Saint-Etienne (Forez gastronomy) is a food day trips in Lyon.
Saint-Etienne, 50 minutes south of Lyon, runs a working bistro scene around the Place du Peuple and the Saturday Marche de Bergson, with Forez cheeses.
Editorially verified May 27, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Tip: Saturday is the strongest market day; the design biennale takes over the food programme on alternate years.
The Beaujolais Cru villages lie 30 to 55 minutes north of Lyon, where ten AOC Crus produce Gamay wines of genuine depth. Booking recommended.
Tip: Hire a car for the Route des Crus; public transport reaches Romanèche-Thorins but not the smaller villages.
Vienne is 20 minutes south of Lyon by TER and combines France's finest Roman theatre with Cote Rotie, the steep Rhone Valley appellation where syrah grown.
Tip: Take the TER from Part-Dieu; domaine visits need booking a week ahead for the Cote Rotie estates.
Perouges is a walled medieval hilltop village 40 minutes east of Lyon where the Galette de Perouges, a flat caramelised brioche sold from a window counter.
Tip: Arrive before 10:00 or after 15:00 to beat the tour groups; the galette window opens from 09:00.
Bourg-en-Bresse is the capital of the Bresse chicken AOC, 55 minutes from Lyon, where the blue-legged birds with their blue-white-red colouring have held.
Tip: Book lunch at a Bressan ferme-auberge a week ahead; the Dombes ponds nearby are worth a 20-min drive.
Macon is the southern gateway to Burgundy, 65 km north of Lyon, where the Macon-Villages and Pouilly-Fuisse appellations produce crisp Chardonnay.
Tip: Hire a car at Macon station; the best Pouilly-Fuisse estates cluster around Fuisse and Solutre-Pouilly.
Annecy on the alpine lake east of Lyon runs lakeside bistros pouring Savoy white wines and serving the lake's signature fera (perch) alongside tartiflette.
Tip: The old town along Rue Sainte-Claire is the bistro strip; summer-weekend lakeside seating books a fortnight ahead.