Lyon · Backpacking

A single TCL ticket is €2.10, or €20 for a book of ten. Add a hostel bed, €8–10 for a market picnic and one paid museum at €4–12 and a day runs about €45–60. Fourvière, the traboules and the Parc de la Tête d'Or cost nothing at all.

At 36 rue Montesquieu in Lyon 7: mixed and women-only dorms of four to eight, private rooms, a coffee shop, coworking space and 24-hour reception. Tram T1 to Saint-André, metro D at Guillotière or metro B at Saxe-Gambetta, with cheap food in every direction outside the door.

TCL put the single fare to €2.10 and a book of ten to €20 in January 2025, and from September 2025 one ticket also covers the outer Rhône networks under a five-zone system. Buying from the driver costs €2.40 instead of €2.10.

The basilica on Fourvière, the traboules — around 50 of them open 7am to 7pm — and the 105-hectare Parc de la Tête d'Or with its free zoo cost nothing, and between them they fill two days. The funicular up the hill is the only part of that you pay for.

The Fête des Lumières installations are free, but the city sells out for it and room rates rise to match. Either book months ahead and accept the price, or pick a different week — the rest of the winter is the cheapest time to be here.