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Lyon is such an underrated French destination. Even though it is the third biggest city in France and has two major rivers cutting right through the center, I feel like it never gets the respect it deserves. I visited this past spring, and I left with a desperate need to return as soon as humanly possible.
The city is lively and gritty, but not in the rats-in-the-garbage, scammers-everywhere way that Paris can sometimes be. Lyon’s grit is the good kind: energetic, lived-in and full of people who actually want to be part of the city’s rhythm. It is curious, historic and home to some truly incredible bars.
Sure, we visited Beaujolais for wine tasting, wandered the Museum of Confluences and explored all the traboules (the hidden passageways between buildings), but honestly? Some of my favorite memories were rubbing elbows with locals at natural wine shops, 90s-themed bars and street-corner pizza dives.
Here is every bar I loved in Lyon.
Nose
Key Details
- Type: Natural wine bar
- Neighborhood: Presqu’île
- Best For: Wine lovers, people-watching, the perfect first drink
- Price: €€
- Vibe: Understated, cozy, artsy
- Good to Know: Rotating biodynamic and organic wines, plus tasting workshops
This unassuming wine bar is peak Lyon. The exterior still shows faded signs from its former life as a tapissier, advertising rug repairs and party decorations. It sits under new elegant gold lettering, which somehow makes the whole thing feel even more charming.
Inside, wine bottles perch along the walls and a warm glow fills the room. Outside, the street-side seating is perfect for sipping something cold while watching the neighborhood go by. The wine selection ranges well beyond France, with biodynamic and organic wines from producers who actually respect the earth. If you “drink with your values,” this is the spot. Bonus: they offer tasting workshops if you want to explore a wine related experience.
Hopstore
Key Details
- Type: Brewery and pub
- Neighborhood: Presqu’île
- Best For: Groups, casual breaks, snacks and planning your next move
- Price: €€
- Vibe: Bright, plant-filled, easygoing
- Good to Know: Huge craft beer list; open early until very late
Hopstore is truly for all ages and all times of day. It opens at 9:00 and doesn’t close until 1:00, making it the perfect in-between spot to rest your feet, grab a snack or regroup before the next adventure. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, and the inside is decorated with trailing plants draped over the bar and winding around a spiral staircase.
France is not exactly known for its beer, but Hopstore’s craft beer list surprised me in the best way. Their food is solid, the space is casual and it is an ideal place to take a group when everyone needs something different.
Satriale
Key Details
- Type: Wine shop and wine bar
- Neighborhood: Croix-Rousse
- Best For: Chilled reds, tiny-space charm, people-watching
- Price: €€
- Vibe: Intimate, artsy, very local
- Good to Know: Wines by the glass even though it looks like only a shop
We spent a lot of time in the Croix-Rousse neighborhood, partly because so many great spots were up there and partly because the wine was calling us. We walked by Satriale a few times before realizing it was more than just a shop. From the outside, it looks like a tiny corner wine store across from Soif. Once inside, we discovered it was also a place to drink.
And then… a cutie blonde gentlemen with the bluest eyes appeared behind the counter, casually pouring wines by the glass as if he wasn’t about to change the trajectory of our afternoon. He made excellent recommendations, and we settled on chilled red while wandering the small space admiring the art and “the art,” if you get my drift.
Ten out of ten recommend grabbing a glass and sitting on the little stools outside to watch the world go by.
Soif!
Key Details
- Type: Natural wine bar
- Neighborhood: Croix-Rousse
- Best For: Fun nights out, late-night wine, nostalgic vibes, video games (yes, video games!)
- Price: €€
- Vibe: Chill, playful, retro gaming energy
- Good to Know: Try-before-you-buy wine; gaming loft with a wild netted middle
It would be a crime not to talk about the bar we visited three times in four days. They literally couldn’t keep us out. Call it the vibes, the reasonable natural wine prices or the genuinely kind bartenders, but something kept pulling us back.
The nostalgia here is strong. Goku is etched in the windows. Upstairs you’ll find Atari and N64 consoles, a FIFA setup and a full net “ceiling/floor.” I was not brave enough to lie down in the middle of the net with my butt fully visible from below, but plenty of others did, and I respect their confidence.
The bartenders were fantastic, letting us taste wines before committing and suggesting options depending on whatever mood we were in. Truly top-tier service.
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Super 5
Key Details
- Type: bar and club
- Neighborhood: Presqu’île
- Best For: When you want your night to escalate in a fun way
- Price: €€
- Vibe: Berlin-lite, vinyl, disco ball
- Good to Know: Great German beers if you need a break from wine
Super 5 is equal parts bar and club, but you do not need to be club-ready to enjoy it. In the early evening it is mellow and vinyl-focused. Later, the disco ball switches on and suddenly you are having a full night out.
If you want to shed the seriousness of wine bars and lean into something more chaotic, this is the place. Their German beer selection is excellent, and the cocktails are a welcome change of pace if you have been on a natural wine marathon (much like I was while in Lyon).
Abstract
Key Details
- Type: Cocktail bar and micro-distillery
- Neighborhood: Croix-Rousse
- Best For: Creative cocktails, views, quirky spirits
- Price: €€
- Vibe: Artistic, stylish, delightfully weird
- Good to Know: Their “monochrome” spirits include flavors like butter
Abstract sits up a huge hill on a corner, with some of the best views of Lyon just steps away. Inside, the bar doubles as a micro-distillery and features housemade “monochromes,” which are spirits infused with single flavor profiles. Some are familiar, like lemon or strawberry. Others, like butter or yellow bell pepper, make you question everything in a good way.
Their bottles are hand-painted, the bartenders wear custom corded overalls in pink or green (come on), and the cocktails are genuinely impressive. The Citron Presse is made with lemon monochrome and clarified fromage blanc. While fromage blanc does translate to cottage cheese, fear not. This is not cottage cheese floating in your drink; fromage blanc is essentially yogurt, and the clarified version gives you all of the flavor and none of the dairy.
For only 3.50 euros, you can also get a tiny beer cocktail called a Galopin, which is refreshing and passion fruit-forward. Sitting outside with one of their drinks while on the quieter side of Lyon is peak bliss.
The Bottom Line
These bars and wine spots barely scratch the surface. Lyon is a cultural, historic, foodie haven that deserves way more hype (and don’t even get me started on bouchons). I hope to write about all the food I ate in Lyon soon, but until then, cheers to all of your future drinks in one of France’s most underrated cities.
