After the Marathon des Grands Crus: Lyon

The Route: Dijon → Lyon Part-Dieu (3 nights) → Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport Logistics: Direct TGV south to Lyon Part-Dieu, 1 hour 37 minutes at the fastest. No car needed at any point of this trip. Marathon Month: October Duration: 3 nights

Dijon-Ville ──(1h37 TGV)──> Lyon Part-Dieu (base, 3 nights)
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                    Rhônexpress tram (~30 mins)
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                    Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)

The Marathon des Grands Crus keeps its runners inside Burgundy from start to finish, wine villages and Dijon streets and nothing further afield, so three nights in Lyon afterward is a genuine change of register rather than more of the same trip. It is also a direct continuation of the same rail line the marathon route ran near for its final kilometres north, only now pointed south.

October in Lyon means a working city settling into autumn rather than a tourist peak: shorter days, mild temperatures that suit an afternoon spent walking rather than sitting outside, and museums and food halls that read better once the terrace season has quietened down. The direct TGV from Dijon-Ville to Lyon Part-Dieu takes as little as 1 hour 37 minutes on the fastest services, with around two dozen trains a day on the route; book through SNCF Connect once your dates are fixed, since fares rise as departure approaches.

Night One: Vieux Lyon and the Presqu'île

Lyon's old town, Vieux Lyon, is one of the largest intact Renaissance quarters in Europe, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998, and the traboules, covered passageways that thread between buildings and streets, are worth exploring on the first afternoon while legs are still finding their post-marathon rhythm; most are flat, though some involve a short flight of steps, so pick a route rather than wandering blind if stairs are still uncomfortable. The Fourvière Basilica, on the hill above the old town, is reachable by funicular railway rather than a climb, a genuine advantage two or three days after a marathon: the funicule from Vieux Lyon station takes a few minutes and removes the steep uphill walk entirely.

Down at street level, the Presqu'île, the peninsula between the Rhône and Saône rivers, holds most of central Lyon's shopping streets and Place Bellecour, a wide, flat square that makes an easy orientation point and a place to sit without needing an excuse.

Where to stay: Cour des Loges, a Radisson Collection property built into a row of connected Renaissance townhouses in Vieux Lyon, puts you inside the old town itself, walking distance from the traboules and the funicular up to Fourvière. Mama Shelter Lyon, in the 7th arrondissement near Part-Dieu, trades old-town character for modern rooms and easy access back to the TGV station, a reasonable trade for a shorter stay or a lighter budget.

Where to eat: Bouchon Les Lyonnais, in Vieux Lyon and carrying the city's official bouchon label, serves the genuine version of Lyonnais cooking, quenelle, andouillette, the kind of hearty plates the label exists to protect from a watered-down tourist imitation. Book ahead if possible; authentic bouchons run small.

Night Two: Confluence and the riverbanks

The Musée des Confluences sits at the southern tip of the peninsula, where the Rhône and Saône actually meet, inside a deliberately unusual building of glass, steel and stainless-steel cladding that reads more like a piece of engineering than a conventional museum shell. The natural-history and anthropology collection inside is worth a half-day on its own and is almost entirely indoors, a useful option if October weather turns wet. Entry runs approximately €9 (£8) for the permanent collection, with temporary exhibitions priced separately, and the building's café looks straight out over the confluence itself if you want a seated break partway through.

Getting there and back is flat throughout: the number 2 tram runs the length of the peninsula from Bellecour, and the riverside quais on both the Rhône and Saône sides give a paved, level walking option if you would rather cover the distance on foot at an easy pace. The Rhône side in particular, the Berges du Rhône, is a long, uninterrupted paved promenade with benches and floating cafés moored along the bank, one of the more genuinely restful stretches of Lyon to sit beside rather than walk the whole length of.

Where to eat: Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, the city's principal covered food market, sits away from the peninsula near Part-Dieu but rewards the trip: dozens of stalls selling Bresse chicken, Saint-Marcellin cheese and charcuterie, several with counter seating for lunch rather than a sit-down restaurant booking. It suits a day built around Confluence and the Rhône quais, since it needs no reservation and lets you eat exactly as much or as little as tired legs want.

Night Three: Croix-Rousse and the silk weavers' quarter

Croix-Rousse rises on the hill north of the Presqu'île, and it is a different Lyon from the postcard version below: this was the working silk-weaving district through the nineteenth century, and its own traboules, the covered passages that let weavers move bolts of cloth between workshops without exposing them to the weather, are quieter and less crowded than the more visited ones in Vieux Lyon. The hill itself is a genuine climb, so this is the one part of the trip worth taking by bus (line C13 or C14 from the Presqu'île) rather than on foot if legs are still recovering three days out.

At the top, the Sunday market along Boulevard de la Croix-Rousse is one of the largest in the city, running the length of the boulevard with produce, cheese and prepared-food stalls; if your third day in Lyon falls on a Sunday, it is worth building the morning around. On other days, the quieter streets around Place de la Croix-Rousse itself make for an easy, mostly level wander once you are up the hill, away from the tourist volume of the Presqu'île.

Where to stay for this stretch: both Cour des Loges and Mama Shelter Lyon, recommended above, sit within a reasonable bus ride of Croix-Rousse, so there is no need to change hotels partway through a three-night stay.

Where to eat: L'Auberge des Canuts, named for the silk weavers themselves, keeps the bouchon tradition going up on the hill, quieter and less tourist-heavy than the Vieux Lyon originals, with the same register of hearty, meat-forward Lyonnais cooking.

Getting to Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport

The Rhônexpress tram runs directly from Lyon Part-Dieu station to Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) in around 30 minutes, with departures roughly every 15 to 30 minutes through the day. Tickets can be bought at the station or online in advance; there is no need to change trains or buses along the way, which makes this one of the more straightforward final legs of any of these post-marathon trips.