Lyon is a city with worldly architecture, vast activities, glorious gastronomy, world-class camp and complicated eventuality space. And this is what any assembly planner and business traveler wants in a destination. Lyon, France’s third largest city, combines a aged quintessential France with a complicated contemporary vibe to emanate one of a many singular business transport destinations in a world.
Place Bellecour And Fouviere Hill. Lauren Berthier/ Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
Fouviere Hill in Lyon. Julia Bidault/ Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
Saint George Bridge in Old Lyon. Tristan Deschamps/Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
Les Halles Paul Bocuse. Tristan Deschamps/ Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
Quartier Part Dieu Centre Commercial. Tristan Deschamps/ Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
Meetings and Events during La Confluence during Night in Lyon. Brice Robert/ Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
Cite Internationale in Lyon. Brice Robert/ Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
A Traboule Passageway in Old Lyon. Brice Robert/ Lyon Tourism and Conventions.
Lyon grew from a mountain of Fouviere on that a Basilica of Fouviere sits with a splendid white colors and a aged Roman forum and theaters. The area famous as Roman Lugdunum dates behind to a initial century BC. The race afterwards stretched aged Lyon on a bottom of Fouviere mountain and bordered by a Saone stream during a core ages as good as a Croix Rousse, that housed a normal silk makers and normal Medieval buildings.
During a 17th and 18th centuries, a city stretched offer easterly on a peninsula between a Rhone and Saone (called a “Presqu’Ile” in French) in a impression of Beaux Arts architecture.
Finally, larger Lyon ends during Part Dieu, that is easterly of a peninsula. The area is really contemporary carrying been assembled in a 1960s and 1970s. Part Dieu a brew of modernist contemporary design and contains most of a assembly space.
The brew creates a glorious skyline perspective from all directions. And to assistance we get informed with a city, the ONLYLYON visitors business provides friendly, accredited and believe guides who can control tours for adult to 30.
Anne Ravel was a beam during my visit, and she explained that a city in aged Lyon was constantly compelled by space given a area is bordered by a mountain and river. As a result, a Gothic city motionless to build passageways by a buildings to assuage transport traffic. These passageways (known by locals as Traboules) are singular to Lyon and they sojourn open to a open now — some even have art shops and restaurants located inside.
Anne also mentioned that a caller can heed a aged city as truly Gothic due to a outward plcae of a stairwells (the chain inside a building had not been invented yet).
If you’re roving to Lyon and visiting for business, you’ll conclude how all of this story contrasts with complicated hotels and contemporary spaces. Although a city has many convenience activities, a infancy of visitors are business travelers (65%) vs convenience (35%).
Lyon Hotels
There are 225 hotels with approximately 16,800 hotel bedrooms in a larger Lyon area. In Lyon like a rest of France, eccentric or internal bureaucratic agencies will rate hotels on an annual basement formed on a accumulation of factors. The relapse of a hotel categories is as follows: 5 5-star, 43 4-star, 62 3-star and 79 hotels in other categories.
I stayed at Hotel Carlton, McGallery Collection. It is situated in a heart of a Presque’Ile a stones chuck divided from a Place Bellecour. The hotel has 80 guest bedrooms and combines aged universe Haussmanian design — it has a façade that dates behind to 1894 as partial of a Petit Palais — and modern amenities. The 4-star Hotel Carlton, McGallery Collection was renovated in 2013. It has a permitted assembly space, a full-service sauna and run bar.
Cour des Loges is a full-service, 5-star hotel on a Rue du Boeuf in a heart of aged Lyon. The full use business transport hotel includes a monumental yard dating behind to a Renaissance, dual restaurants (one of that is a 1-Michelin Star), and full use Pure Altitude spa. The guest bedrooms keep a strange impression from a rebirth and are loft impression with stairways adult to a bedrooms.
Meetings and Conventions in Lyon
Lyon is in a routine of building and expanding a Congress assembly areas, according to Aimee Reatagui, press officer for ONLYLYON. The city already has combined dual principal areas for meetings and special events.
Lyon Confluence is a initial district. This is a categorical core located on a southern tip of a Presqu’Ile. The whole 350 hactare area is an synthetic peninsula that contains complicated architecture, Michelin star restaurants and even environmentally permitted buildings.
Event planners should note that a city has a vessel use (Le Vaporetto) that will convey business travelers and eventuality attendees from this district to a aged Lyon and Presqu’Ile on a unchanging basis. There is even a contemporary museum in a Confluence area that is dedicated to scholarship and a arts.
Lyon Cite International is a other principal gathering space. It has some-more than 25,000 block meters of coverage, and a contemporary amphitheater — inspired by a Roman Lugdunum design — is its central eventuality space. There are some-more than 500 hotel bedrooms onsite and approximately 1,000 in a adjacent zone.
It requires a 12-minute tramride to entrance to Part Dieu hire and a 25-minute send to a LYS airport. The whole formidable can handle up to 3,000 participants in a full eventuality format.
