We live in Bordeaux, but also really enjoyed Lyon and Toulouse. If proximity to Paris and ease of travel matters to you I would take Toulouse off the list. Most of the Toulouse to Paris trains run through Bordeaux so it adds two hours to the trip, which is direct and easy from both Bordeaux and Lyon.
After that? It really depends what you want to do and how you want to spend your time, I don’t think you can go wrong between the two. Both have access to everything you need, strong expat communities, and good museums/culture/food scenes. We live in the city centre and really like being so close to everything, but the “suburbs” of Bordeaux like Talence, Begles, Pessac, Le Bouscat, etc have easy access to the city and I’m sure Lyon has equivalent neighborhoods. Bordeaux is closer to the beaches on the Atlantic side, Lyon is closer to the mountains if you think you’ll want to ski, hike, etc. Bordeaux obviously has a strong wine culture and lots to do around that, Lyon has some of the most impressive French food you’ll find outside of Paris (or even in Paris, I’m sure some of the Lyon residents would argue but I’m not here to have that fight).
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All are lovely, but very different. We chose Bordeaux due to the larger voluntary immigrant population, availability of English medical care, and the proximity to Spain. Lyon and NE Europe were readily available from our NW Italian home, so we decided, among other reasons, to go west. Happy hunting.
All-star contributor
We are south of Toulouse but if you are looking for nature and English speakers its a great area. We have 3 English Speakers FB pages in the area, if you would like links just let me know.
Marilee Taussig