Lyon

Founded some 2,000 years ago, the centre of Lyon is described as one big World Heritabe Site. There is a large renaissance historic centre, Roman ruins, a historis industrial distic and the impressive 19th Century Presqu’île quarter.

Old Lyon

One of the largest renaissance old quarters in Europe. With the silk industry flourishing in the 15,k 16 and 17th Centuries, threre are large grand h omes in gothic, Italian and French renaissance styles. More than 300 buildings of such remain in the districts of Saint-Jean, Saint-Georges and Saint-Paules.

Traboules

In Vieux Lyon and La Croix-Rousse Saône are an architectural feature unique to this city: Traboules are delightful renaissance passageways, some 40 of which are open to the public, running beneath buildings in the direction of the Saône River. They gave the city’s silk workers direct access to riverbank, making it quick and easy to transport textiles, while also offering shelter from the elements. Nearly all of these passageways are part of residential properties, so it’s a good idea to go quietly. The best place to start your adventure is around Quai Fulchiron Rolland and Rue des Trois Maries.

 Fourvière Basilica

Massive church easily seen standing on the Fourvière hill to west of the city. One oif a nunmber of iconic hill-top churches built in major French cities in the late-19th century. Inside are extravagant interiors and the Museum of Sacred Art, and to ascend the north tower for one of Lyon’s best photo ops.

Parc de la Tête d’Or

North of the centre, this is a large urban park.

Presqu’île

A finger of land between the Rhône and Saône, Presqu’île was man-made by a humungous 18th-century urban engineering project, draining marshes and connecting what was once an island with dry land. It’s where most things “happen” in the city, a district of glorious 19th-century architecture, wide plazas, shops, cultural institutions, restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs. Lyon’s opera house and city hall are located here, while if you’re peckish Rue Mercière is basically one long line of superb restaurants.

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon

Housed in a former abbey from the 1600s, the Musée des Beaux-Arts is France’s largest fine art museum after the Louvre in Paris. There are 70 rooms here, with paintings from the 1300s to the 1900s, sculpture and displays of both Egyptian and Oriental art. The Antiquities department is a trove of some 600 Ancient Egyptian artefacts, including reliefs, busts, statuettes and sarcophagi, as well as monumental gates recovered from the Medamud temple.

Ancient Theatre of Fourvière

This Roman amphitheatre is o high on the left bank of the Saône River. And 2,000 years after it was built it is still a performance venue during the Nuits de Fourvière drama festival every June and July. At its peak it would have held 10,000 spectators, but only the middle and lower terraces of the cavea remain. Where the seating has been lost though, you can see the fascinating substructure of the cavea, which continues far up the hillside. The theatre was rediscovered in the late-19th century and restored over the next 40 years.

Lyon Cathedral

The city’s fabulous cathedral is a mostly gothic construction built between the 12th and 15th centuries. The majority of the original stained-glass windows are still here and date to the 1300s. They had been dismantled and packed away during the Second World War to save them from bomb damage. The most captivating are the north, south and west roses, as well as the apse’s lancet. The astronomical clock inside is nine metres tall and was installed in the 1300s. Under the main clock-face is an astrolabe, added in the 1600s, that can show the position of the earth, sun and moon. Above it are automated figures that put on a little show when the chimes are rung on the hour.

Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse

This food market is named after one of France’s culinary giants, in France’s capital of cuisine, so you can be sure of the quality of what’s inside. It’s a food-lover’s dream, a hand-picked assembly of the region’s  best food merchants, selling charcuterie, cheese, meat, fruit and vegetables. There are also several proper restaurants in the complex, full of locals at lunch. So it’s a place to do your food shopping if you’re self-catered, get a delicious Lyonnaise meal and also buy regional specialities to take home. As with most French food markets, Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse is best visited in the morning, long before the stalls close down for lunch.