France
Lyon
Away-day guide
Lyon is straightforward for a weekend away, with strong public transport, busy pub areas around Vieux Lyon and plenty of food that goes beyond the usual matchday kebab. Groupama Stadium is well outside the centre, and European away support can be tightly controlled, so follow your club’s transport and colour advice.
Public transport
TCL runs the metro, trams, buses and two funiculars. Metro A is particularly useful between Perrache, Bellecour and Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie; Metro D serves Vieux Lyon, Bellecour, Guillotière and Part-Dieu via a change. A central single ticket costs about 2.10 and allows transfers within its validity period. Typical central-network passes are about 6.90 for 24 hours, 12.90 for 48 hours and 17.10 for 72 hours. Validate on every journey and after changing vehicles. Tickets can be loaded onto TCL media, while contactless bank cards can be used at compatible validators. Use the official TCL app for live departures and disruption notices. Rhônexpress to the airport has separate ticketing and is not covered by ordinary TCL passes.
Typical prices
- Beer (0.5L)
- EUR 7
- Coffee
- EUR 2.5
- Meal, mid-range
- EUR 20
- Taxi from airport
- EUR 55
- Single transit ticket
- EUR 2.1
✈ Airports & cheaper alternatives
- Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport LYS primary 25 km Rhônexpress runs to Lyon Part-Dieu in about 30 minutes, usually every 15 minutes. Booking online is normally cheaper than buying at the stop. Local buses are slower but can reduce the cost. The main airport and comfortably the easiest option, though flights and the dedicated airport tram can cost more than budget alternatives.
- Geneva Airport GVA alternative 150 km Take a Swiss train from the airport to Genève-Cornavin, then a regional train to Lyon Part-Dieu. Long-distance coaches also run between Geneva Airport or central Geneva and Lyon. Can be much cheaper for some routes, but allow roughly three hours for the complete transfer and leave plenty of margin on the return journey.
- Grenoble Alpes-Isère Airport GNB alternative 85 km Use the seasonal airport coach to Grenoble bus station, then take a TER train to Lyon Part-Dieu. Check both connections carefully, particularly after an evening arrival. Mostly useful during the winter-flight season. A cheap fare can work for a group, but the public-transport transfer is indirect and often wipes out the saving.
🍺 Supporters' pubs
Olympique Lyonnais
Home fans: At the stadium, OL supporters use the OL Vallée complex, notably Ninkasi Décines/OL Vallée and Garrison Tavern. In central Lyon, home fans also use sports pubs around Vieux Lyon and the Saint-Paul/Saint-Jean area, including The Wallace, The Smoking Dog, Elephant & Castle and L’Antidote.
Away fans: There is no permanent designated away pub. The Wallace, The Smoking Dog, Elephant & Castle and Kelly’s Irish Pub, in or beside Vieux Lyon, are the most practical mixed or international sports pubs; large groups should contact them first. Place Bellecour and Presqu’île are common meeting areas but are not official fan zones. Avoid La Traboule – Maison de l’Identité, which is associated with Lyon’s identitarian and far-right scene. Treat the OL Vallée bars as home territory on European match nights.
Olympique Lyonnais are Lyon’s only senior men’s club in the 2026–27 Champions League, Europa League or Conference League, entering the Champions League third qualifying round. Do not assume colours are welcome in central areas or home sections: match-specific prefectural orders can impose wider restrictions.
Sourced from supporters' forums — always follow your club's and police advice for the fixture.
Nightlife
Vieux Lyon, particularly around Saint-Paul and Saint-Jean, is easiest for sports pubs, televised football and mixed groups. Presqu’île around Hôtel de Ville, Terreaux and Rue Mercière has the widest concentration of bars and late venues. Guillotière is cheaper, younger and better for casual food, though Place Gabriel Péri can feel rough late at night. Croix-Rousse is calmer, with neighbourhood bars and less of a stag-weekend atmosphere. Confluence has modern bars but is less convenient for a quick football weekend.
Food & drink
Try a traditional bouchon for quenelle de brochet, saucisson brioché, salade lyonnaise or cervelle de canut. Portions are usually solid, but the most touristy Vieux Lyon menus vary in quality; streets around the Presqu’île and Croix-Rousse offer better choice. For something sweet, look for tarte aux pralines or a praline brioche. Lyon has a strong local craft-beer scene, with Ninkasi the best-known city brewery. Beaujolais and Côtes-du-Rhône wines are the obvious local alternatives.
Cheap eats & beer
For a cheap feed before drinking, Yaafa does filling falafel wraps and bowls at branches around Terreaux and Guillotière. Guillotière, especially Rue de Marseille and the streets near the university, has plenty of kebab, tacos, bánh mì and North African places where 8–12 buys a proper meal. Boulangeries are the best early-match option: a sandwich, pastry and drink is commonly 7–10. Around Terreaux, Boston Café and the bars on Rue Sainte-Catherine compete for the student crowd; happy-hour pints are often 5–6, though the street gets messy late on. Ninkasi Guillotière is useful for local beer and burgers but is not always the cheapest. Near Groupama Stadium, Ninkasi Décines, Garrison Tavern and the OL Vallée chains are convenient but busy and generally dearer than the centre. There is no established neutral away pub at the ground, so most visiting groups are better drinking around Vieux Lyon or Presqu’île unless their club has arranged a meeting point.
Staying safe
Pickpocketing is the main visitor problem, particularly on crowded transport, around Part-Dieu, Bellecour and the narrow streets of Vieux Lyon. Keep phones and wallets out of back pockets and avoid leaving bags under pub tables. Take more care around Place Gabriel Péri and Guillotière late at night, especially if walking alone. Do not display away colours around known home gatherings, on transport to the stadium or anywhere covered by a prefectural restriction. Avoid confrontations with police around controlled meeting points and keep your passport or national ID handy for ticket checks. The Rhône and Saône quays are good for walking and drinking, but the edges can be poorly protected; stay back from the water after a session.
On matchday
The away sector at Groupama Stadium is segregated, with controlled turnstiles and its own access arrangements; away tickets are not valid in home sections. European fixtures can involve strict prefectural orders covering colours, meeting points, alcohol, city-centre movement and transport. Visiting supporters have previously been required to exchange vouchers and board controlled buses or trams at Eurexpo, with only fans using that system admitted to the away end. Follow the visiting club’s instructions rather than making an independent plan. Roads around OL Vallée are restricted before and after large matches, parking must normally be booked, and tram stops or approaches can be held temporarily while home and away crowds are separated. Cover colours until the match-specific advice says otherwise and carry photo ID matching the ticket details.