangout spot in Lyon for a night out, as it also doubles as a wine bar for locals and guests alike in the evening. The hotel even won the UNIFA award at the Equip’hotel trade show and the title of Best Hostel in France at the 2016 HOSCARS.
The extra touch: a very charming inner courtyard that really makes you want to come and enjoy the spot when the weather is nice.
Slo Living Hostel
5 rue Bonnefoi 69003 LyonPrices: starting from 20 € per night in an 8-bed dorm and 75 or 85 € for a double bed room + 9 €/person for breakfast made with local products
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Parkest Hôtel & Spa
During our trip to Lyon in July 2026, we stopped at the Parkest Hôtel & Spa, a brand-new 4-star hotel opened in 2026 and located just outside the city in Genas, right in the heart of the EverEst Parc business area in eastern Lyon. The hotel is also close to the Eurexpo Lyon convention and exhibition center, as well as the Groupama Stadium and the LDLC Arena. As the sixth property of the Lyon-based hotel group Arteloge (which I already told you about above since they also own the Hôtel Lyon Métropole Résidence & Spa that we tested in 2023), this modern venue offers 60 particularly spacious rooms and suites (ranging from 26 m² to 80 m²), which are quiet and perfectly soundproofed (which is important since the hotel is located right along the Lyon East Ring Road), spread across 3 levels. We were lucky enough to sleep in a stunning Junior Suite featuring a separate lounge area with a sofa bed.
The property also fully embraces the committed CSR approach of the Arteloge group through its Go Green eco-responsible program, which prioritizes short supply chains and daily sustainable practices. In partnership with the Hilton group, the hotel also proudly bears the colors of the Spark by Hilton brand.
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Les Ruches Restaurant
As soon as we arrived, we started with lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, Les Ruches, which serves simple, seasonal cuisine with a cleverly designed set menu (starter, main course, dessert) for just 25 €. The starters, made with fresh and seasonal ingredients, are served buffet-style, with daily changing options. The dessert selection works on the same principle, with a variety offered as bite-sized treats. The hot dishes menu changes weekly and is served at the table. Choices include grilled meat, fish, a meat dish in sauce, as well as a vegetarian alternative.
Les Ruches Restaurant
Open for lunch only from Monday to Friday
Prices: lunch set menu with starter + main course + dessert at 25 € / starter + main course or main course + dessert 22 € / main course only 16 € / glasses of wine between 5.50 € and 8.50 €
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Genas Plage Spa
However, one of the biggest assets of this address is undoubtedly its magnificent 2,000 m² spa: between the large 25-meter indoor pool, the outdoor padel court, and the relaxation area featuring a sauna, a hammam, a sanarium, and a treatment institute, we made the most of it! To top it all off, access to the pool and fitness room is directly included in your stay whenever you book a room (the relaxation area, on the other hand, comes at an extra cost). A truly wonderful getaway to discover!
Practical information:
- The spa is accessible to hotel guests (Hotel & Spa package, or spa access purchased separately at 30€, from check-in: 3:00 PM, to check-out: 11:00 AM), through annual memberships or spa days / gift vouchers
- Open Monday to Friday from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and weekends & public holidays from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Hotel tested in 2026 - Invitation
Parkest Hôtel & Spa
34 Rue Marcel Dassault, 69740 Genas
On-site parking (free outdoors and paid indoors)
Hotel rates: Prestige Room starting from 135€ / night for 2 people (including breakfast, excluding spa access) / “Stay & Spa” package – starting from 175€ / night for 2 people (including breakfast and spa access)
Find all my articles about the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region below:
⇒ All my articles about the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region
⇒ All my articles about Lyon
MY ARTICLES ON LYON
⇒ Nuits Sonores Festival
⇒ Food Tour and good addresses in Lyon
⇒ My Lyon good deals
Photo credits: Mademoiselle Bon Plan, Nicolas Diolez and Musée des Confluences Photos are not royalty-free, photographer's permission required before any use
