If we visit Chamonix this May, we could potentially fly home from Lyon, France, or Geneva, Switzerland. Any travelers have recommendations for things to do in either of these two towns? Preferences between the two? Thanks.

For me ,a thousand times more LYON.

On a scale of 1 to 100:

Lyon: 85
Geneva: 15

Hi again,

Lake Geneva & Geneva! See why in my reply to your other post.

s

Are you a foodie? Then Lyon is a must. Lyon is THE gastronomy capitol of the known universe.

Great museums, fun people watching and affordable food and hotels Lyon has a lot going for it.

Flying out of Geneva you can stay instead in Montreux or Vevey both incredibly beautiful towns right on Lac Leman. The train runs straight to the airport about 1 hour ride.

Lyon, or Vevey on Lake Geneva.

Hi, MaureenB. I can add a couple of comments, while agreeing that Lyon is probably the target for wonderful culinary experiences. Geneve's selling point is its wonderful Lac Leman with numerous picturesque villages and unlimited daytrip possibilities. The number of nights you plan to stay will be a factor. If its one, then Lyon. One more thing: Enjoyment of Geneve's charms will require you to use the wonderful Swiss trains or lake boats, while in Lyon you can probably see most everything on foot. Tough decision. J.

Thank you all. Your information is very, very helpful. My daughter and I are hammering out our itinerary daily. She is now in Italy and getting quite familiar with the train routing, so she's e-mailing some possible itineraries to me tonight. I am also hoping to snag Mileage Plus seats, so that availability might dictate itinerary as well. I might see about flying into Lyon or Geneva, to begin there instead of ending there. It's all a puzzle, but it's fun. Any other thoughts are appreciated.

Geneva will be closer. Lyon is a wonderful city and have great restaurants. We own a small vacation home in Annecy and we usually fly in and out of Geneva from the US. If you need more information just let me know. Our friend owns 2 restaurants in Lyon and our dear friend Celine owns a small private tobacco shop right inside the Hilton hotel in Lyon.

Last year DH and I visited both. I loved Lyon!!

Geneva is a beautiful airport to fly into. I've done it ~5 times. About the easiest place I've ever arrived. Train station is next door (connected buildings). I would immediately go on to Morges, Lausanne, Vevey, or Montreux direct from the airport and start your trip there.

This is nothing against Lyon, which I know nothing about.

Been to both places,but we preferred Lyon. The food there was wonderful and we stayed in a Boscolo hotel which was really nice. BUT..,didnt think there was much to see in Lyon.Though there wasnt that much in Geneva eithere. When we went to Geneva we took the train to Lausanne - beautiful town- and there are a lot of othere places to visit nearby.
The food was Lyonaisse style in Geneva but more expensive.

Thank you all for your helpful replies.
As it turned out, I will fly back to the States from Nice. We cut out the Aosta/Chamonix portion of our itinerary, and I found Mileage Plus seats out of Nice. So it's all good. I appreciate your kind help.

For what it's worth, Geneva is considerably more expensive than Lyon.

Lyon is a (mostly) undiscovered jewel.
Really fantastic!
Built by (mostly) Italians.

Would it be practical for someone to stay in Lyon their last couple days, if they fly out of Geneva 11:00am?

& nope I haven't done a stitch of research on this question it's an idea i have for a friend's trip. merci.

suze

I will also be flying out of Geneva next year after my ski trip. My flight out of Geneva GVA will be at 3pm. I am contemplating staying in Lyon the night before driving over to the airport at around lunch time, the drive should take, according to Mappy, 1 hr 30 mins.

But given the comments above, I might look into staying in Switzerland instead as I haven't really seen Geneva or any of its nearby towns.

S

swagman- My friend ended up staying in Annecy her last few nights and took the train then taxi to the Geneva airport (thanks to Underhill's kind suggestion here).

Are you turning your car in at the airport?

If you stay your last night at Morges, Lausanne, Vevey, or Montreux (all along Lac Leman) it is extremely easy to take the train direct to the Geneva airport.