Last year, I took two research trips to Italy. I spent three weeks in Bologna and Modena and traveled all through Tuscany on the first; followed by Lake Como, Milan, Verona and Venice on the second. It was a busy year. This year, it’s France’s turn. My next research trip will be a culinary adventure in Lyon France. I leave this week and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t over-the-moon with excitement.
Lyon is known as the capital of gastronomy, so it’s the perfect place for culinary travelers, which is one of the reasons I’ve picked it. Most recently, the city hosted the FIFA Women’s World Cup. It’s also been selected in this year’s 52 places to visit round-up by the New York Times (though this has nothing to do with why I chose it). Incidentally – they also picked Puglia, which I visited about eight years ago. Maybe I’m just a bit ahead of the curve.
WHAT I HAVE PLANNED FOR MY CULINARY ADVENTURE IN LYON FRANCE
I’m traveling solo to Lyon and I’ve lined up lots of tasty food and wine activities, so I can make personal recommendations to my clients, including:
- a private food tour of the city
- private tours to both the Northern Rhone and Beaujolais wine regions
- a wine tasting in an apartment in Lyon
- a cooking class
- dinner in an authentic bouchon
- visits to several of the city’s indoor and outdoor food markets
I’ll also be eating and drinking my way through the best restaurants, chocolate shops, boulangeries and fromageries, wine bars and gourmet shops to include on my foodie adventures. It’s fall, so it will be chilly – so plenty of chocolat chaud consumed. If weather permits, cocktails will be enjoyed at a rooftop bar or two – because who doesn’t love a cool place with awesome views when you travel?
It can’t be all about the food – so guided tours, cultural activities, visits to several of the city’s museums and a scenic river cruise are also on my itinerary. My visit is timed perfectly to coincide with the new Cité de Gastronomie, which opened this month. I’m looking forward to watching demos and the tastings there.
I’ll be taking all methods of transportation in and around the city, which include metro, tram, river cruise, vaporetto and even a hop-on-hop-off bus, so I can offer solid advice to my trip coach clients who visit Lyon.
I’ll be sharing my trip real time on my social media channels, but mostly on Instagram; you can follow along here virtually. Expect posts about where and what I eat, which wines I’m drinking, vineyard visits, site inspections at hotels and plenty of pretty photos of the city.
I have short stopovers in Paris on each leg of my trip, so I’ll be revisiting two of my favorite neighborhoods – the Marais and Canal St. Martin, checking out two amazing hotel properties – and of course dining and sampling some great food at places I haven’t been to yet.
If you follow my culinary adventure in Lyon, you can get plenty of travel inspo and eat along with me; All of the fun, none of the calories.
I am planning a series of blog posts on Lyon, the surrounding wine regions and villages for day trips when I return. You can also subscribe to my newsletter for announcements on new tours, food and wine experiences, hotel recommendations and other Lyon travel tips that I’ll only share there.
Have you ever been on a culinary adventure in Lyon France? Leave me a comment if you have some tips for me. Or if there is something you’d like me to see or do while I’m there – let me know!
