Lyon

Lyon is France's third city, built where the Saône meets the Rhône: once Lugdunum, the Roman capital of Gaul, then a Renaissance banking town and the capital of European silk. Its historic centre is a UNESCO site.

Vieux Lyon's Renaissance houses are linked by traboules, covered passageways through courtyards that silk workers once used; above them the basilica of Fourvière and two Roman theatres look out over the rivers. Across the water the Presqu'île holds the grand squares and the Fine Arts museum, and the Croix-Rousse hill its giant painted murals.

It is a lived-in, unhurried city, less visited than Paris and proud of its kitchen; on 8 December the Festival of Lights fills the streets. The Beaujolais vineyards are under an hour away and the Alps two.

Eat in a bouchon: quenelles of pike in crayfish sauce, saucisson brioché, salade lyonnaise and praline tart, with a pot of Côtes du Rhône or Beaujolais.