Crowning the hill, with stunning city panoramas from its terrace, this superb example of late-19th-century French ecclesiastical architecture is lined with magnificent mosaics. From April to November, free 30-minute discovery visits take in the main features of the basilica and crypt; otherwise, 90-minute rooftop tours ('Visite Insolite') climax on the stone-sculpted roof. Reserve tickets in advance online for the latter.
© Frederic Prochasson/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière
Lyon
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.61 MILES
Lyon's race toward the future is personified in this reborn industrial district near the southern tip of Presqu'île. Once a landscape of empty warehouses…
2.02 MILES
This eye-catching building, designed by the Viennese firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, is the crowning glory of Lyon's newest neighbourhood, the Confluence, at…
0.26 MILES
Lyon's partly Romanesque cathedral was built between the late 11th and early 16th centuries. The portals of its Flamboyant Gothic facade, completed in…
0.27 MILES
Housed in a 16th-century mansion built for two rich Florentine bankers, this twin-themed exhibition space incorporates an excellent local history museum,…
0.65 MILES
The centrepiece of the Presqu'île's beautiful central square is a 19th-century fountain made of 21 tonnes of lead and sculpted by Frédéric-Auguste…
0.63 MILES
This stunning and eminently manageable museum showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside of Paris, from antiquity onwards…
0.79 MILES
Lyon's neoclassical 1831-built opera house was modernised in 1993 by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel, who added the striking semi-cylindrical glass…
1.6 MILES
If you're museumed out, head to this lovely space north of the centre, which provides a green haven for nature lovers and families. Spanning 117 hectares,…
Nearby Lyon attractions
1. Musée Gallo-Romain de Fourvière
0.17 MILES
For an enlightening historical perspective on the city's past, start your visit at this archaeological museum on the hillside of Fourvière. It hosts a…
0.21 MILES
Lyon's Roman theatre, built around 15 BC and enlarged in AD 120, sat an audience of 10,000. Romans held poetry readings and musical recitals in the…
0.24 MILES
This maze-like museum on tourist-busy rue St-Jean provides an unusual insight into the making of movie sets and special effects achieved with the use of…
4. Cathédrale St-Jean-Baptiste
0.26 MILES
Lyon's partly Romanesque cathedral was built between the late 11th and early 16th centuries. The portals of its Flamboyant Gothic facade, completed in…
0.27 MILES
Facing the river in old Lyon, the grandiose neo-classical Palais de Justice is well worth a gander.
0.27 MILES
Housed in a 16th-century mansion built for two rich Florentine bankers, this twin-themed exhibition space incorporates an excellent local history museum,…
7. Le Petit Musée Fantastique de Guignol
0.29 MILES
The star of this tiny, two-floor museum is Guignol, the Lyonnais puppet famous for its slapstick antics and political commentary. Various animated scenes…
0.49 MILES
Well-known Lyonnais peer out from this beautifully executed seven-storey mural, including loom inventor Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752–1834), Renaissance…