☰Vieux Lyon

The old Renaissance city on the right bank of the Saône — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of honey-coloured stone buildings, narrow cobbled streets and secret traboules, the covered passageways that tunnel between streets through the courtyards of old silk merchants' houses. The central Saint-Jean district, around the Gothic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, is the most atmospheric in the city. Expect bouchons, puppet museums (the Musée des Automates), and wandering musicians in summer.