Lyon Food and Wine Tours

You will meet a passionate cheesemonger, wine bar owner, restaurant owner, chef, and even a beer master on this culinary walking tour as you taste your way through town! You will learn all about the local history and food culture, too. In the afternoon, check-in and enjoy some jetlag relief at your hotel’s exclusive spa.

Before dinner, you will be welcomed in a luxurious, private apartment overlooking chic Rue de la République, for a unique Champagne tasting. The premium Champagne producer (Côte des Bars ), Champagne Lombardi, has renovated this beautiful space into a unique tasting venue, complete with cellar, reception area, and tasting room. Then carry on to enjoy dinner (on your own with our suggestions) in Lyon’s famous “bouchons,” the name given to traditional restaurants in Lyon where copious food is served in cozy dining rooms by bigger than life owners. Bouchons are boisterous and warm, a “must” while in Lyon. We hope you had a fabulous start to the trip!

The afternoon is free then, leaving you can explore Fourviere hill and its impressive basilica or pay a visit to the fine arts museum and its beautiful quiet cloister and garden decorated with sculptures, a restful haven in the city! This evening you will have ample time to get ready and dress up for tonight’s fantastic Michelin experience, a food and wine pairing dinner in the mecca of gastronomie française- Paul Bocuse Auberge du Pont de Collonges. This is the most famous Michelin starred restaurant in the world. It is not your chauffeur who will drive you there tonight, but your private captain! You will sail to Paul Bocuse’s restaurant on a small yacht, with a glass of champagne in your hand, admiring Lyon in a different light as you glide past colorful buildings and a mysterious island. A valet will welcome you as you step out of the boat and accompany you to this legendary restaurant located a couple of minutes walk away from the pier, on the riverbank. This is a once in a lifetime experience for food lovers; you will create wonderful memories here at this self-described culinary circus. Indeed, dinner is a beautiful show!

In the afternoon, your guide will take you to the former silk-weaving district La Croix-Rousse hill, a bohemian-chic area with a multitude of cafés, boutiques, and beautiful views over the city below. Your bike guide will drop you off at a lovely venue, and take the bikes off your hands, freeing you up for the next activity. You will now meet your bubbly, American wine expert in her gorgeous home with traditional high ceilings (made extra high for the weaving looms the artisans used while working here it the 1800’s). Your super friendly and knowledgeable host will guide you through a fun wine workshop with a particular focus on the wines of the Rhône and Beaujolais (which you will be visiting on this trip). The wines will be paired with local cheese and charcuterie, but of course. And after an afternoon full of wine and laughter, your private chauffeur will whisk you back to your hotel for a rest. The night is yours, with all our tips for dining. Apart from the many Michelin restaurants and traditional bouchons, Lyon is also the home of many young chefs with a strong classic training and cooking experiences across the globe. All of them are deeply involved in sustainable sourcing and farm to table dining. We’ll make recommendations for fantastic dining with a twist, such as an acclaimed gourmet vegetarian restaurant or trendy French-Vietnamese bistro.

This morning your first visit is with a very friendly local winemaker, Jean-Luc, and you have an “insider’s experience” in store! Your driver will bring you to the village of Vaux-en-Beaujolais, nicknamed Clochemerle after a book written there in the 1930s, a social satire depicting countryside life in a small wine village at the time. You will spend the morning at a scenic vineyard with Jean-Luc, exploring the vines on a “vigneron walk,” visiting the winery, and tasting his white, red, and rosé Beaujolais, along with his sparkling Crémant. Then indulge in a picnic right in the vines with a bottle of Beaujolais Cru, this is what memories are made of. There is no better way to understand a region and its wines than to share the simple things in life together with a local. This is a charming, unstuffy glimpse of the true “art de vivre à la Française.” Carry on next to the Grand Cru village of Morgon, where you have another fun visit planned. We love Domaine Gérard Brisson for two reasons other than their great, rare old vintage Morgon cuvée wines. They are even more passionate about cheese than we are and offer a fantastic cheese and wine pairing, and secondly, they have top class vintage Bentleys available on site for a spin around the vines- both of which you will enjoy today!

Before your driver takes you back to Lyon, you’ll have time to visit one or two of Beaujolais’s loveliest hamlets, such as Salles Arbuissonas, Oingt, or Saint-Amour. For dinner tonight, you might like to try a brasserie. For the full “Brasserie experience,” we recommend Brasserie Georges, an institution, where you can taste delicious choucroutes and their home-brewed beer!

The late afternoon is at leisure then to go sightseeing or relax with some spa treatments. If you are interested in film, we highly recommend the Lumière Brothers museum, dedicated to their invention of the “Cinématographe.” You could also enjoy a pleasant stroll in Parc de la Tête d’ or, Lyon’s oldest and most famous park with centennial trees, lake and rowboats, and tropical greenhouses. Freshen up at your hotel, and then you might like to have a pre-dinner drink at Les Muses wine bar on the opera house’s rooftop, where the well-heeled locals go. Tonight is your last dinner in Lyon and the best place to end your exploration of Lyonnaise cuisine. You will be wined and dined at La Mère Brazier; a two Michelin starred institution. Super talented executive chef Mathieu Vianney continues the tradition of legendary chef Eugénie Brazier (one of the female chefs who invented and perfected Lyonnaise cuisine) in a very talented and modern way.

After lunch, you will have free time in Tain l’ Hermitage to get in some wine or chocolate shopping. This is after all the home of Valrhona, the Rolls Royce of Chocolate! In the afternoon then your chauffeur will bring you to your the last port of call on this fantastic food and wine-themed week- a private 17th-century château in Mont du Lyonnais in the Côteaux du Lyonnais wine country (midway between Lyon and Côte Rôtie). After settling in for a rest and free time for a siesta or a walk on the grounds, you will meet the owner who will take you to the stunning historic kitchen. Tonight you will enjoy a cooking class with a private chef. This is a gratifying, convivial, and relaxed way to conclude your vacation. Your dinner creations, along with the chef’s extras, will be served with fine estate wines after the class in a private salon. You will sleep on-site in a gorgeous room with ceiling frescoes and period furniture, magnifique!