Lyon: Northern Rhône Valley Wine Tour & Tastings

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.77 (171 reviews) 85% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/7

Duration6h–7h

GroupUp to 16

LanguagesEN · FR

Mobile ticketAccepted

Driving into Côte-Rôtie: Where Lyon's Best Wines Grow on Steep Slopes

You're driven from central Lyon into the steep vineyards of Côte-Rôtie, where you taste three wines directly from the winemakers who grow them and learn how the landscape shapes what's in your glass. Transport, guide, and tastings are all included; the only variable is which estates you visit, since the route adjusts to winemaker availability.

6h–7h

Step-by-step itinerary

Northern Rhône Valley wine tour

Meet guide at Place Bellecour
Travel south to Côte-Rôtie vineyards
Visit steep Côte-Rôtie vineyards
Taste aromatic Viognier white wine

The Experience

You step into the minivan at Place Bellecour in central Lyon, and within minutes the city falls away behind you. Your guide steers south toward the Côte-Rôtie vineyards, and the landscape shifts — flat streets give way to hillsides so steep that the vines seem to cling to the rock itself. This is the northern Rhône Valley, and it's where some of France's finest wines grow. The drive takes you past villages that have been making wine the same way for centuries, and you'll see why: the slopes face the sun in a way that nowhere else in the region can match.

The tour stops at working vineyards where you meet the winemakers themselves — not in a tasting room, but in the place where they actually work. They talk about terroir, about why the soil here produces wines that taste like nowhere else, and they pour three tastings as you stand among the vines. One of them is Viognier, a white wine that's aromatic and bright, grown only in this corner of the valley. The guide translates, fills in the details, and lets the conversation breathe. You're not rushing through a list; you're tasting what these people have spent their lives perfecting.

The minivan is air-conditioned and the group stays small, which means you're not herded through a script. The itinerary can shift depending on which winemakers are available on the day you go — so you might visit different estates than someone who booked last month, and that's actually the point. You get the vineyards that are open and ready to talk, not a fixed route that ignores reality. The whole day runs around eight hours, and you return to Place Bellecour in the late afternoon.

What’s included

Your day includes pickup at Place Bellecour, transport by air-conditioned minivan through the Côte-Rôtie vineyards, a local guide who speaks with the winemakers, three wine tastings (3cl glasses each), and return to central Lyon in the late afternoon. Lunch is not included.

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for back problems

Operated by Rhône Trip

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to taste northern Rhône wines where they're made and talk to the people who make them, without arranging transport or navigating the steep vineyard roads yourself — the minivan and guide handle both, and the small group size means you're not one of thirty people at a tasting counter.