Looking for a weekend break and can't decide between Lyon and Ghent. We want to just chill out and walk around a lovely old town. Would be there from Friday to Sunday.

Lyon is larger, with more variety. It also has a reputation for good food.

Apples and Oranges...Lyon is France's 3rd largest city; famous for food, vestiges of the Roman empire, and one of the greatest of cities of the Renaissance era: silk weaving, banking, and in the 19th century, a seat of the progressive, post Napoleonic era labor movement... Ghent is a medieval merchant city, with extant watchtowers and canals; one is in France, the other in Flemish Belgium.. both delightful but in their own unique ways...it is up to you decide which of the two cities holds your fascination..

Have not been to Lyon, but fell in love with Ghent. You could see it for one day, take a train to Bruges and see it another.

For a weekend break, I am always drawn to the north. For a longer period, I go south.

Haven't been to Lyons but Ghent is Ghorgeous.

Ditto what Gertie said!