Lyon · Self-guided audio walk

Fourvière: Roman Lugdunum and the Hill Above the City

From the hilltop basilica to the Roman theatres, then a rose garden path back down toward the river.

6Stops
1.4 kmDistance
25+ minTime

Take the F2 funicular from Vieux Lyon to the top of Fourvière, then walk the hill back down through 2,000 years of Lyon's history. The route opens on the esplanade panorama, goes inside the free basilica and past the 1894 steel tower, then drops to the Roman theatres and the Lugdunum museum built into the hillside.

The F2 funicular runs from Vieux Lyon on a standard TCL ticket; a dedicated round trip costs €3.60. Museum admission is €4 at full price outside temporary exhibitions, and free on the first Sunday of the month. The walk ends in the Jardin du Rosaire, a terraced rose garden path that zigzags toward Vieux Lyon.

Hear it on the street

Get the turn-by-turn audio guide in the app. The narration plays itself as you reach each stop, hands-free and offline.

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Stop by stop

The route

Interactive map of the route. The full stop list below works without it.

Must see

Photo by Jens Freudenau on Unsplash

Esplanade de Fourvière

0:00

The terrace beside the upper funicular station, with the whole of Lyon laid out below.

The F2 funicular from Vieux Lyon drops you a few metres behind this terrace, and any standard TCL ticket covers the ride. If you bought the dedicated round trip, it cost 3 euros 60. Now turn to the rail. This is the view that made Fourvière the city's front balcony.

The Saône curves below, the rooftops of Vieux Lyon crowd the near bank, and the cathedral of Saint-Jean rises almost directly beneath you. The gilded Virgin on the chapel beside the basilica has looked over this same sweep since 1852, long before the big church existed. On a clear day the view keeps running past the city toward the Alps.

Open in Google Maps

≈1 min walk to the next stop

Must see

Photo by Dennis G. Jarvis on Wikimedia Commons

Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière

0:00

A 19th-century votive basilica with free entry to its mosaics and its quieter lower crypt.

Lyon promised this church in 1870, when the city came through the Franco-Prussian War. Work began in 1872 and the main construction was finished by 1884, to a plan by the architect Pierre Bossan. He used Roman and Byzantine forms with Gothic touches, and set four corner towers so the silhouette reads from almost anywhere in the city. Walk in free of charge.

The upper nave glitters with mosaics and stained glass. Below it, the crypt dedicated to Saint Joseph is lower, plainer, and quieter. Both are open every day, the nave from 7 am to 8 pm and the crypt from 8 am to 6:30 pm. Before you go, look back at the gilded Virgin above the old chapel, still facing the city she was set to watch in 1852.

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≈3 min walk to the next stop

Local pick

Photo by *_* on Openverse

Tour métallique de Fourvière

0:00

The 1894 steel viewing tower that now carries the city's broadcasts.

Go around the back of the basilica and this steel lattice tower rises on the ridge, the one corner of Fourvière that looks nothing like a church. It went up between 1892 and 1894 for the Lyon Exposition, and opened on 2 May 1894 as a viewing tower. A hydraulic lift carried visitors up to an observatory about 80 metres high. The mast tops out at 101 metres, or 85.9 metres if you count only the tower and not the antenna. Sightseeing ended long ago; today the tower carries radio and television signals across the city. From the rail you can see how narrow the ridge is here, with the tower, the basilica, and the river all within a few hundred metres.

Open in Google Maps

≈8 min walk to the next stop

Free preview ends here · stops 4 to 6 continue in the app

Théâtres romains de Fourvière

A 10,000-seat Roman theatre and its smaller odeon, cut into the hill around 15 BC.

in app

Musée Lugdunum

A museum built as a buried spiral into the hillside, holding Lugdunum's Roman finds.

in app

Jardin du Rosaire

A terraced rose garden path that zigzags down the hill toward the river.

in app

Good to know

Before you go

Is the basilica free to enter?

Yes. The Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière is free, including the lower crypt, and opens daily from 07:00 to 20:00, until 21:00 on Sundays.

SourceNotre-Dame de Fourvière

Does the funicular cost extra?

No, the F2 funicular uses the standard TCL ticket. A 1-trip ticket for zones 1 and 2 costs €2.10, and a same-day funicular round trip costs €3.60.

SourceTCL 1-trip ticketTCL funicular round trip

Are the Roman theatres free?

The Roman theatres are open-air archaeological sites with set opening hours: 07:00 to 21:00 from May to September and 07:00 to 19:00 from October to April. The Lugdunum museum next to them has a €4 full ticket outside temporary exhibitions.

SourceLugdunum Musée et théâtres romains

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Provenance · last verified August 22, 2026

Built from the Wayside route itself: the stops, their order, and the walk between them.

Photo by Thomas K on Unsplash

Photo by Jens Freudenau on Unsplash

Photo by Dennis G. Jarvis on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo by *_* on Openverse · CC BY 2.0

Photo by Jacmin on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo by Blueberry-026 on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo by genevieveromier on Openverse · CC BY 2.0

Photo by SashiRolls on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo by corno.fulgur75 on Openverse · CC BY 2.0

Photo by ell brown on Openverse · CC BY-SA 2.0