Custom Private Tour
Tell me what you want from Lyon. I’ll design a day built entirely around it, and I’ll guide it myself.
Days I’ve Actually Built
These aren’t hypothetical packages. They’re real days I’ve planned and guided, reshaped here to give you a sense of how a custom day actually unfolds.
A couple had just moved to Lyon and wanted more than a tourist’s introduction to their own neighborhood. They wanted to understand it.
We started at the Croix-Rousse market at 10am. Not a tasting tour, a practical one. I showed them how to read a market stall: which vendors sell only what’s actually in season, which ones are padding their tables with imported filler, and why that distinction matters when you’re going to be shopping here every week for years, not just once on vacation. We moved slowly, stall by stall, for about ninety minutes.
Then we took a real break. Forty-five minutes at a local bakery, coffee, something fresh out of the oven, no itinerary pressure. That pause is part of the design, not a gap in it.
From there we walked down through the Croix-Rousse passageways into the silk district, and I worked in the practical layer they actually needed: how the metro works, which lines serve their new neighborhood, what to expect as new residents rather than as visitors. We finished at Hôtel de Ville around 2pm, four hours after we started.
A custom day means the conversation can go wherever it needs to. This one went somewhere a fixed tour never could.
We reconnected a few days later when they invited me to a concert. That’s not something that happens on a standard tour.— Matt, on how this day ended
About This Tour
Not everyone wants the same thing from Lyon.
Some people want to spend a morning at the farmers market, buy a few things, then sit in a café and talk about where else to go. Some people want to spend three hours going deep on the architecture or the history of the silk trade. Some people just want a local with them while they shop so they don’t end up with something they’ll regret.
This is the tour where that actually happens. I plan it around you specifically, then I guide it myself from start to finish.
Before we meet, I send you a short questionnaire. Not paperwork, intake. What you’re interested in, what you want to avoid, how long you have, what kind of pace you like. I use it to build a day that fits your trip instead of asking you to fit mine.
I’ve done half days at the market that turned into a walk through the traboules and ended up at a café for two hours of good conversation. I’ve spent afternoons just walking the city center talking about the architecture. Every one has been different, because every client is different.
If you’re not sure which of my tours fits what you’re looking for, this is probably the right option.
A custom day costs more than my Croix-Rousse or Vieux Lyon tours. That’s not a markup, it’s the honest cost of the work. Those tours follow a route I’ve walked dozens of times. A custom day starts from nothing. I read your questionnaire, think through what would actually work for you, and build a day that’s never existed before. You’re not paying for my time on the day itself. You’re paying for the planning that happens before I ever show up.
This works best if you:
- Have specific interests that don’t fit a standard tour
- Want a full day or half day with a local who can adapt as you go
- Are returning to Lyon and want something beyond the highlights
- Want a guide who plans around you, not the other way around
Some Places to Start
People come to Lyon for a lot of reasons. It’s France’s food capital, a real French city without the Paris-sized crowds, packed with history and architecture, and a short train ride from the Alps, Beaujolais, and Provence. Whatever pulled you here, a custom day can be built around it. Here’s the raw material I’m usually working with.
Food & Gastronomy
Lyon is widely considered the gastronomic capital of France. Bouchons, the market, a wine bar that doesn’t take reservations. I’ll take you to what’s actually good, not what’s just touristy.
Real Lyon, Not Postcard Lyon
For people who want a major French city without feeling like a tourist in it. We go where Lyonnais actually go, at the pace they actually move.
Landmarks & Architecture
Fourvière, the Renaissance streets of Vieux Lyon, the traboules. If you only do one thing in Lyon, I think it should be Fourvière. A custom day gives you real time there, not a rushed photo stop.
History That Has Real Stakes
The Canut silk weavers, Roman ruins most tourists never find, the layers most people walk straight past. Good for anyone who wants the story behind what they’re looking at.
Day Trips Beyond Lyon
Beaujolais wine country, the foothills of the Alps, smaller towns nearby. Lyon is a genuinely good home base if you want to see more of this part of France.
Shopping & Local Makers
From the Presqu’île’s shopping streets to small, independent makers most visitors never find. I’ll point you toward what’s actually worth your suitcase space.
Market Literacy
Not a tasting tour. I’ll teach you how to actually read a market stall, what’s seasonal, what’s authentic, what’s filler, so you shop like someone who lives here.
New to Lyon
For people relocating or staying long term. Less sightseeing, more practical orientation: neighborhoods, transit, where to actually shop.
None of these are fixed packages. They’re starting points. Most custom days end up combining two or three of them, or going somewhere none of them predicted.
How I Think About Building Your Day
When your questionnaire comes back, I’m not matching you to a template. I’m asking a specific set of questions before I plan anything.
What do you already know, and what do you actually want to learn? Two people who both say “history” usually want completely different things once you dig in. One wants the Roman ruins. The other wants to understand why their Airbnb’s building has a weird spiral staircase in it.
How much do you want to walk, and how much do you want to sit and talk? Some of the best custom days I’ve run have more café time than walking time. That’s not a lesser version of a tour. For the right client, it’s the whole point.
What would make you feel like you wasted a day? This is the question that actually shapes the plan. If rushing through too many stops would ruin it for you, I build in less. If missing something would bother you more than being tired, I build in more.
By the time we meet, I’m not improvising. I’ve already thought through the order, the pacing, and the backup plan if the weather or your energy changes halfway through. You show up and live the day. I’ve already done the work of designing it.
How It Works
You Get in Touch
Email me with a rough idea of what you’re looking for. Half day or full day, any dates in mind, how many people.
I Send a Short Questionnaire
A few questions about your interests, what you want to avoid, and what kind of pace you like. Takes about five minutes.
We Meet and Go
I show up prepared. The day is built around you. If something changes along the way, we change with it.
Tell Me What You’re After
Email me a rough idea, food, history, architecture, your new neighborhood, whatever it is, and I’ll start building your day around it.
Start Planning Your Day