Lyon · FR
Lyon Highlights
From the Fourvière hilltop down through Vieux Lyon to the grand squares of the Presqu'île.
What's the walk about?
Welcome to Lyon, France's spectacular second city, where two rivers meet and two thousand years of history climb the hillsides. This walk starts at the very top, beside the gleaming white Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière, with the whole city spread out beneath you in every direction. From there we wander downhill into the Renaissance maze of Vieux Lyon, cross the Saône, and finish among the elegant squares and lively streets of the Presqu'île. Along the way you'll meet ancient Roman theatres, a Gothic cathedral with a magical astronomical clock, playful painted walls, Baroque grandeur, and some of the widest open spaces in Europe. Comfortable shoes and an appetite for discovery are all you need.
What you'll see
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1
Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière
Basilica
The gleaming white basilica that crowns the Fourvière hill, Lyon's most beloved landmark and the source of the city's grandest panorama.
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2
Théâtres romains de Fourvière
Roman ruins
Two weathered Roman theatres carved into the hillside, the cradle of ancient Lugdunum and the oldest stage in Roman Gaul.
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3
Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Cathedral
Vieux Lyon's great Gothic and Romanesque cathedral, home to a fourteenth-century astronomical clock that still keeps time on its original workings.
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4
Place du Change
Square
The Renaissance money market of Vieux Lyon, ringed by tall merchant houses and watched over by Soufflot's elegant exchange hall.
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5
La Fresque des Lyonnais
Mural
Lyon's most famous trompe-l'oeil mural, a towering blank wall painted to look like an ordinary apartment building from whose windows and balconies thirty celebrated Lyonnais lean out across two thousand years of the city's history.
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6
Place des Terreaux
Square
A grand square in the heart of the Presqu'ile, framed by the City Hall and the fine arts museum and dominated by Bartholdi's monumental fountain of four rearing horses.
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7
Hotel de Ville de Lyon
Landmark building
Lyon's lavish seventeenth century city hall, one of the grandest Baroque town halls in France, closing the eastern side of the Place des Terreaux with its ornate facade and tall belfry.
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8
Eglise Saint-Nizier
Church
A Flamboyant Gothic church at the core of the Presqu'ile, recognisable by its two unequal spires and a classical Renaissance doorway, standing on one of the most ancient Christian sites in Lyon.
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9
Rue Mercière
Historic street
Rue Mercière is one of Lyon's oldest streets, once the engine of its famous printing trade and now its most beloved row of bouchon restaurants. Its tall Renaissance houses, lanterns, and spilling terraces make it the warm, convivial heart of the Presqu'île.
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10
Place des Jacobins
Square
Place des Jacobins is an elegant pedestrian square built over a vanished Dominican convent, centered on one of Lyon's most ornate marble fountains. Four statues of the city's greatest artists look down from the fountain's arcades.
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11
Place Bellecour
Square
Place Bellecour is one of the largest open squares in Europe, a vast expanse of rose colored gravel at the very center of Lyon. At its heart rides a bronze Louis XIV, surveying the city from horseback.
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