By Alexandre Cohen
Firstly named Lugdunum, Lyon was a powerful city under antique Roma, it even was the capital city of Roman Gaulle. The city is located at the East of France, 112 kilometers away from the Swiss border and the city of Geneva and is settled on the confluence of the Rhone and the Soane. Famous for its beauty, its life quality and its unequaled gastronomical culture, Lyon and its surroundings will amaze you. May it be under a hot summer sun enjoying the Lake Annecy fresh water, under the snow in the middle of a cold wintertime, walking in the old city admiring the light festival or wearing your snowboarding boots in a ski resort next to Chambery, you will always have a good reason to fly in a private jet to Lyon!
We are going to make a compilation of the “must see” in the city of Lyon and its surrounding.
To start with, the city is full of buildings showing its rich history.
The Notre-Dame de Fourvière basilica
It was built to thank the Holy Marie for stopping the plague pandemic at the gates of the city in 1642, it was then expanded in the honor of Marie once again for sparring the city of the 1870’s German French war. Apart from its surprising architecture with its 48 meters high, the visit of the old basilica will offer you the best overview of the city.
You can visit freely the basilica every day from 7am to 7pm except on Sunday from 10am to 12am because of the Catholic mass.
Old Lyon
For many people, the old Lyon is the most beautiful part of the city with its cobbled tight streets, its traboules and old buildings. Wandering in the old city will let you travel in time for a few minutes.
Plenty of things to see in this neighborhood
The Saint-Jean cathedral, built during 3 centuries from 1175 to 1380, was damaged and restored many times. Characterized by its astronomical clock, which is still accurate today, the building is ideally located on the Saint-Jean place.
Next to the cathedral, two more churches, the Saint George and Saint Paul churches are much smaller but are still worth a look.
The cinema and miniatures museum is really worth a visit with its originals models and decors of famous movies like Star Wars, Alien and even Back In The Future.
Confluence museum
The tickets are available on the website, with a price of 9 euros for adults, 7 euros for students and 6.50 for under 16 years old visitors, you will not regret the experience that this museum can offer you.
The museum of the confluence is a natural history and anthropologist museum which opened its doors the 20th of December 2014. Located in the Confluence neighborhood on the confluence of the Rhone and the Soane. Its weird style will catch your attention as it was built to look like a cloud.
The expositions are very diversified and are changing every 6 months, you can check what is the current one.
Pubs and restaurants
The old city is a very dynamic neighborhood both day and night with several restaurants and “Bouchons Lyonnais” like the Laurencin which for fair prices will let you discover a taste of the Lyon’s cuisine. After the sunset the area is still very animated with all its bars and pubs like the Cactuscafe shot bar offering a wide variety of shots (with more syrup than alcohol) and nightclubs of every kind.
The light festival
The reason of the light festival existence is the same as the Fourviere basilica, indeed, it is a way to thank Marie for stopping the plague at Lyon’s gates. Every 8 of December, Lyon’s people put candles in front of their windows and many light shows are done in the famous places and on the buildings. During this period, the crowd make the access to the city very difficult and even sometimes impossible, even more coming from Saint-Exupery airport which is far away from the city center. Using some other ways to come to Lyon on this period is a good idea. You could for example use a private jet to Lyon which can fly you to Bron airfield, very close to the city center.
The Lyon’s gastronomy
Impossible to speak about Lyon without telling you more about its diversified and special food.
Typical Lyon’s restaurants, called “Bouchon Lyonnais” offer a wide food choice including “Quenelles, Andouillettes, Rosette, the Warm Saucisson” and many others. Do not eat too much of that food if you want to stay in shape!
For those of you who are ready to put money on the table in order to try the most reputed of the Lyon’s gastronomy, you can book a table in one of the Paul Bocuse’s restaurants.
Access to ski resorts
Lyon is famous for its proximity with the ski resorts, from the city you can reach the skiing spots in just 2 hours. However, during winter holidays, the ski resorts are always overcrowded, and some cars can be stuck for hours in a traffic jam or in the snow. That is to say: the drive up there can be annoying but also dangerous. The other possibility to reach the ski resorts would be flying to Chambery, which is 1 hour away from the skiing stations, enjoying your day at the mountain to come back with your private jet to Lyon at the sunset, our pilots sparing you all the negative aspects of the travel and offering you a wonderful flight between the mountains and the lakes.
Lake Annecy
During summer, one the favorites destinations of people from Lyon is Lake Annecy, third biggest French lake and considered the cleanest lake in Europe after Geneva lake. Created 18 000 years ago after a glacier melt down, this lake at the foot of the mountains is the perfect destination and you can reach it in less than 30 minutes flying.
Come with a private jet to Lyon and its surroundings!
Do you want to travel, visit the city and everything it has to offer? Travel with us, the Lyon Bron airport will help you win a lot of time as it is very close from the city center, we can also fly to Annecy and Chambery even if the roads are covered in snow.
If you are not sure if Lyon is the right place for your next holidays, read our blog about the coolest destinations in France and let us inspire you with our tips.
You can refer to our price calculator for every destination and contact us for any information at +32 3 500 90 82 or at info@flyaeolus.com.