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 Bartholdi (of Statue of Liberty fame). The four horses pulling the chariot symbolise rivers galloping seawards. The Hôtel de Ville fronting the square's east side was built in 1655 but was given its present ornate façade in 1702. Daniel Buren's polka-dot 'forest' of 69 granite fountains are embedded in the ground across much of the square.
Shutterstock / Aurelien Laforet
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
2.48 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…
0.04 MILES
This stunning and eminently manageable museum showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside of Paris, from antiquity onwards…
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16.58 MILES
Across the Rhône from Vienne, the Musée Gallo-Romain highlights Vienne's historical importance, displaying several rooms full of dazzling mosaics and…
Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière
0.65 MILES
Crowning the hill, with stunning city panoramas from its terrace, this superb example of late-19th-century French ecclesiastical architecture is lined…
2.09 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…
0.56 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…
0.38 MILES
Housed in a 16th-century mansion built for two rich Florentine bankers, this twin-themed exhibition space incorporates an excellent local history museum,…
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0.15 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…
Nearby Lyon attractions
0.04 MILES
This stunning and eminently manageable museum showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside of Paris, from antiquity onwards…
0.15 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…
0.18 MILES
At the foot of Croix Rousse, this tree-shaded square has a small village atmosphere, with its bars, restaurants and cafes.
0.24 MILES
From early equipment through to computerised technology, this absorbing museum traces the history of the city's printing industry.
0.26 MILES
Well-known Lyonnais peer out from this beautifully executed seven-storey mural, including loom inventor Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752–1834), Renaissance…
6. Le Petit Musée Fantastique de Guignol
0.36 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…
0.38 MILES
Housed in a 16th-century mansion built for two rich Florentine bankers, this twin-themed exhibition space incorporates an excellent local history museum,…
0.47 MILES
Facing the river in old Lyon, the grandiose neo-classical Palais de Justice is well worth a gander.