Lyon Hotels

Lyon also written Lyons in English, is the second largest city in France. It is the capital of the Rhone-Alpes region and the Rhone departement and located some 450 km south of Paris. Lyon is known as a gastronomic and historical city with a vibrant cultural scene. Founded by the Romans, with many preserved historical areas, Lyon is the archetype of the heritage city, as recognised by UNESCO. Long seen as a dreary, grey city, partly because of urban planning errors such as building motorways right through the city centre, Lyon is now a vibrant metropolis which starts to make the most out of its unique architectural, cultural and gastronomic heritage, its dynamic demographics and economy and its strategic location between Northern and Southern Europe. It is more and more open to the world, with an increasing number of students and international events. The city itself has about 470,000 inhabitants. However, the direct influence of the city extends well over its administrative borders. The figure which should be compared to the population of other major metropolises is the population of Greater Lyon (which includes 57 towns or communes): about 1,200,000. Lyon and its metropolitan area are rapidly growing and getting younger, because of their economic attractivity. All periods of Lyon's 2000-year history have left visible traces in the city's architectural and cultural heritage, from Roman ruins to Renaissance palaces to contemporary skyscrapers. Very few cities in the world boast such diversity in their urban structure and architecture.