Rhone, France
Self-catering Rhone holiday rental homes - Chalets Rhone
Rhône is a department located in central eastern France in the Rhône-Alpes region. It is named after the Rhône River. Lyon is the capital of both the department and the Rhône-Alpes region - well worth a visit when renting a Rhone holiday home. This Rhone is famed for being the French capital of gastronomy, due to the presence of many of France's finest chefs in the city. This reputation also comes from the fact that two of France's best known wine-growing regions are located near Lyon: the Beaujolais to the North, and the Côtes du Rhône to the South. Beaujolais wine enjoys enormous popularity in Lyon and remains the most common table wine served with local dishes - you will be sure to sample some when staying in your holiday rental house or chalet in Rhone, France.
Lyon was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. The specific regions composing the Historic Site include the Roman district and Fourvière, the Renaissance district (Vieux Lyon), the silk district (slopes of Croix-Rousse), and the Presqu'île, which features architecture from the 12th century to modern times. Both Vieux Lyon and the slopes of Croix-Rousse are known for their narrow passageways (named traboules) that pass through buildings and link streets on either side.
December 8 each year is marked by the Festival of Lights and is worth a visit when you rent a holiday house in the Rhone. During the event, locals place candles at their windows and the city of Lyon organizes impressive large-scale light shows onto the sides of important Lyonnais monuments.
The Lumière brothers pioneered cinema in the town in 1895. The Musée Lumière, built as Auguste Lumiere's house, and a fascinating piece of architecture in its own right, holds many of their first inventions and other early cinematic and photographic artefacts.
The second town of the Rhone department is Villefranche-sur-Saône and, since the 14th, has been the capital of the Beaujolais region. Its golden-coloured buildings typify the pretty villages waiting to be discovered when you visit Rhone.
Travelling to your self-catering Rhone holiday rental property
By Air: Lyon Saint-Exupéry International Airport is easy to reach. Easyjet flies there from London Gatwick and Stansted airports, and also Liverpool at seasonal times. British Airways flies from London Heathrow. BMI departs from Manchester and Air France operates flights to Lyon from Birmingham. Finally Aer Lingus has a regular service from Dublin. By Train: Lyon has two major railway stations: Lyon Part-Dieu, which was built to accommodate the TGV. Lyon Perrache is an older station that now primarily serves regional rail services. In practice, many trains, including TGVs, serve both stations. Paris to Lyon via TGV is just over 2 hours. By Road: Lyon is at the heart of a dense road network and is located at the meeting point of several auto routes: including the A6 (to Paris), A7 (to Marseille), A43 (to Grenoble). The city is now bypassed by the A46. A double motorway tunnel passes under Fourvière, connecting the A6 and the A7 auto routes, both forming the "Autoroute du Soleil". Journey time form Paris is 4 ½ hours.