France · Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes · Lyon
Vieux Lyon, Lyon — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Vieux Lyon is the Renaissance quarter of Lyon, spread over 24 hectares between the Fourvière hill and the river Saône.
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Where to stay in Vieux Lyon
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges divide the quarter, and a room in any of the three puts a traveller inside the Renaissance streets rather than a journey from them. Noise follows the crowds. Streets nearer the Saône stay busier, while the side lanes holding the Église Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux de Lyon and the église Saint-Romain de Lyon keep a quieter run of frontages.
Book early for Saint Jean.
Find hotels in Vieux Lyon
Direct booking searches for these neighbourhoods.
Saint Jean
The busiest of the quarter's three sections, thick with Renaissance frontages and closest to the crossings over the Saône.Find hotels in Saint Jeancalmer lanes in Saint GeorgesSaint Georges
The third of the quarter's sections, under the Fourvière hill, thinner on trade than Saint Jean and quiet once the day visitors leave. Rooms are few around here — worth securing early.Find hotels in Saint GeorgesHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Lyon
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
2- Musée des Hospices Civils de Lyon
- Musée des Automates (Lyon)
Churches & Religious Sites
2- Église Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux de Lyon
- église Saint-Romain de Lyon
Castles & Historic Sites
1- Murus gallicus de Lyon
worth knowingacross 3 categories in and around Lyon
About Vieux Lyon
What are the main landmarks in Vieux Lyon?
Renaissance frontages are the attraction. Vieux Lyon covers 24 hectares of them, one of the largest such quarters in Europe, and inside that ground stand the Église Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux de Lyon, the église Saint-Romain de Lyon and the Musée des Hospices Civils de Lyon. Older work survives too, in the Murus gallicus de Lyon, and the Musée des Automates supplies the quarter's one oddity.
Three sections split the walk: Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges.
What is the history of Vieux Lyon?
Protection came early here. In 1964 Vieux Lyon became the first site in France covered by the Malraux law, the statute drawn up to protect the country's cultural sites. A second listing followed.
Vieux Lyon joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998, together with other districts of the city, on the strength of its history and its architecture. The Murus gallicus de Lyon reaches back further than either date.
Where is Vieux Lyon?
Between hill and river. Vieux Lyon fills 24 hectares between the Fourvière hill and the Saône, in three sections named Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Vieux Lyon?
Saint Jean: nights inside the Renaissance streets of Saint Jean. Saint Georges: calmer lanes in Saint Georges.
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More areas in Lyon
Updated October 2026