Lyon

Lyon is the great city of The Heart of Europe’s French side, about two hours by train or road from Geneva. It is visited for its table above all — the bouchons, the market halls and the restaurants that grew from the tradition of the mères lyonnaises — and for a Renaissance old town, a silk-weavers’ hill and a cultural calendar that fills the year.

Lyon was founded by the Romans as Lugdunum, capital of the Gauls, and its theatres still stand on the hill of Fourvière beneath the white basilica of the nineteenth century. Below, Vieux Lyon is one of the largest Renaissance quarters in Europe, with the traboules, covered passages that run through the courtyards from street to street. The historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

Between the rivers lies the Presqu’île, with the Place Bellecour, the Opera and the great façades of the Rhône quays; to the north rises the Croix-Rousse, the hill of the silk weavers. The Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse gather the producers of the region, and the Auberge du Pont de Collonges, Bocuse’s own restaurant, lies a short drive up the Saône. The vineyards of Beaujolais begin just north of the city, and those of the northern Rhône to the south.

Spring and early summer are pleasant for walking the quays and the hills, and from June into July the Nuits de Fourvière bring theatre, music and dance to the Roman theatres. Summer can be hot; September and October are mild and bright, with the harvest in Beaujolais and the northern Rhône close at hand.

Early December is Lyon’s most celebrated moment: for four nights around the 8th, the Fête des Lumières lights the façades, the hills and the rivers, and the city is at its fullest. In January of odd-numbered years, the Bocuse d’Or, the international cooking competition, is held at the Sirha food fair. Winter is otherwise the season of the bouchons and the great dining rooms.

Two houses define a stay in Lyon. InterContinental Lyon – Hotel Dieu occupies the Grand Hôtel-Dieu, the former hospital on the Rhône quay, under the eighteenth-century dome designed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot. Villa Maïa, a contemporary house by Jean-Michel Wilmotte on the hill of Fourvière, has a small number of rooms and suites, gardens overlooking the city and a restaurant by Christian Têtedoie.

LVXE books InterContinental Lyon – Hotel Dieu through IHG Destined and Villa Maïa through LHW VITA — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges each programme attaches to the stay. For other hotels in the city, LVXE advises on the stay and arranges it directly with the hotel. Rooms for the Fête des Lumières in December are reserved many months ahead, and the most sought-after restaurants are best booked together with the stay.