Arriving
Lyon–Saint-Exupéry airport is east of the city, linked to the Part-Dieu station by the Rhônexpress tram. High-speed trains arrive at Part-Dieu and Perrache; from Paris the journey is about two hours.
Metro, tram and funicular
Four metro lines, A to D, cover the centre. ⭐ Line C climbs the Croix-Rousse on a rack section, and two funiculars — Lyon calls them la ficelle, the string — run from the Vieux Lyon station beside the cathedral: one up to Fourvière, the other to Saint-Just.
⭐ Lyon ran the world's first urban funicular railway, in 1862. Two of the city's five survive and are now part of the metro network. Trams cover the east of the city.
On foot
⭐ The Presqu'île and Vieux Lyon are flat and walkable end to end. The hills are not: go up by funicular or metro, and walk down.
Shared bicycles — Vélo'v — are everywhere, and the river quays make the best cycling in the city.
Booking the practical bits
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Three things that genuinely help on arrival: a driver waiting at Saint-Exupéry, somewhere to leave a bag between the train and a hotel check-in, and a data plan that works before you reach the metro.
