Long Read

Lyon Side Hustles for Students: Where to Scrape Euros While Pretending to Adult

@Arthur Webb2/9/2026blog
Lyon Side Hustles for Students: Where to Scrape Euros While Pretending to Adult

look, i’m not gonna lie-lyon’s student job scene is like a baguette left in the rain: kinda soggy but salvageable if you know where to bite. rent here’ll gut you (think 600€ for a closet that smells like regret and *saucisson), but hey, at least unemployment’s only 7.8% for under-25s. not terrible for a city where the sky right now looks like god spilled his latte and forgot to wipe it up.

brown concrete building near river during daytime


here’s the deal:
Vieux Lyon cafes pay peanuts but let you pocket croissants. i worked at Le Kitchen Café last summer and learned two things: 1) tourists tip like they’re cosplaying billionaires, and 2) old french men WILL argue about espresso foam thickness.

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"bartending at Ninkasi Gerland? easy money, but prepare to wash pint glasses until your hands smell like hop-adjacent sadness." - some guy at Perrache station


need flexible hours? check Lyon-Jobs subreddit for last-minute gigs. walked dogs for a crypto bro in
La Part-Dieu once-dude paid me in bitcoin and unsolicited life advice. 10/10 would ignore again.

an aerial view of a city with a river running through it


overheard at
Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse:
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"english tutoring pays 20€/hr if you lean hard into the ‘awkshually’ accent."*

pro tip: geneva’s a 2h train ride when you need richer ~~victims~~ clients, and marseille’s where lyon students go to beach-bum between existential crises. save your metro tickets-TCL’s fines are legendary and so are the inspectors’ ninja skills.

final verdict? lyon’s like dating a hot mess-frustrating, occasionally profitable, and full of confusing cheese-based metaphors.


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About the author: Arthur Webb

Coffee addict. Tech enthusiast. Professional curious person.

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