10 Best Places to Go Shopping in Lyon

Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) is a neighbourhood to saunter from shop to shop looking for the perfect souvenir or a sweet or savoury treat to take home in your suitcase. Or simply steep yourself in the atmosphere of its shops, from the most original to the most traditional. 

As you wander its cobbled streets, be sure to check out Boul'dingue, a small bookshop where vintage cinema posters and comic books await or fall for an original t-shirt that will showcase your newfound love for the city at Tribu des Gones. Take home some sweet pink praline from La Marquise or saucisson brioché (sausage in brioche) from Sirop de la Rue. Finally, make the most of Lyon's famous silk-making by treating yourself to a scarf from Brochier or some fabric by the metre from La Maison Combier.

The slopes of Croix-Rousse are the perfect place to get a feel for the animated world of Lyon creation. Rue du Romarin and Montée de la Grande-Côte are overflowing with small, independent shops full of original fashion pieces and items of vintage decor, second-hand clothes shops, bookshops specialised in design and other trendy concept stores. 

The Village des Créateurs (Creators' Village) is a real hot spot for young talent supported by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region where ceramicists, seamstresses and accessory designers rival each other to the delight of passers-by. It's centred around Passage Thiaffait, a traditional alleyway at the bottom of the slopes. It's the ideal spot if you love a little shopping off the beaten track. The small cafés dotted around are perfect for a quick sit down when your bags get too heavy.

Between Place Bellecour, Les Cordeliers and Place des Jacobins, Presqu’Île's well-named Carré d'Or (Golden Square) is a mecca for fashionistas of all types. Here you can find haute couture shops, including Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Dior, and great jewellery houses, including Maier and Beaumont & Finet in the neighbourhood's poshest streets of Rue de la République, Rue Gasparin, Rue Émile Zola and Rue Président Édouard Herriott. 

There's also a place for multi-brand shops like Printemps and more affordable fashion labels such as Zara, Camaïeu and H&M making this partly pedestrianised neighbourhood an unmissable shopping spot, whatever your budget. In Passage de l'Argue, an authentic covered passageway with an atmosphere of luxury, you'll find yourself propelled back in time thanks to its shops selling hats, cutlery, gentlemen's shirts, leather and sweets, giving you some delightful time out in the middle of the city centre.

The Pôle de Commerces et de Loisirs de Confluence (Confluence trading and leisure complex) take centre stage in a fast-growing neighbourhood, south of Presqu’Île at the point where the Rhône and the Saône meet. Here, green areas and contemporary architecture reign supreme. We owe this building to Jean-Paul Viguier curving naturally to where shopping lovers come to wander around with their friends or family. The premises are partially covered and partially open-air and have patios overlooking the harbour as well as several national and international sport and leisure labels. 

Find somewhere to have a bite to eat in a pleasant setting and, if you're with young children, you'll be delighted to discover that there are several activities for them to enjoy. A cinema, a hotel, a family leisure centre and a climbing centre, Climb'Up, finish off the varied range of attractions.

With its pretty façades, wooden shop fronts and smart shop windows, Rue Auguste Comte connects Place Bellecour to Perrache and is a haven for lovers of antiques and art in a wider sense. Here, and in the adjacent streets, the shops present-day Ali Baba caves overflowing with treasures for curious souls and connoisseurs.

Items include coins and stamps, dolls and toys from the past, engravings, rare books, vintage furniture, sculptures and paintings. Modern galleries, dedicated elegant clothes boutiques and concept stores specialised in boho-chic interior decoration swell the ranks of the businesses dedicated to art de vivre and make for a pleasant walk between the world of yesteryear and the present day. If you're in Lyon on the first Thursday of October, don't miss the very select soirée Tapis Rouge (Red Carpet evening) when the boutiques present their finest attire.

Croix-Rousse Market retains a village feel, blending the countryside into the city. Its stalls mix Lyon specialities with organic fruit and vegetables and other fresh produce from farms in the region, such as meat, poultry, cheese, tripe and cold meats. Bread, bakery items, wine and flowers complete this slightly patriotic, slightly boho colourful gourmet offering. 

The sound of laughter and conversation in a southern French accent peppered with regional expressions resonates from the stalls. You can't deny you're in an authentic, friendly place where going shopping comes combined with the promise of a helping of happiness in your basket. To round off your experience of the neighbourhood's culture, order a coffee on the patio at Brasserie Chanteclair once you've finished.

It's at the gates of Lyon, in Écully, that you can find Ferme de l'Abbé Rozier (Abbé Rozier farm). Its first foundations date back to 1787 when clergymen took their first agricultural lessons there. It's not just fruit and vegetables that are cultivated over the farm's 10 hectares, but human values too. Today, the farm has thrown itself into several missions, including professional integration, organic market gardening and selling to the public, as well as restaurants in the region. 

Michelin-starred chefs from Lyon shop here with conviction. Dairy products, meat, bakery products, honey and homemade juices are all on offer. The farm is committed to the environment, composts the waste from the restaurants it works with and offers gardening classes to all.

Lyon Evening Farmer's Market is found on Place Carnot outside Perrache train station, which actually opens from 3 pm to 8 pm on Wednesdays. The first of its kind in Lyon, it enjoys a special atmosphere at the end of the afternoon in the time between leaving work and going out for dinner. Tourists and locals march up and down its only aisle as they refuel with a snack and a drink, look for inspiration for that evening's dinner or simply take in the delightful charm of the hustle and bustle. 

There are fewer traders here than at other markets, but they're all high quality: all the products come from nearby farms, the meat and the cheeses are local, the fruit and vegetables are guaranteed to be in season and the flowers are blooming fresh.

Established in 1979, Marché de la Création (Creation Marketplace) is a free-to-access, open-air exhibition area. Under the plane trees on Quai Romain Rolland, in the Vieux Lyon neighbourhood, a hundred or so artists exhibit and sell their artwork every Sunday morning, come wind, rain or shine. Painters, sculptors, photographers, engravers, ceramicists and handmade jewellery makers gather along this charming promenade to create a space for meeting, exchange, sharing and togetherness. 

They'll be delighted to share their inspiration if you ask them about their art and you can also order an original piece. Creation Marketplace is an integral part of Lyon's cultural heritage and, more than just a simple mainstream art gallery, it's a real place to celebrate humanity. That's your Sunday morning stroll sorted.

You'll find the largest food market in the city, Marché alimentaire Saint-Antoine Célestins (Saint-Antoine Célestins food market), along the Saône, opposite Vieux Lyon. Cherished by locals and chefs alike, you'll also be able to verify the freshness of the cooking if you're a morning person. Here, some 100 producers, market gardeners and farmers offer fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry, cheeses and cold meats, fish, bread and pastries, wine and fresh flowers, from Tuesday to Sunday. 

Mouthwatering aromas emanate from the stalls and store owners' tips and customers' recipes will help you envisage some of the dishes you'll be able to prepare with your ingredients. To make the moment last longer, sit down to a drink at one of the refreshment stalls along the riverside.