One day in Lyon: a self-guided walking itinerary
Two hills, two rivers, and one full day: Fourvière by funicular, the traboules of Vieux Lyon, the squares of the Presqu'île, and the canut climb to the Cour des Voraces.
Photo by Jens Freudenau on Unsplash
Interactive map of the route. The full stop list below works without it.
How do you spend one day in Lyon on foot?
This one-day Lyon route stacks the two hills and the old town into a single walkable day. You climb Fourvière by funicular first, before the tour buses arrive, then drop back into Vieux Lyon's traboules and Renaissance courtyards for lunch. In the afternoon the Presqu'île's squares carry you from the Saône to the Rhône, and the evening finishes on the stepped silk-weavers' lanes of the Croix-Rousse. The route uses TCL tickets for the funicular, so the same €2.10 ticket that works on the metro gets you up the hill. Two paid museums fit naturally into the day: Lugdunum on Fourvière and the Musée des Beaux-Arts on the Presqu'île, with Gadagne as a worthwhile add-on if you linger in Vieux Lyon.
- Morning09:00 to 12:00
Fourvière before the crowds
Start at Vieux Lyon lower funicular station and ride the F2 up to Fourvière; the same TCL ticket used on the metro covers the ride. Walk straight to the esplanade for the morning light over the Saône and the Presqu'île, then step inside the free basilica before it fills. Continue past the 1894 steel tower to the Roman theatres, which open to the sky all morning, and into the Lugdunum museum built into the hillside. Leave by the Jardin du Rosaire path, which zigzags down toward Vieux Lyon.
- TransitThe F2 funicular and the metro share the same TCL ticket. A 1-trip ticket for zones 1 and 2 costs €2.10 and is valid for 1 hour; a same-day funicular round trip costs €3.60.SourceTCL 1-trip ticketTCL funicular round trip
- HoursBasilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière opens daily from 07:00 to 20:00, until 21:00 on Sundays, and entry is free, including the lower crypt.SourceNotre-Dame de Fourvière
- HoursLugdunum museum is open Tuesday to Friday 11:00 to 18:00 and Saturday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00. Full admission outside temporary exhibitions is €4, reduced €2.50, and the museum is free on the first Sunday of the month.SourceLugdunum Musée et théâtres romains
- HoursThe Roman theatres are open 07:00 to 21:00 from May 2 to September 30 and 07:00 to 19:00 from October 1 to April 30.SourceLugdunum Musée et théâtres romains
- Midday12:00 to 15:00
Vieux Lyon and lunch on Place Saint-Jean
The Jardin du Rosaire drops you near Saint-Paul, where the old town walk begins. Follow the Saône south through Place du Change and into the Long Traboule, then duck into the pink courtyard of the Tour Rose. The Musée Gadagne sits on the way, and its garden is free even if you skip the museum. Continue to Saint-Jean and the astronomical clock, then cross the red footbridge for the best look back at the Renaissance facades before ending at Saint-Georges. The traboules are private passageways opened by agreement, so stay quiet and treat them as borrowed space.
- HoursGadagne and its two museums are open Wednesday to Sunday 10:30 to 18:00, last entry 17:30. Full admission outside temporary exhibitions is €8, and entry is free for under-18s; tickets are sold only on site.SourceGadagne
- EatL'Auberge des Canuts, a certified bouchon at 8 Place Saint-Jean, faces the cathedral and serves lunch every day.SourceL'Auberge des Canuts
EatLunch at L'Auberge des Canuts, 8 Place Saint-Jean, facing the cathedral.
- Afternoon15:00 to 18:00
Crossing the Presqu'île square by square
From Saint-Georges, cross to the Presqu'île and pick up the route at the Marché Saint-Antoine quay. In the afternoon the morning market is gone, so if you want the full food-market scene, do this slot before 13:00 instead; the route itself is the same. Walk to Place Bellecour, the red-gravel square, then the white fountain on Place des Jacobins and the covered Passage de l'Argue. Place des Terreaux and the Musée des Beaux-Arts follow, then Jean Nouvel's Opéra, and the day ends its flat section at Pont Lafayette over the Rhône.
