5 Days from Lyon: The Day-Trip Itinerary

Five days from Lyon is enough to add Annecy, the alpine lake town that takes a genuine 2 hours each way by direct TER, easily the longest day trip in this whole plan. Everything closer, Beaujolais, Vienne, and Perouges, still gets its own day first. Need a different length? Try the 4-day or 6-day itinerary instead.

Book these before you go

Day Focus Distance/time from Lyon
Day 1 Base in Lyon, Presqu’ile orientation In Lyon
Day 2 Beaujolais wine country 30-45 min
Day 3 Vienne 19-30 min
Day 4 Perouges ~40 min
Day 5 Annecy 1h51-2h24

Day 1: Base in Lyon, Presqu’ile orientation

  • Land in Lyon and check into a base near Part-Dieu or Perrache, both stations run the TER trains that do the heavy lifting on this trip.
  • Buy a TCL day pass or single EUR 2.10 tickets for getting around the city itself; the regional TER tickets for the coming days are a separate purchase.
  • Spend the afternoon walking the Presqu’ile, Place Bellecour to the Opera, before the day trips start.
  • Dinner at a certified bouchon, book ahead, the genuinely good tables fill fast.

Day 2: Beaujolais wine country

  • Beaujolais sits 30 to 45 minutes north of Lyon by car or organized tour. Public transport into the actual vineyard villages, Fleurie, Morgon, Julienas, thins out fast, so a tour or a rental car matters here more than anywhere else on this trip.
  • A half-day tour typically visits 2 to 4 domaines with tastings included. Add the Pierres Dorees golden-stone villages, Oingt among France’s Most Beautiful Villages, if you’ve booked the full day. Check Beaujolais’s official tourism site for the current wine route map before you go.

Day 3: Vienne

  • Vienne is the fastest, cheapest day trip on this itinerary, 19 to 30 minutes by TER from either Part-Dieu or Perrache, tickets from roughly EUR 5 each way booked ahead.
  • 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. Check Lyon-Vienne train times on SNCF before you head to the station.
  • Cross the river to Saint-Romain-en-Gal for the archaeological site if you’ve got an extra hour or two.

Day 4: Perouges

  • Perouges is a walled medieval village 35km northeast of Lyon, small 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.

Day 5: Annecy

  • Annecy earns its spot as the longest day trip on this itinerary, roughly 101km away with direct TER trains from Lyon Part-Dieu running 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 guides still repeat.
  • That’s 4-plus hours on a train before you’ve even seen the canal-laced Vieille Ville, the Chateau d’Annecy, or the lake itself, so clear the whole day around it.
  • The Col de la Forclaz viewpoint above the lake is worth the extra time if you’ve got a car once you arrive.
  • Fares run roughly EUR 20-25 one-way in advance; check Lake Annecy’s tourist office site for current lake activities before you commit.

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, not a rushed half one.

Is Perouges worth a special trip on its own?

Not really, and that’s fine. The village is walkable end to end in a few minutes, so it works best as a half-day add-on rather than a dedicated round trip by itself. Pairing it with a slower Lyon afternoon, as this itinerary does, gets you the fairy-tale walk without wasting a full day on a single small village.

Book Annecy’s train seats and the wine tour in the same sitting as the hotel, both fill up fastest on summer weekends. Want the deep version of the city itself instead of five days of day trips? Our 5-day city itinerary stays inside Lyon the entire time.