Travel to Lyon

Flying to Lyon

British Airways, easyJet and Flybe operate direct flights to Lyon from the UK. There are no direct flights from the USA. Prices are fairly consistent year-round, though it's worth booking well in advance to find cheaper tickets in the school summer holidays.

Flight times

From London - 1 hour 40 minutes; New York - 10 hours (including stopover); Los Angeles - 14 hours (including stopover); Toronto - 10 hours (including stopover); Sydney - 29 hours (including stopover).

Travel by road

Lyon is located in the heart of a dense network of motorways where tolls are charged.

Traffic drives on the right and the minimum legal driving age is 18. The speed limits are 50kph (31mph) in urban areas, 90kph (56mph) on main roads and 130kph (81mph) on motorways.

A national driving licence, the car's registration documents and a red warning triangle must be on hand at all times or you're liable to be fined. The French police fine motorists on the spot for driving offences such as speeding. All headlamp beams must be adjusted for right-side driving by either using beam deflectors or tilting the headlamp bulb-holder.

Although helpful, a Green Card is not compulsory if bringing your car from another EU country.

Road and route information is provided by Société des Autoroutes Rhône-Alpes (AREA) (tel: 3620, in France only; www.aprr.fr) and Vinci Autoroutes (tel: 3605, in France only; www.vinci-autoroutes.com).

Emergency breakdown services

If you breakdown on a motorway, dial 112.

Routes

The main routes to Lyon are the A6 motorway from Paris, the A7 from Marseille, the A43 from Geneva and the A48 from Grenoble.

Coaches

The coach station is situated at Lyon Perrache railway station, 10 cours de Verdun.

Within the Rhône-Alpes area, the main operator is Transports en Commun Lyonnais (TCL) (tel: +33 4 2610 1212; www.tcl.fr).

Eurolines (tel: 0892 899 091, in France or +33 1 4186 2421; www.eurolines.fr) provides links throughout Europe.

Time to city

From London - 10 hours; Paris - 4 hours 30 minutes; Nice - 4 hours 15 minutes; Geneva - 1 hour 40 minutes. 

Travel by Rail

Services

The French TGV network (high-speed trains) is highly developed, branching out in three main directions - southeast (Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean), Atlantic and north.

Lyon Part-Dieu, place Beraudier, and Lyon Perrache, 10 cours de Verdun, are the two main railway stations in Lyon’s city centre. Lyon-Saint Exupéry TGV station is five minutes from the airport terminal.

Operators

SNCF (tel: 3635, in France only or +33 892 353 535; www.sncf.com) is the national rail service provider running the efficient TGV network.

A TGV leaves Lyon Part-Dieu for Paris almost every half an hour. Direct connections are also available to and from other cities, including Marseille, Geneva, Lille, Brussels and Nice.

Eurostar (tel: +44 1233 617 57, in the UK; www.eurostar.com) runs a direct service from London St Pancras station to Lyon Part-Dieu.

Journey times

From London - 4 hours 40 minutes; Paris - 2 hours; Marseille - 1 hour 40 minutes; Geneva - 1 hour 40 minutes; Lille - 3 hours; Brussels - 4 hours; Nice - 4 hours 30 minutes.