Lyon

Lyon is the pick for travelers who come to France to eat. Its bouchons, small traditional restaurants, serve the city's rich, meat-heavy cooking, and some carry an official Bouchon Lyonnais label for keeping to local tradition. Between meals, the traboules, covered passageways cutting through buildings and courtyards between parallel streets, turn the old town into something to explore rather than just admire. The city center has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998. Paris wins on world-class museums and sheer scale. Lyon wins on pace and appetite, and an early December visit lands on the Fête des Lumières, four evenings of light installations across the city.