Lyon; Saturday, 08 November, 2025

I had intended on having a bit of a lie in, but it turns out that one of the nearby churches likes ringing it’s bells at 8am, so I was up and about a little time after that with a shower and a quick breakfast before heading out into town and back up to Vieux Lyon and the Basilica, though it looked like everyone else was in the same position as I had to let two funiculars go before I could get on one.

Up at the top my first stop was the Basilica which I had a look around inside, though with my visit slightly curtailed by a morning mass meaning I had about 15 minutes to look around the main part of the church before tourists were ushered out with the option to visit the crypt, which I had a quick look around, before leaving the church and having a bit more of a wander around this top part of the hill. I stopped off at the café by the basilica for a late morning coffee and water with a view over the centre of the city and the Saône River.

From there I headed back down the hill to the Roman ruins of Lugdunum the Roman city that was one of the most important this side of the Alps and first amongst equals in the capitals of the three Gaulish regions of Rome. I first headed down into the impressive museum. The museum is both impressive for it’s collection, but also for it’s architecture, having been carved into the side of the hill and set around a slow gradual slope that winds you down through the exhibit from the top of the hill to the base of the theatre.

Having spent quite a bit of time in the museum I decided to take the lift back up to the top and the head out into the top part of the ruins to work my way back down, rather than having to climb back up through them. The ruins are a major complex starting at the top with the cistern and the ruins of many buildings before you reach the complex of the Theatre, which was capable of seating over 10,000 people and the neighbouring Odeon which was a smaller venue designed for music performances but which could still seat 3,000. Behind the Odeon are also the ruins of a small road of shops and the remnants of the route heading off towards the thermal baths.

After looking around the main part of the ruins I then headed out of the bottom of the site and followed the road round for about 5 minutes before I reached a modern housing estate in the grounds of which are parts of the ruins of the baths which not many people appear to visit as only one other set out tourists were there whilst I was looking round.

Almost opposite the ruins of the baths is a path that leads down to the Garden of Curiosities, built on the top of a former bastion and from where there are excellent views over the city. From there I followed the road back down the hill all the way down to the Cathedral in the Place Saint-Jean which I had a look around before heading across the Saône on the Pont Bonaparte which links through to the major Place Bellecour, one of the main squares of the city and one that still retains it’s equestrian statue of King Louis XIV.

With the light rapidly fading so were the temperatures, so I decided to quickly head back to the hotel to freshen up and grab a hoodie before heading back out once the sun had set to have more of a wander, again heading back up to the top of Fourvière to take in the views of the city at night, which is as impressive as it is during the day.

I had a bit more of a wander around the top of the hill before catching the funicular back down to river level and then wandering through the streets of the lower Vieux Lyon before stopping to have dinner in a restaurant off of the main street – given the ones on the main street all had queues at least 10 people deep.

After dinner I finished walking through the Vieux Lyon and then headed over a bridge and into the square in front of the town hall before heading over to the metro station and making my way back to the hotel to rest my, by now aching, feet.