Parc de la Tête d'Or

Lyon


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, France's largest urban park was landscaped in the 1860s. It's graced by a lake (rent a row boat), botanic gardens with greenhouses, rose gardens, a zoo and a tourist train. Take bus C1 (from Part-Dieu train station) or bus C5 (from place Bellecour and Hôtel de Ville) to the Parc Tête d'Or-Churchill stop.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Lyon attractions

1. Musée d'Art Contemporain

0.55 MILES

Lyon's contemporary-art museum mounts edgy temporary exhibitions and a rotating permanent collection of post-1960 art. It sometimes closes for several…

2. Atelier de Tissage

0.55 MILES

Accessible strictly by guided tour, this wonderful old workshop houses looms that produce large fabrics. It's best visited in conjunction with the nearby…

3. Atelier de Passementerie

0.59 MILES

Preserved for posterity by the Soierie Vivante association, this silk-trimmings workshop functioned until 1979, weaving braids and intricate pictures…

4. Maison des Canuts

0.68 MILES

On a 50-minute guided tour, learn about weavers' labour-intensive life and the industry's evolution, see manual looms in use, and browse the silk boutique…

5. Jardin Rosa Mir

0.8 MILES

The Jardin Rosa Mir is a walled garden decorated with thousands of seashells accessed off a narrow laneway.

6. Opéra de Lyon

0.83 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…

7. Place des Terreaux

0.95 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…

8. Musée des Beaux-Arts

0.97 MILES

This stunning and eminently manageable museum showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside of Paris, from antiquity onwards…