Place Bellecour & Presqu'île
Place Bellecour / Presqu'île
One of Europe's largest paved pedestrian squares, with an equestrian statue of Louis XIV at its center and the town hall and shopping streets to its north.
Place Bellecour covers about 6.2 hectares and is one of Europe's largest open pedestrian squares. An equestrian statue of Louis XIV stands at its center, and a statue of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince and a native of Lyon, stands at its southwest corner. The square is Lyon's 'kilometer zero' and an interchange for metro lines A and D. The tourist office is here, where you can buy the Lyon City Card, which covers public transport and most museums. North of the square lies the Presqu'île, the peninsula between the two rivers. Rue de la République and Rue Victor Hugo are pedestrian shopping streets. At the northern end, Place des Terreaux has a fountain designed by Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. Opposite it stand the 17th-century town hall and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, one of France's largest art museums, whose collection is second only to the Louvre's. The museum is closed on Tuesdays. To the east, the opera house has a glass vault designed by Jean Nouvel. Along the Saône, Quai Saint-Antoine hosts open-air markets from Tuesday to Sunday mornings. Walking from Place Bellecour to Place des Terreaux takes about 20 minutes. Along the way you can shop and visit the museum, then head north to the Croix-Rousse hill.
Opening hours
All day
Nearby sights
- Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs
- Grand Hôtel-Dieu & Cité de la Gastronomie
- Rue Mercière
- Lyon Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste)
- Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay
- Musée Miniature et Cinéma
- Berges du Rhône
- Vieux Lyon