Lyon.

Lyon sits where the Rhône and Saône rivers meet, a position that shaped its long history as a crossroads of trade and taste. Vieux Lyon, part of the city's UNESCO-listed historic center, holds narrow Renaissance lanes and traboules, covered passageways threaded through the old town. Above the old town, the Fourvière hill carries a basilica and views over the rooftops of the city.

The city built its reputation on food long before gastronomy became fashionable elsewhere: bouchons serve rustic Lyonnaise cooking, and Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse gathers the region's cheesemongers and pastry cooks under one roof. Croix-Rousse, once the center of the silk trade, keeps a bohemian, workshop feel.

Lyon also holds a place in film history as the birthplace of cinema, where the Lumière brothers shot their first moving pictures. Between its markets, museums, and quiet river paths, Lyon carries its gastronomic reputation with an easygoing, lived-in feel.