Beyond Lyon Off the Beaten Path: 6 Days
Six days beyond Lyon adds a flex day back in the city after four straight gateway days, since even an offbeat trip needs one morning without a train timetable attached. Same spine as the 5 day plan , one flex day added, or push on to the full 7 day version . The day-trip guide has the overview of all five gateways.
Book these before you go
- Hotel: check Presqu’ile or Vieux Lyon availability on Booking.com
- The Beaujolais and Perouges combo tour: reserve a seat on Viator
- The Annecy day trip: reserve a spot on GetYourGuide
| Day | Focus | Distance/time from Lyon |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Presqu’ile orientation, in Lyon | In Lyon |
| Day 2 | Beaujolais golden stone villages and Perouges | 30-45 min (Beaujolais), ~40 min (Perouges) |
| Day 3 | Vienne | ~30 min by TER |
| Day 4 | Annecy | ~1h51-2h24 by direct TER |
| Day 5 | Grenoble | ~1h25 by TER |
| Day 6 | Flex day, in Lyon | In Lyon |
Day 1: Get your bearings in the Presqu’ile
Land in Lyon and check into a base near Part-Dieu or Perrache. Buy a single TCL ticket , EUR 2.10, and spend the afternoon walking the Presqu’ile. Dinner at a certified bouchon, book ahead.
Day 2: Golden stone villages and a walled fairy tale
Skip the wine-label crus for the Pierres Dorees, Oingt among France’s Most Beautiful Villages. The combined tour folds Perouges in after lunch; order the galette de Perouges before the group moves on.
Day 3: Vienne, the gateway everyone skips by mistake
About 30 minutes by TER, the fastest and cheapest gateway on this list. The Ancient Theatre, built around 40 CE, still hosts Jazz a Vienne every summer beside the intact Temple of Augustus and Livia. SNCF’s regional timetable has current train times.
Day 4: Annecy and the prison on a traffic island
Direct TER trains run 1h51 to 2h24, closer to two hours than the 90 minutes some guides still claim. The Palais de l’Ile, a stronghold since 1325 and a prison until 1864, splits the Thiou canal. The Lake Annecy tourist office covers current hours.
Day 5: Grenoble and a cable car that lied about its own history
About 1h25 by hourly TER, no booking needed. The Bastille cable car opened in 1934 with blue, twelve-sided cabins; the spherical “bulles,” the bubbles, arrived only in 1976. The ride delivers panoramic views over the Belledonne, Vercors, and Chartreuse ranges. Bastille Grenoble’s official site has current hours.
Day 6: A flex day back in Lyon
No train today, and no Chamonix either, which is worth naming since it is the one gateway this whole plan deliberately excludes: no direct train, 2h30-plus each way by car and worse by bus, a whole day of transit for a few hours of mountain. Instead, use the day inside Lyon itself: repeat whichever bouchon impressed you most, walk back through a traboule you rushed the first time, or simply rest before a longer travel day tomorrow. Our own Lyon hidden gems guide and its 2 day itinerary cover roughly this much city time if you want a loose plan rather than pure recovery.
Why build in a flex day at all? Five straight gateway days back to back is more train time than most travelers actually enjoy. A sixth day inside Lyon resets the pace before a final departure day, and it is the day this itinerary deliberately keeps free of any timetable.
Should I use the flex day for a sixth gateway instead? You could, but Chamonix is the only gateway left, and it specifically does not fit a single day from Lyon. Better to bank the rest and treat this trip as five real gateways done properly rather than six done badly.
Six days now covers five distinct gateways plus a genuine reset day, the shape of a trip that respects how much travel a body can actually take before it stops being fun.