If Paris is the heart of France, Lyon is the stomach. The city in the southeast is best known for food, which ranges from delightfully smelly cheese to the famous quenelle, a lighter-than-brioche savory puff pastry. Given my equally strong loves of France and food, figuring out where to eat in Lyon is high on my to-do list.

Where to Eat in Lyon

Where to Eat in Lyon

Conveniently, Eurostar offers a direct train from London to Lyon. With a city-center-to-city-center service and a higher luggage limit than most airlines, the seasonal trains promise to be both fast and convenient.

Eurostar offers me two complimentary tickets to try it out, and I’m excited to finally fulfill my longtime desire to eat my way through Lyon.

Breakfast on the Eurostar

London to Lyon

Meeting a friend at St Pancras International station in London, we board the train for a prompt 7:17am departure.

It’s one of the few times I’m happy to be awake so early on a Saturday, and as we find our seats, I’m also glad to learn that we’re sitting in Standard Premier class.

Lunch on the Eurostar

Our four-hour-and-43-minute train ride passes in a whirlwind of breakfast, pretty views of the French countryside, lunch, and pretty views of the French countryside. Did I mention pretty views?

The villages are straight out of a storybook, and the brilliant yellow of the rapeseed fields almost make us forget what an unfortunate name has been attributed to such a beautiful plant.

Lyon Train Station

Where to Stay in Lyon

We arrive at Lyon Part Dieu station, which isn’t far from our hotel, the Sofitel Lyon Bellecour. It’s situated right on the Rhone River on the presque-isle, one of the three main areas of the city.

Church in Lyon

Our complimentary room overlooks the historic buildings of the peninsula and the river, but the really stunning views are reserved for the top-floor restaurant and bar, where the rooftops, hills, and steeples of Lyon can be seen in panorama.

Table with a View in Lyon

The Sofitel Lyon Bellecour concierge is incredibly friendly, offering us maps and suggestions for things to do in Lyon.

Things to Do in Lyon

Soon we’re off to explore the presque-isle, starting with the enormous Place Bellecour and the narrow shopping streets around it.

Clock Tower in Lyon

Every high street shop is represented, but interspersed among them are historic theaters, pretty plazas, and busy pedestrian foodie streets with checkered tablecloths spilling out into the middle.

Cafe in Lyon

Bouchon in Lyon

That evening we’re off to discover where to eat in Lyon. To that end, we head to our first restaurant in Lyon, a traditional bouchon with a rustic wooden interior and a reputation for excellent food.

Le Cafe des Federations doesn’t disappoint. Starting with an egg in red wine sauce, a parade of cuisine marches across our table.

Quenelle in Lyon

A moreish salad with a tangy dressing I can’t get enough of, a dish of Caviar de Croix-Rousse lentils, two big helpings of fish quenelle, a cheese plate, and local praline tarts hold our palates in rapture.

Our friendly waitress keeps the food coming in steady state, and after dinner we leave with smiles on our faces. We can’t stop talking about the meal for the rest of the trip.

Cheese Plate in Lyon

Cafe in Lyon

Continuing our quest to discover where to eat in Lyon, we head to our second restaurant in Lyon. It’s at our second hotel of the trip, the Cour des Loges.

Located in the medieval part of the city on a narrow cobbled street, the Cour des Loges is housed in a former Jesuit college.

It features the largest interior Renaissance courtyard in Lyon, which is also home to a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Restaurant at Cour des Loges Hotel in Lyon

But our complimentary dinner is at the Cour des Loges’s Le Cafe-Epicerie restaurant, which faces the street. From the moment our server brings us some freshly sliced ham from a large leg in the middle of the dining room, I’m smitten.

So much so that I order a selection of ham to start, which is equally good. As are my Black Angus beef with the chef’s famous potato puree and my fresh strawberry tart.

Beef at Le Cafe-Epicerie Restaurant in Lyon

If I didn’t know that Le Cafe-Epicerie wasn’t the Cour des Loges’ Michelin-starred restaurant, I would think it was.

I spend the rest of the trip trying to decide whether I like it better than the Cafe des Federations, and eventually conclude that the two are too different to compare and too good to choose a winner.

Tart at Le Cafe-Epicerie Restaurant in Lyon

Michelin-Starred Restaurant in Lyon

Once again on a quest to find where to eat in Lyon, the third dinner of the trip is a complimentary one at La Mere Brazier, a 2-Michelin starred restaurant in Lyon.

