The Lyon-St Exupéry international airport (tel 08.26.80.08.26, www.lyon.aeroport.fr) and the new TGV station are off the Grenobleautoroute, 20km to the southeast of the city, with a 45-minute Satobus bus link to the town centre (every 20min 5.15am–9.15pm; €8.20). The Paris to Lyon trip is actually quicker by TGV, but it's only from the air that you can appreciate architect Santiago Calatrava's design of a huge bird alighting or taking flight from the station roof.Central Lyon has two train stations: the Gare de Perrache on the Presqu'île is used mainly for ordinary trains rather than TGVs, and has the gare routière alongside; La Part-Dieu TGV station is in the 3e arrondissement to the east of the Presqu'île. Some TGV trains from Paris give the option of getting off at either station, so ask when buying your ticket. Central Lyon is linked to the suburbs by a modern, efficient and driverless métro, as well as a new tram system. There's a Bureau d'Information in the Centre Perrache at the station (July & Aug Mon–Fri 7.30am–6.30pm, Sat 9am–5pm; www.tcl.fr), where you can pick up a métro, tram, bus and funicular map; or it's just two stops on the métro to place Bellecour, where the central tourist office stands on the southeast corner (mid-April–mid-Oct Mon–Sat 9am–7pm, Sun 10am–6pm; rest of year daily 10am–6pm; tel 04.72.77.69.69, www.lyon-france.com). There's another office on avenue Adolph Max in Vieux Lyon, open in summer only (June–Aug daily 9am–7pm). Three-hour long audio Tours can be picked up at the main office (€6; in English), which also offers several different guided tours daily (€9; in English), explaining the history and architecture of the various quarters and going through some of the more interesting traboules. At métro stations or the city transport TCL offices, the cheapest way to buy tickets is in a carnet of ten (€10.60, discounts for students), or there's the Ticket Liberté, valid for 24 hours (€3.80). The ordinary tickets (€1.40) are flat-rate within an hour's duration and limited to three changes using any combination of transport. The métro runs from 5am to around midnight. Many bus lines close around 8pm.
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