The best time to visit Lyon
May, June and September for the uphill walking, summer for long evenings, early December for the Festival of Lights.
- Festival of Lights
- Four evenings around 8 December, free
- Nuits de Fourvière
- Late May to late July
- Beaujolais Nouveau
- On the third Thursday of November
Lyon is a city of two heights, and the month you choose depends on how much of the hill you want to climb. Fourvière and the Croix-Rousse are steep, so May, June and September suit them best. Early December belongs to the Festival of Lights and a crowded city. The climate table gives the averages, and the festivals follow the seasons.
Through the year
Spring and early autumn
May averages 15.5 °C and June 20.7 °C, which is the weather for the climb to the Roman theatres, since the ruins lie outdoors. They are open from 7 am to 9 pm between 2 May and 30 September, and from 7 am to 7 pm for the rest of the year, so a late walk is possible in the warm months. The museum beside them is closed on Mondays and costs €4 for the museum alone. September averages 18.5 °C, so it sits inside the same range.
The Rosa Mir garden opens only on Saturdays between April and October, so a spring or autumn weekend is your chance. The restaurants of Les Halles Paul Bocuse serve lunch from 11.30 to 2.30 pm, and on Sunday the hall closes at 1 pm, which settles when to eat there: on a weekday, or early on a Sunday, after the walk down from the hill.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
Nuits de Fourvière and the heat
July averages 22.8 °C and August 22.5 °C, and August has the fewest rainy days of the year, six. Summer is the season of the Nuits de Fourvière. This festival has run in the Roman theatres on the hill since 1946, and it fills the stretch from late May to late July, so a trip in June can include an evening there as well as the daytime climb.
The same ruins you can walk through by day become an evening stage in those weeks, so the hill earns a second visit. On a warm afternoon the Confluences museum is a sensible indoor stop. It is open from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm and closed on Mondays, and a ticket costs €12. On the first Thursday of the month it stays open until 10 pm, which suits a long summer evening when you would rather not climb anything.
Beaujolais Nouveau
Beaujolais Nouveau is released on the third Thursday of November. Autumn also brings the rain, with 12 rainy days in each of October and November. Carry an umbrella up the hill, and save the climb for a dry morning.
Winter and the Festival of Lights
December averages 5.1 °C and January 3.5 °C, and December has 14 rainy days, the most of any month. The reason to come anyway is the Festival of Lights. It lasts four evenings around 8 December, costs nothing and draws close to two million visitors in all.
It began on 8 December 1852, when a storm cancelled the unveiling of the Virgin on Fourvière and the city put candles in its windows instead. Book your room early, since the whole of Lyon wants the same four evenings.
Where to next
Getting around Lyon
→By Rhônexpress tram from the airport, by metro and on foot in the centre, by funicular up to Fourvière.
Provence · 200 km
→The lavender flowers briefly; the region works all year
How well does Lyon suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Lyon
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What is the best month to visit Lyon?
May, June or September, when the averages sit between 15 and 21 °C and the climb to Fourvière and the Croix-Rousse is not tiring as it is in summer. December is the choice only for the Festival of Lights.
When is the Festival of Lights in Lyon?
Four evenings around 8 December, and entry is free.
Is the Confluences open in the evening?
Only on the first Thursday of the month, when the museum stays open until 10 pm and an adult ticket is €12. On other days it is open from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm and closed on Mondays.
Ready for Lyon?
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