Lyon Festival of Lights 2026: Where to Stay to Make the Most of It

The 2026 Fête des Lumières, Lyon’s Festival of Lights, runs from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December. The artworks light up from 7pm to 11pm, except on Sunday 6 December, from 6pm to 10pm. The event is free and, according to the City of Lyon, it welcomes around two million visitors.

In the evening, the city centre is explored on foot: from 5pm (4pm on Sunday), traffic is banned across a wide area of the Presqu’île, the peninsula between the Rhône and the Saône. Choosing where to stay therefore comes down to one question: do you want to sleep at the heart of the trail, or close to the station and the Parc de la Tête d’Or? This guide brings together the official dates and times, the main festival sites, the access rules and two addresses, one for each case.

Dates and times of the 2026 Festival of Lights

The City of Lyon has announced the 2026 edition from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December. Unless stated otherwise on an artwork’s page, the times are as follows.

The Parc de la Tête d’Or follows its own timetable, because access is limited. It is cleared of visitors from 3.30pm to 6pm (2.30pm to 5pm on Sunday), then reopens for the evening.

The 2026 programme is online on the official website: 27 artworks across 21 sites. A printed version is announced for late November.

The main festival sites

The artworks change every year, but several sites host the festival at every edition. The official website presents five of them as its “historic spots”.

In 2026, Place Bellecour also hosts two artworks: Twist & Shine and Mission Lumignons, destination NGC2392.

Place des Terreaux, Place des Jacobins and the banks of the Saône are on the Presqu’île, between the Rhône and the Saône. Saint-Jean Cathedral is in Vieux Lyon, the old town, on the other side of the Saône. The Parc de la Tête d’Or is on the left bank of the Rhône, in the north of the 6th arrondissement.

8 December, a festival born in 1852

The Fête des Lumières is a Lyon tradition that dates back to 1852 and has been organised by the City of Lyon around 8 December since 1999. That evening, many Lyon residents place lumignons, small candles in glass holders, on their windowsills.

The official website also highlights the Lumignons du Cœur, an initiative that supports a different charity every year. On 8 December 2026, the entire TCL public transport network is free from 4pm.

Getting around: the Presqu’île is best explored on foot

The City of Lyon has published the arrangements for the 2026 edition. Two areas, one on the Presqu’île and the other around the Parc de la Tête d’Or, are closed to traffic on Saturday 5, Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 December from 5pm to midnight, and on Sunday 6 December from 4pm to 11pm. Around forty pedestrian entrances, roughly every 100 metres, give access to them.

• On foot: bicycles and scooters are banned throughout the area. Four footbridges over the Saône are closed during the same hours: Palais de Justice, Homme de la Roche, Saint-Vincent and Paul Couturier (Saint-Georges).
• By car: cars and motorbikes can no longer drive inside the closed areas, and car parks located inside them cannot be entered or exited: a vehicle parked inside stays there until the area reopens. The Indigo Bellecour, Célestins, Grôlée, Terreaux, Tupin Central Park, Saint-Jean and Saint-Antoine car parks are fully closed during festival hours; the Antonin Poncet, Bourse, République, Hôtel de Ville and Saint-Georges car parks no longer accept incoming vehicles. Car parks that remain open include Berthelot, Cordeliers, Fosse aux Ours, Confluence, Gros Caillou, Croix-Rousse, Morand and Indigo Tolozan. The City advises parking on the outskirts and reaching the festival by public transport.
• By public transport: metro, tram and some bus services run more frequently. The “TCL en fête” day pass, valid on the whole network, costs €3.70 and can be paid for directly by bank card. For Saint-Jean Cathedral, the City recommends Bellecour station rather than the very busy Vieux Lyon station (9 minutes’ walk via the Pont Bonaparte); to leave Place des Terreaux, use Cordeliers station (metro line A).
• By train: Lyon Part-Dieu and Lyon Perrache stations are connected to the city centre by metro. From Paris, the TGV journey takes about two hours.

Inside the closed areas, takeaway alcohol sales, café terraces and glass are banned, as are animals in the parks. Luggage is not allowed in the Parc de la Tête d’Or; the official website advises avoiding bags to speed up security checks. For people with reduced mobility, priority lanes, dedicated entrances, car parks and adapted routes are available on presentation of the French Carte Mobilité Inclusion.

Where to stay for the Festival of Lights

There are two approaches.

Staying on the Presqu’île means you can spend the whole evening on foot, from Vieux Lyon to Place des Terreaux, and head back after the artworks switch off without relying on the metro. It is the simplest option if you arrive by train. The trade-off: car access is restricted during festival evenings.

Staying on the left bank of the Rhône, near Lyon Part-Dieu station, puts the Parc de la Tête d’Or within walking distance and the Presqu’île a few metro stops away. A private car park also solves the parking question.

The two Citadines apart-hotels in Lyon, operated by The Ascott Limited, each match one of these cases. Their units have a fully equipped kitchen, a real advantage for families and stays of several nights.

The two addresses compared

Service prices checked in November 2026 on the residences’ pages. Car parks subject to availability.

More to see in December

The Festival of Lights ends on 8 December. For another December highlight, the Strasbourg Christmas market runs from 27 November to 24 December 2026. The Citadines apart-hotels in Lyon are listed on the city page, as are those in Strasbourg.