Vieux Lyon Cultural & Historical Walking Guided Tour (English)
Recommended by 99% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Lyon, France
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Lyon’s old town is riddled with secret passageways and history. This immersive, guided walking tour begins at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cathedral and takes you through the traboules (covered passageways used by silk workers to transport fabrics), to present-day silk workshops, and the Museum of Cinema and Miniatures, before finishing up at the Grand Hotel Dieu, formerly the city hospital, now a luxury hotel and shopping complex.
- Learn about Lyon’s silk-weaving history and gastronomic prowess
- Take a journey through history, from the Middle Ages to WW2 Resistance
- Discover secret passageways hidden in plain sight
- All entry fees included
What's Included
- All Fees and Taxes
- Pick-up not included
- Breakfast
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Place Saint-JeanPl. Saint-Jean, 69005 Lyon, France
This tour starts at 10:00 am on Place Saint Jean. I will be standing next to the statue of St. John in the middle of the square with a sign in my hands.
End point
- Place de l'HôpitalPl. de l'Hôpital, 69002 Lyon, France
We will finish inside the lovely Hôtel Dieu
Operating hours.10:00 am
Itinerary
1
Cathedrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Traboules du Vieux Lyon
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Musee du Cinema et de la Miniature
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Traboule “Maison du Crible – Tour Rose”
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
5
Brochier Soieries Vieux Lyon
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Passerelle du Palais-de-Justice (Pass By)
6
Theatre des Celestins
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Rue de la Republique (Pass By)
7
Grand Hotel Dieu
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 958 reviews
James_a, Mar 2026
Paul was an excellent tour guide. Very knowledgeable and helpful. We saw many sites that one would never know about or fully understand. He was very pleasant and helpful. At the end of our time, he even gave us a list of suggested restaurants. One suggestion is to go up the basilica on the funicular before the tour starts. Give yourself at least 1.5 to 2 hours to see this beautiful area. Then, come down and start the tour with Paul. We did this and it worked out perfectly.
Paul_E, Mar 2026
Incredibly knowledgeable and friendly tour guide. Would thoroughly recommend as a way to learn more about Lyon and explore the old city.
Aaron_J, Feb 2026
Paul was a wonderful tour guide! Good sense of humor, lots of interesting bits of information, showed places we would not have found or been aware of on our own. Highly recommend!
Sylvia_D, Dec 2025
Our tour with Paul was absolutely outstanding—one of the highlights of our time in Lyon. In just two hours, he managed to bring the city vividly to life through an extraordinary depth of knowledge about Lyon’s history, traditions, and culture, as well as the many influences that shaped it into what it is today.
Paul doesn’t simply recite facts; he weaves them into engaging, insightful, and often very funny stories that kept us completely absorbed from start to finish. His passion for Lyon is infectious, and his ability to make complex history feel accessible and entertaining is truly impressive. Every corner we walked through felt richer and more meaningful thanks to his storytelling.
The greatest testament to how fantastic this tour was? We enjoyed it so much that we’re joining Paul again tomorrow—even with freezing weather in the forecast. That says everything.
Thank you, Paul, for such a memorable experience and for bringing the city of Lyon to life for us in such a warm, intelligent, and engaging way. We couldn’t recommend you more highly.
John_S, Oct 2025
Wow! Our guide was excellent - articulate speaker who spoke clearly and loud enough for all to hear, we were a group of about 25+. He had the most interesting information and stories about Lyon's history and culture. He led us through interesting parts of Lyon. He also gave us recommendations and tips on where to get great coffee, where to eat, and interesting museums to visit. We learned so much in just a couple of hours!
Gale_D, Oct 2025
Paul was very friendly and knowledgeable. Tour was relaxed and informative. Helpful suggestions for additional things on your own.
Lucy_S, Oct 2025
The guide is very tall so he’s easy to find in the gathering spot. This was an outstanding tour. Perfect way to start your Lyon trip.
Evagelia_S, Sep 2025
Fantastic tour with Paul. He knows Lyon very well and took us to all the sights listed. He's easy to spot (very tall) which helped as there were a lot of people and I'm very short. I'd been in lyon a few days already and saw some areas i hadn't yet been to. Highly recommended!!
JAMES_C, Sep 2025
A very nice & wide variety of places of interest. Our guide, Paul was very knowledgeable & engaging. My only issue was that our group was too big & there were no audio devices, which would have been easier to hear everything our guide was saying as the group got spread out at certain points.
Paul_V, Sep 2025
We thought a "free" tour, can it be any good? It was fantastic! So much history and infomration we would never have learned in such a short time. Please make sure you give him a great tip at the end. Most tour guides charge at least $40+ per person for this great of a tour
Valerie_D, Sep 2025
That they need to look for Free Lyon tour sign held by Guide not Viator!! Frustrating time trying to find our guide. The good news was the guide Paul was knowledge and well informed we enjoyed the experience.
