Colourful houses and a tower beside a canal in the old town of Annecy
Photo: Guilhem Vellut / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Day trip

Best Day Trips from Lyon by Train: Vienne, Pérouges, Annecy and More

Vienne for Roman ruins, Pérouges for a walled village, Annecy for canals, Beaujolais for wine and Grenoble for the Alps. How to get there by train, and what to see.

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The short answer. Go to Vienne if you only have a few hours, since it’s the closest by train and the town has a Roman theatre. Pick Annecy for a full day of canals and lake views, Pérouges for a walled medieval village, the Beaujolais for wine, and Grenoble if you want mountains at the end of the street. All five leave from Lyon by train, though the Beaujolais villages are easier with a car or a tour.

Roam Lyon read 15 guides on day trips from Lyon, in English, French and German. Vienne comes up in 14 of them and the Beaujolais in 13. Annecy and Pérouges are named by 12 each and Grenoble by 11. Roam Lyon is a data platform as well as a guide, so opening hours and prices come from the town’s own page, not from those guides. Train times aren’t printed here: they change by day and season, so check SNCF Connect or the TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes app for the date you’re travelling. No hotel is named here and no room price is quoted. If you’d rather sleep near your destination, look at the map and the booking search for your dates.

What the guides agree on

Vienne. Recommended by 14 of 15 guides read. It’s the closest of the big names and the one the guides most often suggest for a half day. TER trains run from Lyon to Vienne station. Check SNCF Connect for times and the departure station.

The Roman theatre is the main stop. It dates to around 40 to 50 AD, is 130 metres across and seated up to 11,000 people, by the town’s count. The town also runs the cloister of Saint-André-le-Bas and the fine arts and archaeology museum. Going by the Vienne museums page, the winter timetable is Tuesday to Sunday from 13:00 to 17:30, closed Mondays, and from April to October the sites open 9:30 to 12:45 and 13:30 to 18:00. They’re closed on 1 and 11 November, 25 December and 1 January. One site ticket is 3 euros, and entry is free on the first Sunday of the month. Because of the winter afternoon opening, a November visit works best if you take a lunchtime train.

Tiered stone seating of the Roman theatre at Vienne seen from above, with rooftops beyond
Photo: User:Otourly / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Beaujolais. Recommended by 13 of 15 guides read. Villefranche-sur-Saône is the town on the train line, with TER trains from Lyon (check SNCF Connect for times). The vineyards and villages around it are another matter, because a station isn’t near most of them. The Route des vins du Beaujolais describes seven circuits through the vineyards, and its own site is the place to plan which circuit and which cellars. For a train-only day, a wine walk around Villefranche is realistic, and for the villages you’d want a car, a taxi or a tour. The UNESCO geopark is a second reason to head north, and it runs guided visits.

Vineyards and the village of Le Perréon in the Beaujolais under a blue sky
Photo: John-Grégoire / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

Annecy. Recommended by 12 of 15 guides read. The old town canals and the lake are what the guides send you for. It’s the longest of the five by train, so check SNCF Connect for times and pick an early train out and a late one back. Check that the connection you book is a train and not a coach. A full day is enough for the old town and a stretch of lakeside.

Pérouges. Recommended by 12 of 15 guides read. It’s a walled medieval village of cobbled streets, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, with about 80 listed buildings, according to the village’s heritage page. The Pérouges entry on the map has the address. The station is Meximieux-Pérouges. Check SNCF Connect for times and changes. The village sits a little way from the station, so check how you’ll cover the last stretch, whether on foot, by taxi or by car. A half day is plenty.

Pérouges, Villeurbanne, Lyon
Pérouges, Villeurbanne. Photo: Ana Rey / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Cobbled square lined with stone houses in the medieval village of Pérouges
Photo: Peter Broster / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Grenoble. Recommended by 11 of 15 guides read. Trains run from Lyon to Grenoble through the day (check SNCF Connect for times). It’s the base for the Alps. The guides that name it mostly pair it with the nearby mountains, and some use it as a stepping stone to ski resorts.

Less common picks

Geneva and Dijon. Named by 8 of 15 guides each. Both are longer trips and Geneva means crossing into Switzerland, so they sit outside the scope here. Check the border and ticket rules for Geneva on SNCF before booking.

Saint-Étienne and the Pilat. Named by 5 of 15 guides read. Saint-Étienne is the easy one by train. Check SNCF Connect for times. The Pilat regional park is a hiking and nature day, and it’s a different kind of day from the other trips here.

Mâcon and Cluny. Named by 3 of 15 guides read. Mâcon is on the TER line north (check SNCF Connect for times). Cluny’s abbey is the reason to go on from there. How to reach Cluny without a car wasn’t checked.

Other towns come up once or twice. Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains (4 and 6 guides), Avignon (6), Bourg-en-Bresse (3), and Beaune (2) are the main ones, and none gets a full recommendation here.

Which day trip suits you

  • Under half a day: Vienne.
  • Full day, mostly by train: Annecy or Grenoble.
  • Wine without a car: Villefranche-sur-Saône and its own tasting rooms, then a train back.
  • Village and cobbles: Pérouges.
  • Rainy day: the Vienne museum and cloister are indoors, on the opening hours above.

FAQ

What is the easiest day trip from Lyon by train?

Vienne, the closest of the five. Check SNCF Connect for times and the departure station.

Can you do Annecy as a day trip from Lyon?

Yes, with an early train out and an evening one back. It’s the longest trip of the five, so check SNCF Connect for times, and check that the connection you book isn’t a coach.

Do you need a car for the Beaujolais?

Not for Villefranche-sur-Saône, which has a station on the TER line. The villages and the seven wine circuits are spread out, so most visitors want a car, a taxi or a tour for those.

Are the Vienne sites open in winter?

Yes, but only in the afternoon. In winter they open Tuesday to Sunday, 13:00 to 17:30, and they close on 1 and 11 November, 25 December and 1 January, per the town’s page. Check the current page for the date you’re going.

Which Lyon station do the trains leave from?

Lyon has several stations (Part-Dieu, Perrache, Vaise), so check the departure station on your ticket in SNCF Connect.

Looking for something to do after you’re back? See what’s on in Lyon and the map.

Sources: 15 guides in English, French and German, and 15 official pages

Guides in English

Guides in French

Guides in German

Official pages

Places in this guide

Photos show the actual places, licensed under Creative Commons and credited to their photographers.

Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, Part-Dieu Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse Part-Dieu Photo: Sebleouf / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) Parc du Vallon, Vaise Parc du Vallon Vaise Photo: Romainbehar / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
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