France

Lyon is France's gastronomic capital, with endless piggy-driven dishes and delicacies to savour, and a bounty of eateries in which to do so. Throw two mighty rivers, a couple of Roman amphitheatres and a generous dose of Renaissance architecture into the pot and the city is a sure-fire winner.

Before the 20th century

In 43 BC the Roman military colony of Lugdunum (Lyon) was founded. It served as the capital of the Roman territories known as the Three Gauls under Augustus, but had to wait until the 15th century for fame and fortune to strike: with the arrival of moveable type in 1473, Lyon became one of Europe's foremost publishing centres, with several hundred resident printers contributing to the city's extraordinary prosperity. By the mid-18th century, the city's influential silk weavers - 40% of Lyon's total workforce - transformed what had already been a textiles centre since the 15th century into the silk-weaving capital of Europe.

A century on, Lyon had tripled in size, boasting a population of 340,000 people and 100,000 weaving looms (40,000 of which were in the hilltop neighbourhood of Croix Rousse). But life at the loom was hard. A weaver spent 14 to 20 hours a day hunched over his loom breathing in silk dust; two-thirds were illiterate; and everyone was paid a pittance. Strikes in 1830-31 and again in 1834 only resulted in the death of several hundred weavers.

In 1870 the Lumière family moved to Lyon, and sons Louis and Auguste shot the first moving picture - of workers exiting their father's photographic factory - in 1895. Cinema's birth was an instant winner.

Modern history

During WWII some 4000 people (including Resistance leader Jean Moulin) were killed and 7500 others deported to Nazi death camps under Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (1913-19), the 'Butcher of Lyon'. Nazi rule ended in September 1944, when the retreating Germans blew up all but two of Lyon's 28 bridges. A Lyon court sentenced Barbie to death in absentia in 1952 and again in 1954, but it was not until 1987, following his extradition from Bolivia (where he had settled after WWII), that he was tried in person in Lyon for crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. The 72-year-old died in prison three years later.

Recent history

The international police agency Interpol has been headquartered in Lyon since 1989. Urban violence in the city centre in late 2005 served as a poignant reminder that Lyon is not as picture-postcard perfect as its trim city centre suggests. Impoverished suburbs with substantial immigrant populations are as much a fact of life in Lyon as in other large French cities.

On a very different note, the Lyon Confluence (www.lyon-confluence.fr) - the spot where the Rhône and the Saône meet south of Gare de Perrache - is the city's most exciting urban space. An industrial wasteland for decades, the riverside site is now the subject of a mammoth €780 million rejuvenation project. Watch this space for the incredible Musée des Confluences (Confluence Museum), a spacey science- and society-focused museum set to open in 2008. As much stunning piece of contemporary architecture as museum, it will be housed in a futuristic steel-and-glass transparent crystal topped by a floating 'cloud'.

Top Accommodation

Top Restaurants

Lyon's climate is affected by that of the Mediterranean and also by the much colder Rhône Valley and adjacent mountain regions. Spring and autumn can be very pleasant, although the temperatures can remain cool-ish and there's some decent rainfall (pack an umbrella). In summer the weather is much warmer and sultry, with average highs around 27°C (80°F). From December to February the daytime temperature can be nippy, hovering around 7°C (45°F), and the city is often wrapped in a heavy mist - perfect weather for whiling away an afternoon sampling local cuisine in a cosy bouchon (bistro).

Average weather

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Transport

Getting there and away

Flights to and from dozens of European cities land at Aéroport Lyon-St-Exupéry (08 26 80 08 26; www.lyon.aeroport.fr), 25km (16mi) east of the city. Satobus (04 72 68 72 17; www.satobus.com) links the airport with the city centre every 20 minutes between 05:00 or 06:00 to 24:00. Journey time is 35min to Gare de la Part-Dieu, 45min to Gare de Perrache. The fare includes one hour's travel on public transport.

Lyon has two mainline train stations: Gare de la Part-Dieu (metro Part-Dieu), 1.5km (0.9mi) east of the Rhône, which handles long-haul trains; and Gare de Perrache (metro Perrache), a stop for many long-distance and regional trains. Just a few local trains stop at Gare St-Paul (metro Vieux Lyon) in Vieux Lyon. Tickets are sold at all three stations and in town at the SNCF Boutique (2 place Bellecour, 2e; metro Bellecour).

Destinations served by frequent, direct, high-speed TGV trains include Paris' Gare de Lyon (2hr), Lille-Europe (3.75hr), Nantes (4.5hr), Beaune (2.25hr), Dijon (2.75hr) and Strasbourg (5.25hr).

In the Perrache complex, Eurolines (04 72 56 95 30; www.eurolines.com), Intercars (04 78 37 20 80; www.intercars.fr, in French) and Spain-oriented Linebús (04 72 41 72 27; www.linebus.com, in Spanish) have offices on the bus-station level of the Centre d'Échange (follow the 'Lignes Internationales' signs).

Major car-rental companies have offices at both Gare de la Part-Dieu and Gare de Perrache.

Getting around

Pick up a set of red-and-silver wheels at one of 200-odd bike stations dotted around the city and drop them off at another with the city's hugely successful Vélo'v (08 00 08 35 68; www.velov.grandlyon.com in French) bike-rental scheme. The first 30 minutes are free, and you pay a small fee for subsequent hours. Central bike stations include in front of the town hall on blvd de la Croix Rousse, 4e (metro Croix Rousse); beside the opera house, 1er (metro Hôtel de Ville); and opposite Cathédrale St-Jean on place St-Jean, 5e (metro Vieux Lyon). A city map showing every bike station and cycling path is posted at each station.

Motorists who park in the 24-hour car park (04 78 42 50 09; www.vincipark.com in French) beneath place Bellecour can borrow a bike for free.

Less leg work is required with the covered, chauffeur-driven electric tricycles operated by Cyclopolitain (08 26 10 00 03; www.cyclopolitain.com in French). Pick up a cyclo at one of seven points around the city centre or beckon one by telephone.

Public transport - buses, trams, a four-line metro and two funiculars linking Vieux Lyon to Fourvière and St-Just - is run by TCL (08 20 42 70 00; www.tcl.fr in French). TCL offices are at Place Éouard Commette, 5e, in Vieux Lyon (metro Vieux Lyon) and at 5 rue de la République, 1er, on the Presqu'île (metro Bellecour). Public transport runs from around 05:00 to 24:00. You can buy single tickets, books of 10 tickets, or tickets allowing unlimited travel for two hours/one day. These are available from bus and tram drivers and from machines at metro entrances. Tickets must be time-stamped on all forms of public transport.

Taxis hover at stands in front of both train stations; on the place Bellecour end of rue de la Barre, 2e; and at the northern end of rue du Président Édouard Herriot, 1er. Otherwise call Allo Taxi (04 78 28 23 23) or Taxis Lyonnais (04 78 26 81 81).