Bordeaux vs Lyon: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Lyon edges ahead of Bordeaux on higher occupancy (36% vs 30%), stronger RevPAR (£15 vs £12).

Head-to-head metrics

	Bordeaux	Lyon
Median occupancy	30%	36%
Median daily rate	£65	£65
Median RevPAR	£12	£15
Active listings	6,866	4,797
YoY occupancy	+8.6 pts	+4.8 pts
YoY daily rate	-7.3%	-3.7%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Bordeaux vs Lyon

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Lyon finishes clearly ahead of Bordeaux. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 27.1% higher in Lyon: £15 against £12. Lyon's listings run at 36% occupancy against 30% in Bordeaux, worth 6 extra points of booked calendar every year. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

Lyon takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £65 against £65 — and still fills more of the year, 36% against 30%. A market that leads on price and utilisation at once is normally one where demand has outrun supply, rather than one where hosts are discounting to keep the calendar busy. RevPAR reflects the double advantage at £15 against £12.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Bordeaux is not simply the weaker market of the two. Bordeaux is the deeper market at 6,866 active listings against 4,797, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. The twelve-month direction favours Bordeaux too: occupancy there moved +8.6 points while Lyon moved +4.8 points. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Bordeaux nor Lyon currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Bordeaux peaks in September at 70.7% and bottoms in February at 55.6%; Lyon runs from 77.1% in September down to 63.5% in February. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Bordeaux suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Lyon answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2025-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 4,673 active Bordeaux listings and 2,836 in Lyon.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bordeaux or Lyon better for Airbnb investment?

Lyon, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£15 vs £12), higher occupancy (36% vs 30%), and higher median annual revenue (£5,517 vs £4,335). Bordeaux is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a deeper market (6,866 vs 4,797 active listings).

Which has higher occupancy, Bordeaux or Lyon?

Lyon, at 36% median occupancy against 30% in Bordeaux — a gap of 6 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Bordeaux can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Bordeaux gained 8.6 points and Lyon gained 4.8 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Bordeaux or Lyon?

Lyon, at £65 a night against £65 in Bordeaux — roughly 1.3% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £15 in Lyon against £12, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Bordeaux or Lyon?

Bordeaux, on occupancy: +8.6 points over the last twelve months against +4.8 points in Lyon. Nightly rates fell 7.3% in Bordeaux and fell 3.7% in Lyon over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Bordeaux or Lyon?

Bordeaux, with 6,866 active listings against 4,797 in Lyon. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Bordeaux vs Lyon?

Lyon earns more: roughly £5,517 a year for a median listing against £4,335 in Bordeaux. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Bordeaux →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Lyon →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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