Any advice on where to stay in Lyon

quickly, yes it's safe and yes it's pretty close, the southern limit of 69006 is just a couple of blocks from the station.

for safe it's like gruesomely safe. it's the lyon version of the 16th in paris.

this evening i'll try to better answer the recent questions here.

 

i've been meaning to make a big post about stuff to see-do in la capitale des gaules but real life is a bitch ain't it? but i'll try to give some info brick by brick.

if you're going to see only one area of lyon, the 5th (vieux-lyon) is it. it's not actually that big; it's surprising that one of the most important cities of the renaissance could have been wedged in that little strip between the hill and the river.

the best pubs imo are all there, especially for the sports minded. no need to even give the names, just stroll down rue saint jean you'll find them yourself.

definitely take the funicular (la ficelle) up to fourvière. the view is spectacular, the basilica worth seeing, and the roman amphitheater not to be missed.

a bit less obvious are the traboule, old passageways behind doors open to the public but not easy to find. there are online guides.

unless you speak french very well there's no use going to a performance but guignol is to puppet shows what football is to tiddlywinks. you'll see it evoked everywhere, he's (well, I am) our municipal treasure.


here i am peeking out from behind my dad!

la cuisine lyonnaise basically splits up into two categories: les grand tables and les bouchons.

the first are the world famous restaurants like Bocuse and Orsi. not particularly my cup of tea and certainly not moderately priced. but for those interested i would point out that Cazénove is a little place behind Orsi that shares the same kitchen and cellar, is cozier, less starchy, but still very, very top-notch. cheaper than Orsi... which is still far from cheap.

Christian Tetedoie is the brash young star in this game and his restaurant up on fourvière has great views and very imaginative cuisine. cheaper than Bocuse/Orsi but again not cheap.

Paul Bocuse has opened up some brasseries in town that are inventive, ethnic-inspired, and probably what you would moderate in price. Le Sud is right downtown and is most to my taste, mediterranean/north african. l'Est is at the old Brotteaux train staion in the 6th arrdt, and is fairly traditional. Le Nord is close to Place des Terraux and has a scandinavian/russian influence, herring, fish eggs, sour cream yada yada. L'Ouest is in a modern building up the Saone river, very nice (a bit remote) setting. I've never been.

Les bouchons are traditional Lyonnais workingman's fare: black pudding, tripe, etc. quite heavy. even a salad lyonnais style has a poached egg and bacon. the one traditional dish i can eat (and love) is the quenelle: a kind of very big but very light dumpling, incorporating pikefish, and served with a crayfish sauce usually. the place to go for bouchons is Vieux-Lyon or the Rue Mercière. this last street is chockablock with restaurant terraces the whole way, and not all bouchons. you'll definitely find something to your taste.

 

a last restaurant note: if you're vegetarian or vegan i can heartily recommend Toutes les Couleurs on the pentes de la croix-rousse.

veg, for me, is simplicity. it's rare that you find someplace that you say "jesus this is really worth going out for!". and TLC is the frigging bomb. great atmosphere and neighborhood too.

 

there's a Hippopotamus in the rue mercière, it's a chain that is probably the closest thing you'll get to what Americans consider a steakhouse.

 

it's not really my cup of tea but Bistrot de Lyon (also rue mercière) is the one with the biggest reputation I think.

 

edit: a quick googlage convinces me I'm all wet, that the best bouchon is Le Garet in the rue Garet.

 

they serve great local ice cream in surprising flavors. the geranium is to die for.

 

the barges along the rhône (of which the Star is one) make for a great crawl, whether evening or suny afternoon.

les bertho is a chain that you can find in many cities in france but they're pretty good i understand.

i've never been however - when i go n for that kind of thing i head to the Palais de la Bière in rue Terme. they're more specialized in belgian beers (i think Les Berthom is global) and the servers are like beer sommeliers and they'll recommend and have you taste 2-3 beers before deciding. they havegreat mussels and french fries too.

 

i'll just copy/paste something i wrote elsewhere:

the area just around the station is very business and shopping oriented, not very interesting. there's a fake Irish pub right at the gare (to give an idea just how fake it's called O'Conway's) that's not actually a horrible place to wait for a train (they're in a lot of big SNCF stations and ONLY in SNCF stations) but certainly not a place to go on purpose.
the usual area I would steer you to is St. Jean which has the Smoking Dog, the Saint James etc... that's where the sports crowds go but 1) they'll be packed and 2) getting back to the P-D for the stadium shuttle means a metro change at saxe-gambetta...

my best idea, especially if it's nice, is to go to the riverside (les berges du rhône), and go to one of the barges. they're mostly night spots but some do days. the Sirius is the best imo but not very big. but with the huge esplanade in front you'll never be short of room, and as long as you don't get rowdy public drinking is kind of accepted along the river. and it's about 10 minutes walk to the station.

bear in mind that the Euro will be an exceptional event. it's possible that the berges will be a huge unofficial fan area, I've seen it in demential party mode before.

 

on the access plan shown there i was more than surprised to see the stadium shuttles from the Part-Dieu and Vaulx La Soie shown as buses. for OL matches they are tramways and there's no reason to do it differently for the Euro, you can't be more sold out than sold out.

i looked for information a couple of other places and i'm fairly convinced those shuttles will indeed be by tram. for the P-D particularly i don't see any other way it could be possible, there simple isn't the physical space to line up the HUGE number of buses put into service for the operation.

it only matters to us right now because i'm going to try to give you first hand info on the how and how long for each trip... as done by tram.

starting from the fanzone:


Bellecour to Part-Dieu by metro D and B, depending on your luck changing at Saxe-Gambetta, takes from 10 to 15 minutes. the shuttle from there takes you the stadium in 20 minutes BUT it will take you 6-8 min to walk from the metro/SNCF station to the tram plus 15-20 minutes to board. it's not that they run infrequently (they leave constantly) it's just the SEA of people they need to herd onto those trams (in fact when you see the crowd you'll despair and think it will take an hour or more, but they get people going miraculously fast). so duration between 50 minutes and an hour. it drops you off in front of the north gate so if your tix are near that end maybe the best solution, since you can lose 10 min in the crowd once inside too.

Bellecour to Grange Blanche is about 8 minutes by metro D and that line runs every 2 minutes, it's completely automated. from there the T5 tram to Eurexpo takes 15 minutes but only runs every 10 minutes. the shuttle from Eurexpo to the stadium takes 10 minutes, leaves CONSTANTLY and tram users go to the front of the line ahead of car park people. So duration between 35 and 45 minutes depending upon your luck at Grange Blanche. it drops you off between doors L and P (south end).

the shuttle from Parilly is the unknown quantity, but actually looks pretty tasty: getting to Parilly on line D is 15 minutes from Bellecour, and the shuttle trip will be 50% longer in distance but you're cutting out the whole tram 5 part. So i'm thinking 35-40 minutes and only one change.