Ellen_R, Sep 2025
This free tour compares very favorably to some of the ones that we paid for. Our guy hit all the highlights and then some.
Maureen_G, Jun 2025
Paul gave us an amazing glimpse into Lyon with wonderful suggestions on how to spend our remaining time in the city. He was entertaining, knowledgeable and maneuvered us around brilliantly. His love of Lyon comes through.
Mark_M, Jun 2025
Info was good but he needed to reed from prepared script. There was no entry into saint Jean Baptiste as was promised, the church closed on Monday’s and no entrance into the Miniature Museum as the tour description read. I left the tour after the traboules because I was disappointed that museum entrance was not permitted.
Lynda_C, May 2025
Wonderful tour. Our guide was extremely informative and entertaining. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour.
alina_h, Feb 2025
Paul was a very good guide and engaging speaker. It was a great introduction to the city and its history. Lots of restaurant suggestions and further sightseeing suggestions.
Ilva_K, Dec 2024
From the meeting point at St. Jan at the edge of old Lyon it was clear that Paul, our guide was enthusiastic about the history and present day of this city. He used 2 hours of this tour to provide a great balance between the general history of the town and in depth details about some special to him events, places and traditions.
It was very valuable to hear suggestions about further exploration of the places in old town and elsewhere.
We went to one of the restaurants that Paul suggested and the atmosphere and food were excellent and special.
We had taken a train to Lyon as a side day trip from Geneva, and with Paul’s suggestions during the tour, filled the day with nicely balanced exploration way beyond the 2 hour tour that he had organized.
Note that the tour is free or for a nominal processing fee. Therefore do not forget to take cash with you to pay for this great experience. It is very worth it.
James_B, Oct 2024
The trip was informative with lots of good advice on further attractions to see and restaurants to visit.
docchewy, Oct 2024
Fantastic walking tour, we learned so much about the old town and the hidden passageways. Definitely book this tour!
THIBICHLOAN_N, Oct 2024
Paul is a fantastic guide. It was raining on the day of our tour, but Paul knew lots of places to shelter from the rain while explaining the history of the location. He covers a mixture of ancient&modern history, local life and food that makes the tour excellent. I wish we had more time in Lyon to do another tour with him.
Greg_M, Oct 2024
Paul is an excellent tour guide and provided a solid, entertaining and interesting guide to the history of Lyon. He topped it off with recommendations of where to eat, where to get a good coffee and museums to visit whilst in Lyon. A most enjoyable 2 hours.
Andy_Z, Oct 2024
Paul is informative, funny, so kind and loud enuf to hear from the third row...he is everything a great tour guide should be. I highly recommend taking tours with him.
Cecily_J, Oct 2024
This was an awesome tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and entertaining, took us to some places we wouldn't have otherwise visited and helped us discover some highlights of our trip. Really easygoing pace and not too far so anyone could go on this tour.
Suzanne_H, Sep 2024
Great guide. Very friendly, spoke clearly, funny and knowledgeable. Good introduction to Lyon old town and saw some lovely sights....Cathedral, secret passageways used during the war, good restaurant tips etc
John_H, Sep 2024
The guide was extremely good. He really knew the history and culture of Lyon. He was very articulate and very funny.
I learned a lot. The tour was really worth it.
Paraic_H, Sep 2024
Paul was excellent and knowledgeable Great information and insights into Lyon city including food and culture interests
SuzanneR_O, Sep 2024
The tour gives much history and current information on Lyon. It shows you both the old part of town and newer areas. I highly recommend it.
Shari_L, Sep 2024
This is actually a free tour if you go to Lyon Free Tours. It is the same tour as secret passageways. We paid $6 and other people on the tour paid nothing. You tip the tour guide as his payment.
Liz_H, Sep 2024
Paul has an easy and engaging style, while sharing information about the city. He is well informed and researched and makes the tour interesting.
Paul also gives insights into living in the city, culture, and food
Dan_C, Jul 2024
Paul gives a good tour of the old Lyon, keeps it moving, and in 2 hrs you learn alot! St. Jean Baptiste Basilica, the silk factories history, the traboules, overview of Lyon food, museums to visit, the courthouse, the farmers market, the history of Grand Hotel Dieu as a former hospital.
From $5.84
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Vieux Lyon Cultural & Historical Walking Guided Tour (English)
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- Lyon Les Halles Market (Les Halles Paul Bocuse) Tours & Tickets
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More attractions near Lyon, France
- Old Lyon (Vieux Lyon) Tours & Tickets
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