Lyon Day Trips 2026: Know Before You Go
Lyon isn’t just a city to walk around for a few days, it’s the best base in France for stacking real day trips onto one hotel booking. Beaujolais wine country sits 30 to 45 minutes away by car or organized tour. Perouges, a walled medieval village, is a 40-minute hop. Vienne’s Roman ruins are a 19 to 30-minute TER ride from either Part-Dieu or Perrache station. Annecy’s alpine lake takes roughly two hours by direct train, not the 90 minutes some guides still claim, so plan the day around that real number.
Day trips from Lyon: the four that matter
| Day trip | Distance/time from Lyon | Cost band (EUR) | Best mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaujolais wine country | 30-45 min | 60-100 for a half-day tour, tastings included | Car or organized tour |
| Vienne | 19-30 min | 5-10 round trip by TER | Train from Part-Dieu or Perrache |
| Perouges | ~40 min | Free entry, ~2 parking | Car, or train plus a 20-min uphill walk |
| Annecy | 1h51-2h24 | 20-25 one-way | Direct TER from Part-Dieu |
Book the two trips most likely to sell out on summer weekends before you land: the Beaujolais wine tour on GetYourGuide and the Annecy day trip on GetYourGuide . Everything else on this list is walk-up or drive-yourself.
Beaujolais wine country: the easiest full day out
Fleurie, Morgon, and Julienas are the villages worth naming, and the Pierres Dorees golden-stone villages overlap the same region, Oingt among them, ranked one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages. A half-day tour typically visits 2 to 4 domaines with tastings built in; add a full day if you want the golden-stone villages too. Beaujolais Nouveau Day lands on the third Thursday of November, 19 November 2026, and it’s a genuine local event in both Lyon and the villages, not a marketing gimmick, so expect crowds and book ahead that week. Check Beaujolais’s official tourism site for the current wine route map before you go.
Do you need a car for Beaujolais wine country?
Public transport thins out fast once you’re off Lyon’s main train lines and into the vineyard villages themselves. A rental car or an organized minivan tour matters more here than for Vienne or Perouges, both of which sit on direct rail lines into town. Skip the car-rental headache on a short trip and book a half-day tour with tastings already built in.
Vienne: the day trip Lyon visitors skip by mistake
Vienne is the fastest, cheapest day trip on this list, 19 to 30 minutes by TER from either Part-Dieu or Perrache, with advance fares from roughly EUR 5 each way. The Ancient Theatre, built around 40 CE and seating 13,000, still hosts concerts and the summer Jazz a Vienne festival; the Temple of Augustus and Livia, dedicated 10 BC, stands remarkably intact in an ordinary town square. Cross the river to the Saint-Romain-en-Gal archaeological site if you’ve got an extra hour or two. Check Vienne Condrieu’s tourist office for current opening hours, and pull up Lyon-Vienne train times on SNCF before you head to the station.
Perouges: the 40-minute medieval detour
Perouges is a walled medieval village 35km northeast of Lyon, tiny enough to walk end to end in a few minutes, so treat it as a half-day stop rather than a destination on its own. Drive the A42 in about 30 minutes, roughly EUR 2 parking outside the gates, or take the TER to Meximieux-Perouges plus a 20-minute uphill walk. Wear real shoes, the cobblestones are uneven, and try the galette, the sugar tart that’s the village’s actual specialty. Book a half-day Perouges tour on GetYourGuide if you’d rather skip the driving and parking altogether.
How long does Annecy actually take from Lyon?
Direct TER trains from Lyon Part-Dieu take anywhere from 1 hour 51 minutes to about 2 hours 24 minutes, averaging close to 2 hours each way, not the 90-minute figure some sites still repeat. That’s 4-plus hours round trip before any time on the ground, so budget a genuine full day for Annecy, not a rushed half one.
Annecy: the one day trip that earns its two hours
Annecy sits roughly 101km from Lyon, and the payoff for the longer haul is the canal-laced Vieille Ville, the Chateau d’Annecy, and the lake itself, with the Col de la Forclaz viewpoint above it if you’ve got a car once you arrive. Fares run roughly EUR 20-25 one-way in advance, with close to 20 direct trains running daily. Some operators pair it with Perouges into one long private day. Check Lake Annecy’s tourist office site for current lake activities before you commit to the trip.
Where to stay in Lyon for day-trip access
Presqu’ile and Vieux Lyon are still the right base even when day trips are the whole plan, both sit a short walk or tram ride from Part-Dieu and Perrache, the two stations that run every TER on this page. Lock in a base before summer weekends fill up: compare current rates on Booking.com . Staying inside the city itself for a full week instead? Our Lyon travel guide and its 7-day itinerary cover the traboules, Fourviere, and the bouchons without ever leaving town.
Book the Beaujolais tour and reserve your Annecy train seats in the same sitting you book the hotel. Need the full nested plan? Our 7-day day-trip itinerary runs all five gateways back to back; the 2-day version is the fast version if Beaujolais is the only trip you have time for.