English/irish pubs
Kelly's Irish Pub
Irish pub, live music on saturday, irish music sessions on thursday, quiz every monday, pool, darts, irish and english pub food, air conditioning
Albion
Beer, whiskey and rock. "The best pub quiz in Lyon" - Special Music Quiz once a month.
Johnny Walsh's
Nice, authentic Irish pub with good music and some live performances.
Wallace
Comfortable beer and whisky bar with a nice terrace, live sports, pub quiz on Thursdays.
St James's Pub
Irish pub.
The Smoking Dog
English pub. Pub quiz on Tuesdays. Air conditioning.
Foreign students often gather in English or Irish pubs, which are more particularly concentrated in the Vieux Lyon area. English-speaking staff everywhere of course...
Others
L'Abreuvoir
There you can join some crazy French listening to crazy French music. Definitely an experience, though not everyone's cup of tea.
El Loco Latino
32, rue pasteur, next to the guillotiã¨re metro station. a small, but lively latin bar, open daily until 1am.
Le Perroquet Bourré
the drunk parrot, 18 rue saint catherine. cheap rum, the inside is decorated as a pirate ship.
L'Amsterdam
21 quai romain rolland, nice dutch pub.
Boats
Q-Boat
21 quai augagneur. another boat, here the hype crowd will feel at home.
Marquise
(http://www.marquise.net), quai augagneur. here you get nice alternative hip-hop, retro soul, etc. sometimes theatre performances.
At the quai Albert Augagneur is another centre of Lyon nightlife. Along the Rhone river are several out of duty riverboats péniches that serve as nightclubs or bars.
Wine bars
La Cave des Voyageurs
Opened over 20 years ago by "Jeannot", the picturesque and loud-mouthed owner of the other bar next door, this small and friendly wine bar has built a wide and interesting selection of several hundred wines over the years. Of course the locals are well represented Beaujolais, Burgundy, Rhône valley but the list also keeps expanding geographically. Also serves some quality food: ham, sausages, cheese.
Beaujolais wine: is it really that bad?
The region of Beaujolais, north of Lyon, is famed worldwide for the "Beaujolais nouveau", released on the 3rd Thursday of November each year. The average quality is terrible and due to this, the region is quite ill-reputed amongst French consumers. But there is far more to Beaujolais than nouveau. Look for the best winemakers in the ten crus, most notably Juliénas, Fleurie, Morgon, Chénas and Moulin-à -Vent. Their value for money is excellent and the best wines tend to acquire a "Burgundian" taste with age. Winemakers are usually very welcoming and the area is very beautiful.
Lyon is certainly a great starting point to explore the French vineyards: Beaujolais, Burgundy, Rhône Valley and the less known Jura, Savoie and Bugey are all within two hours drive. It is therefore unsurprising to see an increasing number of wine bars in Lyon. Here are a few addresses.
Vercoquin
See "Buy".
Live music
Le Bec de Jazz
Nice jazz club, with live jazz and a great atmosphere.
Le Phoebus
Pub with nice live music African, reggae.
Lyon offers some nice nightlife. A good starting point is Place des Terreaux and then upwards towards the Croix Rousse. In the streets that climb the hill there are many nice places.