Raving in a field is all good, but there’s a certain charm to a city-based music festival. Sonar’s always been top of the list in this category – as a destination, Barcelona’s hard to beat – but if you fancy something a little different, head over to Lyon this month for the annual Nuits Sonores festival.

The five-day, five-night festival is dedicated to electronic music, much like Sonar, and this will be its eighth year. The Nuits Sonores is steadily gaining a reputation as one of Europe’s top electronic festivals, lovingly curated by the Arty Farty collective.

Kicking off on 12 May, this year’s festival will host more than 250 artists who’ll be playing on 40 stages dotted around the city. Lyon’s beautiful, so venue-hopping is a great way to explore the place.

Lyon is the third largest city in France and prides itself on its food, so head to the Village Mixmove at the Palais de la Bourse for some lunch and browse the exhibition space, which hosts record labels, equipment and clothes.

When you’re finished, look out for the ‘The Mini Tour’; a collection of 15 vintage Austin Minis driven by locals who’ll take you to different venues in the city – for free. They’re so proud of their city, the Lyonnaise, that it’s just a pleasure. Lyon also has a bike rental system like Paris, and, as the city sits at the convergence of the Rhône and Saône rivers, cycling down the river bank is very picturesque. Much of the city life happens on the banks of rivers and some of the festival’s best venues are also here.

Don’t miss the Piscine du Rhône, a swimming pool with an architecturally stunning modernist edifice. Last year Phil Asher, Shea Soul and Gilles Peterson all performed here as the sun set over the river and cast its rosy glow over the DJ booth. This year is set to be equally memorable with Danny Krivit, Joe Claussell, Francois K hosting their Body & Soul session. The pool’s drained for the occasion, so there’s less chance of a nasty accident.

Head back down to the water and check out the parties taking place on the boats at the quais de Rhône. They’re all great little clubs with more of a fringe feel, but all with good sound, creative interiors and different music themes.

But the Nuits Sonore’s piece de resistance is the Marché Gare, where most of the evening’s entertainment takes place. The festival commissions architects each year to create something spectacular to complement the music. 2009 was all about massive fluorescent installations – this year’s design has yet to be revealed. The line-up includes Mayer Hawthorne & The County, Pris Thomas, Jesse Rose, Laurent Garnier, Todd Terje and Lyon’s own Agoria.

If you fancy a night cap after all the excitement, L’Ambassade is a cosy club right in the centre of town. It has a quality music policy overseen by Buzzin Fly’s Manoo, who also played at last year’s Siestes Sonores party in the Parc de la Cerisaie under a blue sky and blazing sun.

For more tickets and more information, click here.