- HoursThe Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon is closed on Tuesdays.SourceMusée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
- CostCollections admission at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon is €8 full and €4 reduced; Lyon City Card holders enter free.SourceMusée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
EatCoffee at a café on Place des Jacobins, under the white marble fountain.
- Evening18:00 to 20:00
The canut climb to the Cour des Voraces
- Fresque des Lyonnais4 min
- Place Sathonay3 min
- Rue des Capucins4 min
- Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls3 min
- Passage Thiaffait2 min
- Montée de la Grande Côte5 min
- Cour des Voraces
Cross back to the Saône bank and start at the Fresque des Lyonnais, the painted wall of 31 Lyon figures. Climb through Place Sathonay and past the Roman amphitheatre of the Three Gauls, then into Passage Thiaffait's workshops. The montée de la Grande Côte is the steep staircase the silk weavers used every working day; take it slowly and pause at the top. Finish under the six-storey open stair of the Cour des Voraces as the evening light lands on the facades.
- TransitIf the climb up the montée de la Grande Côte is too much, metro line C climbs the Croix-Rousse on a rack railway and uses the same TCL ticket as the funicular and the metro.SourceTCL 1-trip ticket
Planning your day
Can I complete this itinerary in one day on foot?
Yes, and the route is built to be walked as one continuous day. The funicular does the steepest work on Fourvière, and the Presqu'île is flat between the two rivers. The Croix-Rousse climb at the end is the only genuinely steep section; if your legs are done, take metro line C, the rack railway, up the same hill on the same TCL ticket.
SourceTCL 1-trip ticketDo I need a Lyon City Card for this day?
Not necessarily. If you only visit Lugdunum and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, individual tickets cost less than the card, and the basilica is free. The card pays off if you add Gadagne, a guided tour, or a cruise. A 24-hour adult card is €32 at the tourist office, with a web rate around €29.90.
SourceLyon City CardWhat changes on Monday?
The food markets at Saint-Antoine and Croix-Rousse are closed Monday, and Gadagne and Lugdunum are closed. The Musée des Beaux-Arts is closed Tuesday, not Monday. The old town, Fourvière, and the Presqu'île route still work; just plan your museums for another day.
SourceGadagneLugdunum Musée et théâtres romainsMusée des Beaux-Arts de LyonHow do I get up Fourvière and the Croix-Rousse?
From Vieux Lyon, the F2 funicular climbs to Fourvière on the same TCL ticket as the metro; a same-day funicular round trip costs €3.60. For the Croix-Rousse plateau, either walk the steep montée de la Grande Côte or ride metro line C, a rack railway, which also uses the standard TCL ticket.
SourceTCL funicular round tripTCL 1-trip ticketMore of Lyon
- Walking toursWalking tours in Lyon
- Know before you goLyon practicalitiesThe practical pre-trip briefing for Lyon: how to get in from Saint-Exupéry, how TCL tickets and the funiculars work, what the tourist tax costs, and when to come.
- TourThe Pentes de la Croix-Rousse: The Canut ClimbThe Renaissance old town's traboules and pink towers, threaded from Saint-Paul to Saint-Georges with the Saône beside you.
Do it yourself
Follow it in the app
Walk Lyon's two hills and two rivers with the route in your pocket, funicular fares and bouchon stops included.
Provenance · last verified August 22, 2026
Routed from our own Lyon walking tours, with the operational detail checked against the source.
SourcesTCL 1-trip ticketLugdunum Musée et théâtres romainsMusée des Beaux-Arts de LyonTCL funicular round tripLyon City CardNotre-Dame de FourvièreGadagneL'Auberge des Canuts
Photo by Jens Freudenau on Unsplash