Living the Lyon adventure

What is it like to live in Lyon? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

It's a city with a lot of charm, at night it turns into a real "ville des lumières". The city is split by the two rivers that flow through it and in the centre of its life and business there's a small island in the middle of these two rivers, which gives it a sense of total elegance.

What is the student lifestyle like in Lyon?

There are a lot of students, taking the metro is a cultural experience, there are different characteristics, different languages, it makes you realise how big the world is and how little time there is to explore it.

Source

How much does it cost to live in Lyon?

Lyon is very expensive, as is the majority of France, the only cheap thing is the transport pass for the university students: "campus abonnement". For doing your food shopping, everyone recommends Lidl but it definitely doesn't have a great variety of products. As a second option, I'd recommend the Carrefour in the shopping centre Part-Dieu and another supermarket, that's a bit further out, but useful for students that have to go to the Bron campus, is the Auchun at the next tram stop "Porte de Alpes"- it's the French version of Alcampo.

So you can see the economic difference between Spain and France, I'll put a link here to an article that I wrote: http://www.lydianatour.com/

Was it difficult for you to find accommodation in Lyon? Do you have any advice?

If you find yourself in the same situation as me, going to Lyon for the second semester, the public residence often isn't an option then so you need to have a bit of patience. The waitlist from the public residences is very long and if you go in January, you might have to stay in a hostel until February or find somewhere else to live.

There are some people who go to a private residence and get a studio with two rooms and pay for it between two people, there's not much difference between this and living on your own in a public residence, and this way you have the bonus of having a little kitchen.

Source

What is the food like there? What are your favourite dishes?

French food is a whole new world, every establishment has it's own dishes and even different ones in the same area, each one makes itself original with the dishes they serve. But you can't leave without trying any dish (with any kind of meat) with wine sauce! It's to die for.

The typical dishes of Lyon are the Lyon salad, the traditional regional sausage, quenelle (it's a type of pastry made from flour and filled with meat or fish), and steak (I've always thought that mountainous areas tend to have very fresh, delicious meat).

And, of course, the desserts... France is the artisan of desserts, so you can order a dessert in a restaurant or wait to buy a crepe from one of the many street stalls to enjoy a taste of something sweet. Your sense of sight will be indulged by the Lyon streets and countryside.

A glass of mulled wine is a typical drink there, which I still can't get my head around to this day. Yes, they drink mulled wine. They boil the wine in a pot, you can get little cups of it to drink on the street.

Where would you recommend to visit in Lyon?

Vue de Fourvière, Hôtel de Ville, Place des Terreaux, Parc d'Or, Place de Bellecour, Vieux Lyon, the vicinities of the Rhone and the Saône rivers, the Movies & Miniature Museum... Lyon is a big hub for culture and cinema, depending on your own personal tastes, I recommend visiting the Lyon tourism office on the Place de Bellecour.

For more details, I'm including some links to posts with photo galleries from my personal blog to give you some ideas:

• Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall): http://www.lydianatour.com/
• Movies & Miniature Museum: http://www.lydianatour.com/
• Vue de Fourvière: http://www.lydianatour.com/
• Université Lumière Lyon 2: http://www.lydianatour.com/

And to eat in Lyon? What were some of your favourite places to go?

You have a lot of restaurants to choose from in Vieux Lyon (meaning in the historic centre).

Where would you recommend for a night out in Lyon?

You have to bear in mind that the pubs in Lyon close at 1 am, the clubs close at 3 am, the parties that go on the latest are the Erasmus ones, so look out for university nights out they promote on Facebook.

Normally, they're advertised on Facebook groups or on pages for international students. On Mondays, there's usually a "beer party" in the vicinity of the town hall or the "Hôtel de Ville de Lyon", and you can get a beer for €1 there.

Do you have any advice for future students in Lyon?

There is a lot to see in Lyon, sometimes you'll want to save your strengths for being a backpacker or tourist rather than going out partying.

Source