Top 6 Must See Tourist Spots in Lyon, France

Lyon is a perfect destination for leisure vacation and sightseeing trips. As a second metropolitan city of France, Lyon sits in east-central France. The city boasts an array of cultural and historic destinations. The city is also a gastronomic capital and is considered an urban alternative to popular French cities like Marseilles and Paris by many tourists and Francophiles. Many families along with their kids travel to Lyon to enjoy their vacation checking beautiful gardens and parks of the city. Also, those travelers who are vexed with cosmopolitan culture of Paris, tend to enjoy their weekends in Lyon.

Below is a list of 6 main visitor attractions of Lyon along with a brief description of each of them.

1. Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon):

One of the biggest Renaissance areas in Europe after Venice is the Old Lyon. Many buildings in Vieux Lyon have been remodelled and renewed over the last few years. Most ancient buildings were erected in 15th and 17th century. This old historic quarter was completely refurbished in the 1990s. The travelers can now enjoy looking at its beautiful, cobble-stoned narrow streets and craftsmen shops. Apart from these unique attractions, there are many other noteworthy hotels, restaurants and popular boutiques in Vieux Lyon. Walk along the narrow paths to experience the true atmosphere of Old Lyon, which doesn’t cost you a penny.

2. Lyon Cathedral (St. Jean Cathedral):

Another fascinating destination of the city is a striking impressive Roman Catholic Lyon cathedral. This famous cathedral city is the world heritage site. It was started by the two famous city bishops Saint Irenaeus and Saint Pothinus. Today, the St Jean Cathedral is considered a seat of Lyon Archbishop. Interesting tourist attraction of the cathedral is astronomical, clock which was there from the 14th century, Stained Glass and Rose Window. The site mesmerises millions of European tourists every year.

3. Chinatown Lyon:

A vacation to Lyon is incomplete without checking Lyon’s Chinatown. It’s the biggest tourist attraction in France. The Chinatown extends for two blocks and boasts many incredible shops and restaurants. Because of its compact size, the entire area can be easily explored in one afternoon itself.

4. Gadagne Museum:

Standing gorgeous in a beautiful Renaissance villa, the Gadagne museum has two diverse attractions in it. One is the Museum of Lyon History focusing on the archaeological lithographs, vestiges, paintings and other relevant documents and the other is the Museum of World Puppets which mainly focus on puppetry. So, check out the variety of puppets collected and placed from every corner of the planet at this museum.

5. Rue St. Jean:

Rue St. Jean is a busy cobble-stoned pedestrian area completely packed with tourist restaurants and souvenir stores. Another street that is not quite busy and runs parallel to this street is Rue des Trois Maries.

6. Checkout Traboules:

Traboules is just like a tunnel meant for passages through buildings. These are very famous in Lyon and most of these passages in the city leads to gardens and courtyards. Almost as many of these Traboules are blocked off or just used for maintenance and storage purposes and only dozens are left open to the public for free. These tunnels have a great history and resisted the city from German invasion during Second World War.