Attractions

The city sprawls over many miles, divided, like Paris, into arrondissements. Its heart straddles the Saône, around the east bank's place Bellecour and the west bank's Primatiale St-Jean. Begin your tour of Lyon at place Bellecour, one of France's largest and most charming squares. A statue of Louis XIV looks out on the encircling 18th-century buildings. Urban sociologists are proud of Lyon's efforts to decorate some of its drab façades with trompe l'oeil murals. Among the most frequently cited works are the façade of the Musée Tony Garnier, 4 rue des Serpollières, 8e, and the fresco "des Lyonnais célèbres" in the 2e.

In Vieux Lyon

From place Bellecour, walk across pont Bonaparte to the right bank of the Saône River and Vieux Lyon. (From elsewhere in the city, you can take bus no. 28, or Métro: Vieux Lyon.) Covering about a square mile, Old Lyon contains an amazing collection of medieval and Renaissance buildings. After years of existence as a slum, the area is now fashionable, attracting antiques dealers, artisans, weavers, sculptors, and painters who depict scenes along the rue du Boeuf, one of the most interesting streets for exploring.

Your first stop should be the cathedral, Primatiale St-Jean . North of the cathedral is the most historically and architecturally evocative neighborhood of Old Lyon, with narrow streets, spiral stairs, hanging gardens, soaring towers, and unusual courtyards whose balconies seem to perch precariously atop medieval pilings or columns.

One architectural aspect that's unique to Lyon is its traboules, a series of short covered passageways that connect longer avenues running parallel to one another. Scattered throughout Vieux Lyon, they're capped with vaulted masonry ceilings. They often open unexpectedly into flower-ringed courtyards.

Try to see the Gothic arcades of the 16th-century Maison Thomassin, place du Change, and the 16th-century Hôtel du Chamarier, 37 rue St-Jean, where Mme de Sévigné lived. You can admire these buildings from the outside, but you are not allowed to enter. The neighborhood also contains the Eglise St-Paul, 3 place Gerson (tel. 04-78-28-34-45), consecrated in A.D. 549. Rebuilding began in 1084 after its destruction by the Saracens. Its octagonal lantern tower was completed in the 1100s, the rest of the premises in the 13th century. You can visit daily 2 to 6pm, and admission is free.

In Fourvière Hill

Rising to the west of Vieux Lyon is Colline de Fourvière (Fourvière Hill). The wooded hill -- home to numerous convents, colleges, and hospitals; two Roman theaters; and a superb Gallo-Roman museum -- affords a panoramic vista of Lyon. You can see the city's many bridges across the two rivers, and the rooftops of the medieval town. In clear weather, you can even view the countryside extending to the snowcapped Alps.

Enthroned on the hill's summit is the 19th-century Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière, 8 place de Fourvière (tel. 04-78-25-51-82), rising fortress-like with four octagonal towers and crenellated walls. Colored mosaics cover its interior, and an ancient chapel adjoins the church. A gilded statue of the Virgin surmounts the belfry. Admission is free; it's open daily 8am to 7pm.

Jardin du Rosaire extends along the hillside between the basilica and the 13th-century Primatiale St-Jean. It's open daily 6am to 9:30pm and promises a pleasant walk. You'll see a vast shelter for up to 200 pilgrims. Additional mobility is provided by a pair of cable-driven funiculars that make frequent (every 10 min.) runs from a point immediately adjacent to the Métro station in Vieux Lyon to the top of Fourvière Hill. Priced at 1.25€ ($1.65) each way, they run daily between 5am and midnight.

The Théâtres Romains, 6 rue de l'Antiquaille, Montée de Fourvière, a Roman theater-odeum complex, is in a park south of the basilica. The theater is the most ancient in France, built by order of Augustus from 17 to 15 B.C. and expanded during the reign of Hadrian. The odeum, reserved for musical performances, was once sumptuously decorated; its orchestra floor still contains mosaics of marble and porphyry. The third building was dedicated in A.D. 160 to the goddess Cybele, or Sibella. Only the building's foundations remain. The archaeological site can be visited daily April 15 to September 15 9am to 9pm, off season daily 7am to 7pm. Admission is free.

An altar dedicated to a bull cult and a marble statue of a goddess are on display in the Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine, 17 rue Cléberg (tel. 04-72-38-81-90), near the archaeological site. The museum's collection of Gallo-Roman artifacts is the finest in France outside Paris. The site is open Tuesday through Sunday 10am to 6pm. Admission is 6€ ($7.80) adults, 4€ ($5.20) students and children 12 to 25, and free for children under 18. Entrance is free on Thursday. Guides are available on Sundays and holidays at 3pm. Performances are given at both theaters in June and July during Les Nuits de Fourvière; make reservations at tel. 04-72-32-00-00.

Elsewhere Around the City

In addition to the sites below, you can also visit Lyon's oldest church, the 1107 Abbaye Romane de St-Martin-d'Ainay, 11 rue Bourgelat (tel. 04-72-40-02-50), south of place Bellecour, near place Ampère. Admission is free; hours are daily 8:30 to 11:30am and 3 to 6:30pm. The rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville extends north from place Bellecour to place des Terreaux, dominated by one of the most beautiful of Europe's city halls, the 1746 Hôtel de Ville. Its outside is dark and severe; the brilliant interior is closed to the public.

Outside the Heart of the City

One of Lyon's grandest archaeological sites is Amphithéâtre des Trois-Gauls, rue du Jardin-des-Plantes, Croix-Rousse (no phone), near the city's northern perimeter. You can view the site only from the outside. At the time of its construction, it was the centerpiece of Condate, a Gallic village that predated the arrival of the Romans by centuries. Various accounts have members of Gallic tribes meeting here in the earliest example of a parliamentary system. Based on that information, France's 2,000th anniversary was celebrated in Lyon in 1989.

On the opposite side of the Rhône, you can explore Lyon's largest public park and garden, the 105-hectare (259-acre) Parc de la Tête d'Or (tel. 04-78-89-02-03). Its largest entrance is on boulevard des Belges. It opened in 1857 and has all the fountains, pedestrian walkways, and statues you'd expect. Surrounded by wealthy neighborhoods, the park has a lake, a zoo, a botanic garden with greenhouses, and a rose garden with some 100,000 plants. It's open daily 7am to 10pm (until 9pm Oct-Apr). Entrance is free.

At Rochetaillée-sur-Saône, 11km (6 3/4 miles) north of Lyon on D433, the Musée Français de l'Automobile "Henri Malartre" is in the Château de Rochetaillée, 645 chemin du Musée (tel. 04-78-22-18-80). The château was built in 1131 on even older foundations and rebuilt in the 1400s. The curators are proud of the majestic 15th-century staircase, the Romanesque gateway that's part of the original 12th-century design, and a policy that permits photography, smoking, and any motorcycle-fetish garb you care to wear while admiring the collection of vehicles. The collection includes 100 cars dating to 1890, 65 motorcycles from 1903 and after, and 40 bicycles from 1818 and later. Admission to the museum and château is 6€ ($7.80) adults, 3€ ($3.90) students, and free for ages under 18. It is open Tuesday to Sunday 9am to 6pm (until 7pm July-Aug). From Lyon, take bus no. 40, 43, or 70.

Entertainment among the Ruins

During June, July, and August, when the heat can grow oppressive, consider attending one of the nocturnal events of Les Nuits de Fourvière (tel. 04-72-32-00-00; www.nuits-de-fourviere.org). Dance recitals, concerts, and plays take place under lights amid the ruins of Lyon's ancient Roman theaters atop Fourvière Hill.