Lyon: know before you go

Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport (LYS) sits about 25km east of the centre. The fastest link is the Rhônexpress tram, which runs from the airport to Gare Part-Dieu in under 30 minutes, with a stop at Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie where you can switch to metro line A for the Presqu'île. Long-distance trains arrive at Part-Dieu, the main station east of the centre, or at Perrache at the south end of the Presqu'île; both connect straight onto the metro and tram network. A taxi from the airport costs more than the tram and can be slower in rush hour.

TCL runs Lyon's public transport: four metro lines (A, B, C and D), a tram network, buses and two funicular lines that leave from the Vieux Lyon metro station, one up to Fourvière and one to Saint-Just. Metro line C climbs the Croix-Rousse on a rack section, which is how it manages the steep hill. The centre between the two rivers is compact enough to walk, and the F2 funicular spares you the steepest part of the Fourvière climb. One ticket covers the metro, trams, buses and funiculars. Market mornings are a rhythm of the city: the Croix-Rousse boulevard market and the quai Saint-Antoine market run in the mornings and are both closed on Monday.

Lyon adds a local tourist tax to accommodation bills, charged per person per night and shown at check-in. Cards are the default everywhere, including contactless on the metro and in museums; a few market stalls and small cafés prefer cash. Most of the city's museums have a cheap or free day, and the Lyon City Card bundles entry and transport if you plan several sights.

Lyon is safe to walk around, including the central areas at night. The main risk is petty theft: keep your phone and wallet out of easy reach in the crowds of Vieux Lyon, Place Bellecour and the metro, and be extra careful during the Fête des Lumières, where pickpockets work the dense flow. Around Part-Dieu station and the Guillotière area, stay alert late at night. Emergency numbers are covered in the France country guide.

Tap water in Lyon is safe and of very high quality, and public drinking fountains are easy to find, so you do not need to buy bottled water. Summers bring genuine heat, so carry water and plan museum stops for the hottest hours. Pharmacies, marked with a green cross, are common in the centre.

Mobile data works well across the city, so you can use maps and transit apps as you walk. Most cafés, hotels and museums offer free Wi-Fi for customers, and the Rhônexpress has power at the seats so you can charge your phone on the way in from the airport.

A simple bonjour on entering a shop, café or restaurant is expected, and merci and au revoir on leaving go a long way. Restaurants serve lunch roughly from noon to 2pm and dinner from about 7:30pm, and many bouchons, Lyon's traditional restaurants, are small and book out, so reserve ahead. The traboules in Vieux Lyon are private passageways opened by agreement with their owners, so walk them quietly and remember they can close without notice.

French is the language everywhere, though people in hotels, museums and tourist-facing jobs usually speak some English. A few local words help: a traboule is a passageway cutting through a building block, a bouchon is a traditional Lyon restaurant, and a canut was a silk weaver. The city is Lyon, and the peninsula between the two rivers is the Presqu'île.

The centre is walkable but not flat. Vieux Lyon has cobblestones and many traboules have steps, and the Croix-Rousse climbs steeply from the Presqu'île, so travellers with limited mobility should use the funiculars and the metro rather than the stair lanes. The F2 funicular from Vieux Lyon is the easy way up to Fourvière, and the Rhônexpress from the airport is step-free.

Lyon's big city event is the Fête des Lumières, four nights of light installations across the centre in early December, when hotels and restaurants are at their busiest. Museums stagger their weekly closures, so check before you go: most close one day a week, and the day varies by museum.

You do not need to book most sights far ahead, but a few things reward planning. Reserve bouchon restaurants for dinner, especially Friday and Saturday, and book accommodation months ahead if you are coming for the Fête des Lumières. If you plan to visit several museums and ride the metro a lot, buy the Lyon City Card before you arrive to skip ticket queues.