Lyon Day Trips in 2 Days (With Real Costs)
Two days, two day trips, both from a single Lyon base. Day 1 is Vienne, the cheapest and fastest of the bunch at EUR 6 to 9 and 30 minutes each way. Day 2 is a full Beaujolais wine day, EUR 60 to 100 for a half-day tour, since public transport into the actual vineyards barely exists. No hotel math here, just the day trips and what they cost. Prefer more time? This same plan extends to a 3-day , 5-day , 6-day and 7-day version.
Book these before you go:
- The Beaujolais wine tour: small-group departures sell out fastest in tasting season and around Beaujolais Nouveau week. Book the wine tour on GetYourGuide
- A Presqu’ile or Vieux Lyon hotel: lock this in early since you need same-city access to both Part-Dieu and Perrache. Check rates on Booking.com
| Day | Day trip | Travel time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Vienne | About 30 min by TER | EUR 6 to 9 one way |
| Day 2 | Beaujolais | 30 to 45 min by car or tour | EUR 60 to 100 half-day tour |
Day 1: Vienne, the cheapest day trip on the list
Take a TER train from either Part-Dieu or Perrache; both run frequent service to Vienne, about 30 minutes each way for EUR 6 to 9. The Ancient Theatre, built around 40 CE and seated for roughly 13,000, is still used for concerts and the summer Jazz a Vienne festival. Walk a few minutes to the Temple of Augustus and Livia, dedicated 10 BC and remarkably intact for a building this old, standing in the middle of an ordinary town square rather than behind a fence. If Roman history is genuinely your interest and not just a box to tick, cross the river to the Saint-Romain-en-Gal archaeological site and add an hour or two of mosaics and excavated villa foundations. Check current hours on Vienne Condrieu’s official site before you commit to the extra stop; it’s easy to underestimate how much a full circuit takes. Buy the TER ticket the evening before rather than same day, since a missed connection back eats directly into your evening in Lyon.
Day 2: a full day in Beaujolais
Don’t try to improvise this on public transit. The villages that make Beaujolais worth the trip, Fleurie, Morgon and Julienas among them, are exactly the ones the regional bus network skips. A half-day small-group tour typically covers two to four domaines with tastings and usually folds in a stop in the Pierres Dorees, roughly 40 hillside villages built from local iron-rich limestone that oxidizes to a rust-gold color. Oingt, the best known of them, is ranked one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages. If your two days land on the third Thursday of November, 19 November 2026, Beaujolais Nouveau day turns both Lyon and the villages into a genuine local event, though book well ahead, since it’s also the busiest week of the year for wine and hotel prices alike. Check Beaujolais’s official tourism site for the current wine route map before you go.
With just two days, this plan skips Perouges, Annecy and Grenoble entirely rather than rushing any of them into a half-slot. If a third day is on the table, the 3-day version adds Perouges without touching this route. Staying in the city itself the whole time instead of day-tripping out? Our Lyon budget guide covers Vieux Lyon and the traboules without ever leaving town.