Lyon Old Town and Fourviere Guided Walking Tour

Place Bellecour and the funicular to Fourvière

The walk starts on Place Bellecour, the vast open square at the centre of the Presqu'île, the peninsula between the Rhône and the Saône; it is among the largest pedestrian squares in Europe, with an equestrian statue in the middle, a Ferris wheel in winter and the tourist office on one side, so it is the natural starting point for any Lyon city highlights tour. From here the guide leads you across the Saône to the Vieux Lyon metro station, where the Fourvière funicular, running since 1900, climbs the steep hill in a few minutes; your tickets are included in the tour.

Our guide spends about ten minutes on Bellecour setting out the geography of the city, which makes the rest of the walk easy to follow: Roman hill, medieval and Renaissance old town below it, and the Presqu'île of merchants and silk weavers across the river. The funicular saves the long staircase that otherwise makes Fourvière hard work.

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière and the viewpoint

At the top of the hill stands the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, built between 1872 and 1896 in a mix of Byzantine and Gothic styles that Lyonnais fondly call the upside-down elephant because of its four towers. The interior is covered in mosaics, marble and gilded detail, and the crypt below is a second church in its own right. Beside it the esplanade gives the classic panorama of Lyon: the red roofs of Vieux Lyon, the two rivers, the Presqu'île and, on a clear day, the white line of the Alps on the horizon.

The group spends about fifteen minutes here, enough for the guide to explain why the basilica was built, for a look inside if a service is not in progress, and for photos from the terrace. The Fourvière Basilica is open daily and entry is free, so you can return later for the rooftop tour or the museum of religious art, which are not included.

The ancient Roman theatres of Lugdunum

A few minutes' walk from the basilica the hillside opens onto the Roman theatres of Lugdunum, the colony founded in 43 BC that became the capital of Roman Gaul. The Grand Theatre, begun around 15 BC, is the oldest in France and once seated some ten thousand spectators on its curved stone tiers; beside it the smaller Odeon was used for music and readings and keeps its marble floor. Both are still used for a summer festival of concerts, and the archaeological museum built into the slope displays the mosaics, inscriptions and everyday objects found on the site.

The guide gives about ten minutes here, which is time to walk onto the tiers and understand how the Romans laid out the city on the hill before medieval Lyon moved down to the riverbank. Entry to the theatres is free and open daily; the museum beside them is a separate paid visit for another day.

Saint-Jean Cathedral and the Longue Traboule

Walking down the hill brings you into Vieux Lyon at the Cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, built between the 12th and 15th centuries and famous for its 14th-century astronomical clock, which still strikes and sets its figures moving several times a day. The square in front is the heart of the old town and the point where the three Renaissance quarters, Saint-Jean, Saint-Paul and Saint-Georges, meet. From here the guide leads you into the Longue Traboule, the longest of the hidden passageways that run from street to street through private courtyards and stairwells.

The traboules were built so that silk weavers and merchants could move goods between parallel streets without going round the block, and later served as escape routes for the Resistance during the Second World War. About fifteen minutes at the cathedral and ten in the traboule give you a real sense of how the old town works behind its doors.

Vieux Lyon and the bouchon restaurants

Vieux Lyon is the largest Renaissance district in France and the reason the city's historic centre was listed by UNESCO in 1998: rue Saint-Jean, rue du Bœuf and rue Juiverie are lined with 15th- and 16th-century merchants' houses in pink and ochre stone, with spiral staircase towers, galleried courtyards and carved doorways. This is also where you find the bouchons, the small traditional restaurants of Lyon serving quenelles of pike, salade lyonnaise, sausages with lentils, praline tart and the cheese spread called cervelle de canut on chequered tablecloths.

The guide walks the district for about twenty minutes, pointing out the Rose Tower and the finest courtyards, then shares recommendations for genuine bouchons rather than the tourist imitations, because food is the other reason people come to Lyon. Lunch or dinner is not included, so keep an appetite for after the tour.

The Saône, Place des Terreaux and the City Hall

The final stretch follows the bank of the Saône, the gentler of Lyon's two rivers, past the footbridges and the painted facades that face the old town, and climbs onto the Presqu'île at Place des Terreaux. The square is framed by the 17th-century City Hall, with its grand facade and slate domes, and by the Palais Saint-Pierre, a former abbey that now houses the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the largest in France outside Paris. In the centre splashes the Bartholdi Fountain of 1889, four straining horses pulling a chariot that represents a river rushing to the sea.

The tour ends here after about two hours with ten minutes each at the fountain and the City Hall. From Terreaux you are a short walk from the Opera, the shopping streets of the Presqu'île and the Hôtel-Dieu, so the guide's final tips point you to the best things to do in Lyon for the rest of your day.