Lyon Attraction Tours: Museums and Rooftops
Lyon Attraction Tours: Museums, Rooftops and Passes
Lyon’s big attractions are a short list, and their prices vary more than the guidebooks suggest. This is the ticket ladder, cheapest to dearest, with the days each one is open.
The cheap end
The Roman theatres on Fourvière hill are free. They open from 07:00 to 19:00 from 1 October to 30 April and until 21:00 from 2 May to 30 September. The neighbouring Lugdunum museum charges €4 normally and €7 while a temporary exhibition is on. Entry is free on the first Sunday of the month. It opens Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 to 18:00 and at weekends from 10:00 to 18:00. The funicular from Vieux Lyon stops at Minimes for the theatres, and a standard TCL ticket covers it.
Mid-range museums
The Musée des Confluences, at the southern tip of the Presqu’île, costs €12 full price and €7 reduced, with no separate evening rate. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30 to 18:30, and late opening to 22:00 falls on the first Thursday of the month. Check museedesconfluences.fr for school-holiday Mondays. Tram T1 is the usual way to reach it.
The Institut Lumière, on rue du Premier-Film in Monplaisir, is the villa where the Lumière brothers worked. The museum charges €9.50, or €7.50 reduced, and opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:30. Screenings in the Hangar du Premier-Film are priced separately. Details are on the Institut Lumière site .
The Musée des Beaux-Arts on place des Terreaux asks €8 for the collections and €12 when temporary exhibitions are included. It is closed on Tuesday.
The dearer ones
The Musée Cinéma et Miniature, in the Maison de l’Avocat on rue Saint-Jean, costs €22.90 for adults and €17.90 for children aged 4 to 15. It is not free on the City Card, which gives a reduced rate instead. Treat it as optional if budget matters.
The Fourvière rooftop visit climbs the basilica’s towers and attics. It costs €14 for adults and €7 for reduced fares, runs daily, and is booked through reservation.fourviere.org . Expect about 345 steps. Children under 5 enter free.
Does a City Card pay off?
The card costs €32, €44, €56 or €68 at the counter for 24, 48, 72 or 96 hours, and €29.90, €41.90, €52.90 or €63.90 online. It covers transport in the main TCL zones, the Confluences museum, a Saône cruise, one guided tour and a long list of museums. Add up the tickets you actually plan to use. Three paid museums over two days with transit usually clears the price. One museum and a lot of walking does not.
Practical points
Pickpockets work Part-Dieu, Place Bellecour and the metro, so carry a zipped bag. TCL fares are €2.10 for a single and €7.10 for 24 hours, and inspectors fine people without a validated ticket.
A guide can add context to the museum circuit. Search Lyon museum and city tours and compare what is included before you pay, since many listings do not cover admission.
For more on the sights themselves, see the sightseeing guide , and for pacing a museum day around a meal, see the 3-day Lyon itinerary .
Tip: on a Monday, choose the Beaux-Arts; on a Tuesday, choose Confluences and Lugdunum. Matching the day to the museum saves a wasted trip across town.