Lyon, the independent guide

Lines A, B, C, D and T1 to T7, stations and interchanges (in French).

Lyon is served by two main railway stations, Part-Dieu (the main one) and Perrache, by Lyon–Saint-Exupéry airport 25 km away, and by a network of motorways.

Lyon has a temperate climate with oceanic, continental and Mediterranean influences.

Lyon is organised around two rivers and two hills: the centre sits on the Presqu'île between the Rhône and the Saône, with Old Lyon and Fourvière to the west, the Croix-Rousse to the north and the left bank of the Rhône to the east.

Where to find the tourist office, which numbers to call in an emergency, where to recover a lost item and which insurance to check: the essentials to know before or during your stay.

Lyon was founded in 43 BC under the name Lugdunum, on Fourvière hill.

Old Lyon, at the foot of Fourvière hill, is one of Europe's largest Renaissance districts.

Lyon has been a major silk centre since the 15th century.

Lyon is nicknamed the capital of the Resistance, a phrase attributed to General de Gaulle in 1944.

Lyonnaise cuisine rests on bouchons, friendly restaurants serving traditional cooking, and on the legacy of the mères, women cooks who became restaurateurs.

The pink praline tart is one of Lyon's most emblematic desserts: a shortcrust base filled with a cream of crushed pralines, lifted with a little lemon.

The Festival of Lights takes place every year around 8 December.

Cinema was born in Lyon: Louis Lumière patented the cinematograph there in 1895 and the first film, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory, was shot there.

Lyon hosts major events all year: Quais du Polar in spring, Nuits sonores in May, Nuits de Fourvière in summer, Festival Lumière in October, the Festival of Lights in December, and two alternating biennials, contemporary art and dance.

Guignol is a glove puppet created in Lyon in 1808 by Laurent Mourguet, a former canut turned puppeteer.

Lyon brings contemporary art into public space: place des Terreaux by Daniel Buren, decorated car parks, murals, and architecture by Nouvel, Piano and Calatrava.

Lyon has been a breeding ground for creators since the 16th century.

Lyon is built where the broad, powerful Rhône meets the slow, winding Saône.

Lyon keeps adding green spaces: the Parc de la Tête d'Or, the Parc de Gerland, the Parc des Hauteurs and many small neighbourhood gardens.

Lyon's historic site, listed by UNESCO in 1998, shows every era of architecture, from Antiquity to today.