What’s singular for assembly planners and business travelers right now is that a city is now compelling a low cost MIFI hotspots. When we arrived, we went to a ONLYLYON bureau located in a heart of a city in a Place Bellecour, and a staff released me a MIFI hotspot with tie for up to 10 devices. Reatagui remarkable that a cost was 8 euros a day, though it is reduced to 4 euros per day when we buy a City Pass.
Lyon Gastronomy
Lyon is a food mecca. With 2,000 restaurants (of that 14 are Michelin starred), world-class culinary institutes and famous markets such as Les Halles Paul Bocuse. Actually, it seems that everywhere we turn, a city pays homage to Mr. Bocuse or another one of a culinary legends.
Given this, Lyon earns a standing as a gastronomic capital in France.
And Raval (my guide) explained a reason behind a pretension involves Lyon’s singular geographic position as any surrounding segment such as Beaujolais, Montes de Lyon and Ain (to name usually a few) minister some arrange of rural product to a city.
Some recommendations for eventuality planners and business travelers include:
Les Halles Paul Bocuse is a totally beguiling experience. This indoor marketplace has 58 singular restaurants and storefronts charity normal mixture and cuisines. Lyon takes such caring in a pretension as gastronomic collateral of France that a city legislature organisation contingency privately approve any member of a Les Halles. There are also restaurants located within Les Halles that offers cuisine done from a furnish in a market.
AOC Les Halles, named after a French Wine Standard, offers 150 opposite kinds of wine. The Les Halles eatery has an indoor marketplace as good as a vast second building with vast potion windows that overlook the bustling Cours Lafayette. If we want the full Lyonnais culinary experience, try a beef sampler as an appetizer. You’ll be means to ambience a accumulation of sausages and pate from around a market. we also suggest a fish apportionment or a Andouille sausage as a categorical course. There is also a dessert sampler that includes shortbread, fruit and coffee.
“Bouchons” are a form of grill that offer normal Lyonnais cuisine. Bouchon Chabert et Fils is located by a Place Bellecour and usually a 15-minute transport from Part Dieu. As we enter we will notice that this bouchon has a permitted and homy atmosphere. The staff creates you feel during home via a service. And we also share tables and get to know your strangers as well.
I would suggest Chicken Liver Saladier Lyonnais as your starter. It includes a preference of cold cuts in a normal white vinegar sauce. For a categorical course, we can select any one of a following:
Hot sausage and roasted potatoes: The thinly sliced sausage goes good with a light potatoes that seem to warp in your mouth with a white Bernaise Sauce
Chicken in cream sauce: The roasted duck interconnected stunningly with a white complicated creme salsa that is a standard Lyonnais dish.
Gratin andouille and side of rice: The spicy, though not overpowering, andouille sausage was churned in with tasty potatoes.
And don’t disremember dessert — my server suggested a desert sampler: It enclosed Crème brûlée, prunes and assorted homemade cakes. It was an glorious approach to finish off a meal. Each of us in my organisation were means to have a ambience of any final march object on a menu.
Of course, Lyon’s hotels also have extraordinary dining options — and some even have a Michelin star or two! One hotel café in a heart of a aged Lyon is Epicierie les Loges Café, part of a Hotel Cour Les Loges on one of consummate streets of Old Lyon.
The café has a possess booze from a vineyard in a south of France (Domaine de Marie) and offers dual tasty whites (Grenache blanc) and dual reds (shiraz). It also has an glorious normal Lyonnais paté — a cold beef spread. And they have daily fish and beef specials.
Lyon Activities
If we are roving to Lyon on business and looking for something to do — or if you’re an eventuality planner wanting to offer attendees their choice of activities — ONLYLYON offers a City Card. It covers roughly all activities in a city for a day, dual day, or 3 day cost as good as all open transit. we found it really useful in that we detected several opposite activities usually from a pass map alone!
If you’re looking to devise organisation activities, three suggestions include:
Guided Walking Tours by ONLYLYON: Ideal for groups adult to 30 and cover customized areas (not partial of a City Pass).
Hotel Guadagne: a 2009 renovated Renaissance palace containing both a Lyon Historical (City) Museum and Puppet Museum (part of a City Pass).
Roman Theaters of Fouviere: These alfresco monuments are ideal for an afternoon walk. There is also a museum tighten by with Roman sculptures and art (Part of a City Pass).
Lyon Logistics
Lyon is situated in a heart of Europe, and simply permitted from other business transport destinations.
Lyon Saint Exupery Airport (LYS) services over 120 destinations and is a primary indicate of attainment for general visitors. The Rhoneexpress is an above belligerent tram that runs any 15 mins and arrives during Part Dieu hire in 30 minutes, so it’s available track for business travelers and anyone else who arrives.
Lyon also has dual sight stations: Part Dieu and Perrache. Both offer easy connectors to other French and European cities with high speed TGV service. In fact, it takes reduction than dual hours to strech Lyon from either Marseille or Paris.
Public movement is glorious for transport within a city (and giveaway with your Lyon City Card!). Lyon tends to have flattering ascetic continue year turn with comfortable summer and amiable winters.
For some-more information about what we can do in Lyon, hit a ONLYLYON, a Lyon Tourist Office and Convention Bureau.
Have we visited Lyon, France? Share your knowledge with us.