It is as different from Cafe des Federations and Le Cafe-Epicerie as they are from one another, and it’s nice to experience three completely different dining experiences in one city.

Abalone at La Mere Brazier Restaurant in Lyon

The service at La Mere Brazier is formal and attentive, and the series of small dining rooms with historic-meets-modern decor gives it an intimate ambiance.

I start with a delicious octopus-and-prawn starter that features some of the most tender seafood I’ve had in a long time.

Prawns at La Mere Brazier Restaurant in Lyon

My abalone and oyster main isn’t quite what I hoped for, but the excellent cheese selection and honey souffle mean the meal ends on a high note.

Souffle at La Mere Brazier Restaurant in Lyon

Lyon Markets

When we’re not eating at restaurants in Lyon, we’re figuring out where to eat in Lyon by grazing at markets.

The best and most famous of them is the covered market near the Part Dieu train station, which is called Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse after the city’s most famous chef.

Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse

We make our way there on our first morning, drooling over the counters of cheese, chocolate, and charcuterie, and being tempted to eat at one of the many small market restaurants inside.

But it’s too warm out to not have a picnic by the river, so we pick up a baguette, some cheese, and a bottle of red, and have ourselves a rustic feast for lunch in Lyon.

Picnic in Lyon

On our last day in Lyon we hit up two other food markets in the city, one along the Quai Saint-Anotine and one in the Croix-Rousse area.

Both feature rows of market stalls along the sidewalk selling everything from fresh produce to regional cheeses and rotisserie chickens.

Tomatoes at a Market in Lyon

Lyon Sightseeing

When we’re not finding where to eat in Lyon, we do a bit of sightseeing to walk off the cheese. And meat. And wine. And everything else.

Church on a Hill in Lyon

The medieval part of the city is full of pretty shopping streets that open onto leafy squares full of cafes.

Up a wooded hill is a pretty cathedral, and over in the Croix-Rousse area are plenty of bohemian cafes, independent boutiques and shops, and great views of Lyon.

Lyon Cityscape

North of the presque-isle, we walk through the beautiful Parc de la Tete d’Or, a huge green space with a free zoo (complete with my favorite animal, the red panda!), a big lake, an island with a steam train, and a deer enclosure.

Steam Train in Lyon

Next to the park is the Cite International, a contemporary architectural concept by Pritzker Prize-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano.

It has everything from Lyon’s contemporary art museum to residential housing and restaurants.

Cite International in Lyon

But as much as I like the new, my heart is in the medieval city.

Back at the Cour des Loges, we feel like we’ve stepped into a historic painting. Our complimentary room comes complete with dark wood fixtures, custom artwork, spiral staircases, and spacious, castle-like ambiance.

Room at Le Cour des Loges in Lyon

We help ourselves to the sauna and steam room, indoor pool, and pretty outdoor roof terrace, soaking up the sun and the atmosphere in our few spare hours before heading back to London.

Stairwell at Le Cour des Loges in Lyon

Lyon to London

When we do, we make sure to take some food with us. Stopping at Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse again, we pick up more bread, cheese, and wine, bringing them with us on the TGV train to Lille, where we change for the Eurostar to London (the direct service only runs on certain days).

River in Lyon

Even with the connection, our journey only takes five hours, and before long we’re back at St Pancras International station, back in the rain, and back to the reality of home-cooked meals (which in my case means whatever scraps I can find in the back of my cupboards).

Lyon Skyline

Best Places to Eat in Lyon

Knowing that Lyon is so close and easy to get to from London is a double-edged sword. I want travel back as soon as I return to the unseasonably cold weather in England, and it’s hard to think of a reason not to.

Then again, if my arteries could speak, they might give me a very good reason to stay home. I might have done too good of a job discovering where to eat in Lyon.

Yellow Building in Lyon

And so it’s back to cupboard scraps until I either learn to cook or give my body some breathing time before my next trip to Lyon. Probably the latter. Life is entirely too short to not indulge a love of France and food, non?

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Where to Eat in Lyon

8 Comments on Lady’s Guide to Where to Eat in Lyon

  1. Thank you for this nice article. You’re always welcome in Lyon 🙂

    L(y)on(don) ….the places to be 😉

  2. Found your post having just returned from Lyon myself. Like you I can’t wait to return and I just love the Medieval part of the city, especially the traboules which I have just written about. It was great to read about the places I did not have time to visit like the Cafe de Federacion and to read your views on places I had been to such as Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. Like me you seemed to enjoy Lyon.

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