Holiday rentals and lettings in Lyon

Lyon is packed with culture and beauty, yet so often overlooked when considering a city break in France. This makes it less crowded than some other tourist cities. However, if you want to explore Lyon from a holiday rental that’s away from it all, choose a letting to the north of the centre, laced with green parks that create a tranquil atmosphere. The Tete D’Or district flanking the river is particularly charming. Want to be in the thick of the action? Search for lettings in Lyon’s historical old town in the centre of the city

As you’ll find with most city destinations in France, the most popular holiday letting options in Lyon are flats. Lyon’s flats come with balconies that look out over one of France’s most memorable cities! To the north you can find luxury glossy magazine-worthy flats located on magnificent tree-lined avenues. Looking for something different? Check out the fabulous houseboats available for rent on the Saône and the Rhône.

Boasting its own international airport, you can fly direct to Lyon from all across Europe. However, for those preferring a land-based entry, there are regular trains from many of France’s major cities. Once there you can enjoy the convenient, conventional public transport – buses, metro and trams, and for the classic Lyon experience take La Ficelle, Lyon’s very own Funicular (a cable driven tram) which will take you anywhere you want to go as long as it’s to the top of Fourvière Hill. At the top you can savour the extraordinary view of the red roofs of the city, the church towers and the river winding through the magnificent buildings and squares that make up the old town

Lyon prides itself on its green spaces. For wide-open grassland, head to the Parc de Gerland in the south, ideal for sports and picnics. For culture and heritage whilst immersed in an environment of riverside and forestry paths, you’ll simply love the Parc de la Tete d’Or to the north, a stunning park where you can while away the whole day with ease. The park is packed with astonishing works of art, monuments and fountains intertwined with beautiful walking trails.

Lyons’s Roman ruins are a living link to its first settlements tracing back to 42 BC, when the city was known as Lugdunum. Explore this fascinating history at the 2,000-year-old ruins of the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière on Fourvière Hill and the museum at the same location. Travel forwards in time to the old town of Lyon – witness to the Renaissance and the prestige and wealth that those who lived at the time. Don’t miss the traboules – secret tunnels half hidden between buildings which allowed for the free movement of merchants between streets – and later as hideaways for the French Resistance!

Move aside Paris! Lyon is truly the home of fine gastronomy in France. Top picks include Le Kitchen Café on Rue Chevreul, where guests compete for one of just nineteen seats (the best two are by the bar) in order to savour a creative fusion of modern and traditional French food that is unparalleled in the city. Wine lovers will adore the relaxed setting of the Burgundy Lounge on Sainte-Antoine both for its ambience and its unmatched selection of the finest French and international wines. But really, you can choose from any of the 1,500 eateries in Lyon and come away with a smile on your face!

The ungainly nickname given to the spectacular, soaring Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière belies the grace and beauty of Lyon’s great cathedral. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it was built as thanks for the locals’ belief that she protected the city during the Great Plague of 1643.

At the beginning of December, Lyon lights up with street displays and candles in stained glass holders casting dancing colours that produce a spectacular effect throughout the streets. The event is called Fête des Lumières is lasts 4 days.

Set inside the beautiful Parc de la Tête d'Or (Park of the Golden Head), the zoo is home to all the wild and wonderful animals you would expect to see in any of the world’s leading zoos. But unlike the others, this one is free!

Second only to the Louvre in terms of the quality of its collection, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon is home to works by the likes of Van Gogh, Picasso and Francis Bacon. It also features an outstanding curation of Egyptian artefacts – absolutely not to be missed!

No visit to Lyon is complete without paying homage to the men who created cinema as we know it – the Lumière brothers. A museum in their honour, the Institut Lumière, was built inside the mansion built by their father in the art nouveau style, and makes for a fascinating afternoon of cultural exploration.