Lyon, verdict by verdict

Lyon is France's second city at nearly everything except eating, where it is first: bouchon bistros and the Les Halles market, the Presqu'île between two rivers, Roman theaters on Fourvière hill, and the hidden [traboules](/lyon/vieux-lyon-traboules/) threading the Renaissance lanes of Vieux Lyon. The gastronomy reputation is earned rather than marketed, and the scale stays humane: big-city France you can still walk.

The caveat is that Lyon asks a little more of its visitors. The best tables want booking, the old town climbs even with metro and funicular help, and Sundays go properly quiet, so travelers whose main day is Sunday or Monday should plan around the closures. And the food scene is the point: anyone not there to eat will find the city's case harder to make.

Two to three days covers it: Presqu'île and Vieux Lyon on one, Fourvière's theaters and basilica view plus Croix-Rousse on the next, with an [Annecy](/lyon/annecy-day-trip/) or [Pérouges](/lyon/perouges-day-trip/) day if time allows. Budget for at least one bouchon and one serious dinner, come April to June or September to October for markets and terraces, and treat it as a food weekend that doubles as a real city break.