Public
Transport
Transports
en Commun Lyonnais – TCL (telephone number: (04) 7871
7000; fax number: (04) 7233 8462, e-mail: tcl@tcl.fr),
operates both the bus and Métro
systems. The central bus station is based at Lyon Perrache
railway station.
The Métro network in Lyon is excellent,
clean and easy to use, with 4 different lines and 40 stations. Bus
and Métro services operate 0500-2400 hrs.
Tickets
The price of a single ticket is €1.40, which gives access to
all bus and Métro lines
for 1 hour from the time of validation, which can be done in the
machine on the bus or at the Métro station. Connections can
be made for other lines or buses but return journeys on the same
line are prohibited.
Books of 10 tickets (carnet) can also be bought for €10.60.
Tickets are available for purchase from automatic ticket machines
in Métro stations, from the bus drivers and from TCL offices
and many newsagents.
The Liberté Ticket pass costs €3.80
and allows access to the whole TCL network for
1 day. A month-long City Pass costs €41.62.
Rail
The city has 2 main railways stations, Lyon Part-Dieu,
Place Beraudier, and Lyon Perrache, 10 Cours de
Verdun. The stations share roughly equal amounts of the train traffic
to and from the city. Both stations have a café, snack bar,
ATM, newsagent, tourist information office and a bus link to Lyon-St-Exupéry
Airport.
SNCF
(telephone number: (0892) 353 535, for fare and timetable information,
reservation and booking, e-mail: webra@sncf.fr)
is the national rail service provider. The French TGV
network is now highly developed, branching out in three main directions,
south–east (Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean), Atlantic and north.
National rail enquries should be directed to the SNCF Ligne
Vocale hotline (telephone number: (0891) 676 869), which
provides timetable and service information for all domestic and
cross-border rail services. The line is available daily 24 hours.
A high-speed TGV (Train Grand Vitesse) service
leaves Lyon for Paris almost every half an hour with a journey time
of approx 2 hours, providing 30 services between the cities per
day.
Direct services are also available to and from Geneva with a journey
time of 2 hours, Turin with a journey time of approx 4 hours, Montpellier
with a journey time od approx 2 hours, Marseille with a journey
time of approx 2 hours and Nantes with a journey time of approx
7 hours.
Taxis
Providers include Taxis Lyonnais (telephone number:
(04) 7826 8181), Taxis Radio (telephone number:
(04) 7210 8686), Allo Taxi (telephone number: (04)
7828 2323) and Télétaxi (telephone
number: (04) 7828 1314). It is also possible for travellers to hail
taxis in the street or from the taxi ranks. The cost of a Taxi to
the airport is about €30.50. Drivers do not expect tips.
Limousines
Limousines can be hired from Class Affaires Limousines,
48 rue Etienne Richerand (telephone number: (04) 7234 8660), Loc
Limousines, 134 rue Sully (telephone number: (04) 7817
2020), or Affaires
et Tourisme, 119 rue Challemal-Lacour (telephone
number: (04) 7800 4200, fax number: (04) 7874 7005, e-mail: affaires.tourisme@wanadoo.fr).
Half-day hire costs approximately €232, on average.
Driving in the City
The city centre of Lyon is best visited on foot. Nevertheless, driving
in Lyon is not as bad as it is in other cities in France.
Lyon has a large number of new parking facilities available to motorists,
although these tend to fill up quite quickly. Some central parking
meters are available, usually costing from €3 per hour, with
a limit of 2 hours. Parking in the Presqu’île
area is available at the Hôtel de Ville,
place des Terreaux and place Tolozan.
There are also parking facilities at both railway stations, as well
as in Old Lyon at the St-Jean car park, on quai
Romain Roland. Lyon Parc Auto (LPA), 2 place des
Cordeliers (telephone number: (04) 7241 6525, e-mail: lpa@lyon-parc-auto.com,
website: www.lyon-parc-auto.com),
runs 19 car parks in total and provides more information for motorists.
Lyon is located at the heart of a dense
network of motorways, which are designated by the letter ‘A’
and a corresponding number, including the A6, A7, A42 and A43, although
there are tolls on most French motorways. National roads bear the
prefix ‘N’ and minor roads are classed as ‘D’
(départementale) roads.
The minimum legal
driving age is 18 years old. Traffic drives on the right.
Seatbelts must be worn by all front and rear seat passengers. A
national driving licence, the car’s registration document
and a red warning triangle must be carried at all times or the driver
is liable to be fined. All headlamp beams must be adjusted for right-side
driving by either using beam deflectors or tilting the headlamp
bulb-holder. The French police fine motorists on the spot for driving
offences such as speeding.
The speed limit in urban areas is 50kph (31mph), 90kph (56mph) on
main roads and 130kph (81mph) on the motorways. The maximum legal
alcohol to blood ratio while driving is 0.05 per cent.
EU nationals taking their own cars to France are strongly advised
to obtain a Green Card, without which insurance
cover is limited to the minimum legal cover in France. The Green
Card tops this up to the level of cover provided by the car owner’s
domestic policy.
Road and route information is provided by Société
des Autoroutes Rhône-Alpes (telephone number: (04)
7214 2091) and Autoroute du Soleil ASF (tel: (04)
9032 9005).
Emergency breakdown service:
Automobile Club 24/24, 7/7 (08) 0008 0001
Routes into the city: Main routes to Lyon are the
A6 from Paris, the A7 from Marseille,
the A43 from Geneva and the A48 from Grenoble.
Approximate driving times to Lyon:
From Grenoble 1 hour
Geneva 1 hour 30 minutes
Marseille 2 hours 40 minutes
Paris 4 hours
Coach services
The coach station is situated at Lyon Perrache railway station,
10 Cours de Verdun.
Facilities include cafés, restaurant, ATM and bureau de change.
As there are no telephone numbers for the coach station, it is better
to contact the individual companies directly. Within the Rhône-Alpes
area, the main operator is Transports Publics Autocars
(telephone number: (04) 7277 6303). Eurolines
(telephone number: (04) 7256 9530) provides links throughout Europe.
Other operators include Interbus (telephone number:
(04) 7241 7227) to Spain and Intercar (telephone number: (04) 7837
2080) for Portugal, Spain and Geneva.
Car
Hire
Service providers include ADA (telephone number:
(08) 3668 4002)
Avis
(telephone number: (08) 0205 0505)
Budget
(telephone number: (08) 0010 0001)
Citer (telephone number:
(08) 0005 1011)
Europcar
(telephone number: (08) 0335 2352)
Hertz
(telephone number: (08) 0386 1861)
Thrifty
(telephone number: (04) 7235 1237).
The minimum
age for hiring a car is 18 years old, although this may
vary according to the company. Insurance is required, as is a national
driving licence. Rates start at approximately €70 per day.
Bicycle & Scooter Hire
All-terrain and mountain bikes (VTT) can be hired from Top
Bike, 5 rue d’Inkermann (telephone number: (04) 7824
8582), Decathlon Location, 332 avenue du Général
de Gaulle (telephone number: (04) 7215 8733), or Loisirs
VTT, Le Bourg in Pollionnay (telephone number: (04) 7848
1545).
Bikes and scooters are available at Holiday Bikes,
8 quai Lassagne (telephone number: (04) 7207 0677). The daily rates
for bike and scooter hire are approximately €11 and €20
respectively. |
