Parks and gardens to visit in Lyon
Capital of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Lyon is a highly touristic city. It is especially known for its historic center classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. But Lyon is not only architecture, it is also a green and lush landscape.
Lyon is a city that you discover with every step. At a time when the sun reigns supreme, what could be better than to visit a park or a garden ! Lyon is full of them. Discover in this article the gardens and parks to visit in Lyon during your stay.
The gardens and parks of Lyon that you must see during your visit
Parc de la Tete
Located on the banks of the Rhône, covering an area of 105 hectares including a 16-hectare lake, the Parc de la Tête d'Or is the first tourist site in Lyon’Or is the largest and most famous park in Lyon. The entrance is free and open to the public. It includes a zoological park and a botanical garden with seven entrances, the most famous of which is the.
Its particularity is the rose gardens and the trees more than hundred years old.
- The rose gardens: the Parc de la Tête d’Or is home to the famous Roseraie Internationale de Lyon, which is located on the banks of the Rhône River’extends over 40 000 m² with 30 000 rosebushes of 350 varieties.
- Trees : the Parc de la Tête d'Orléans’Or hosts more than 8,800 trees, including the famous cedars of Lebanon. At the entrance of the park, a guide is available for visitors for a beautiful walk.
Parc des Hauteurs
Presented as the Lyon's first tourist site, the Parc des Hauteurs is a garden located on the hill of Fourvière offering a beautiful view of the city of Lyon. There are belvederes, wooded slopes, meadows, including the famous. It also contains archaeological sites, large religious properties.
By the Parc des Hauteurs, you can easily reach the Fourvière Basilica and the Loyasse Cemetery via the Sarra trail which is used all year round for tree climbing, mountain biking in the summer and skiing or snowboarding in the winter.
The Parc des Hauteurs has in its heart :
- the Rosary gardens or the Fourvière monastery gardens: these gardens are home to vegetable gardens and flowerbeds, including collections of old roses and hydrangeas.
- Le jardin des Pivoines: the garden of Pivoines is a theme garden for leisure. It has an area of 1,300 m² and also houses a collection of peonies.
The International Rose Garden
The International Rose Garden is a prestigious botanical garden that traces the history of the rose through a rare collection of wild and historical roses. Every year, the International Rose Garden in Lyon organizes the International Competition Rose Garden, which is exclusively dedicated to the creation of new varieties of roses. Many participants come from all over the world for the competition.
In 2006, the city of Lyon received in Osaka, the label of excellence as a reward for the International Rose Garden. This label of excellence has been awarded to only 22 parks internationally.
Grand Parc Miribel Jonage
The Grand Parc Miribel Jonage, located on the outskirts of Lyon, is a park with a surface area of 2,200 hectares. It was built on the’It was created on the island of Miribel-Jonage in the middle of the 19th century, following the digging of canals to contain the floods of the Rhône. Today, it is this same Rhône that flows majestically through the Grand Parc Miribel Jonage and that makes all its charm to become a tourist attraction.
The Grand Parc Miribel Jonage is a leisure area for the inhabitants of Greater Lyon and the Côte d'Azur’The Grand Parc Miribel Jonage, in the Ain region, is not only a park, but also a wildlife protection zone.
The Grand Parc Miribel Jonage is not only a tourist site, it represents for Lyon and its agglomeration :
- A resource for drinking water,
- A buffer zone to contain floods in case of flooding
- A site for the protection of botanical and zoological heritage
- A playground and leisure area (water sports, golf course, etc.)
Garden of the Fine Arts Museum
The Garden of the Museum of Fine Arts is a classical garden of 1,200 m² which was redeveloped at the end of the 19th century. The architecture of this former abbey and its wall makes it a fortress for the visitor in search of tranquility.
The Garden of the Museum of Fine Arts is the’former cloister of the’It was built in the 17th century as a viewpoint from which the nuns could contemplate the city’outdoor. It was a house of prayer consisting of a central pool with orange trees and exotic flowers in pots throughout the courtyard dotted with splendid sculptures of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel. It was just after the French Revolution and after the departure of the nuns that the cloister was opened to the public.
The first installations of the Garden of the Fine Arts Museum A series of changes were made from 1832 when the frieze of the Parthenon or frieze of the Panathenes and the monument of the Nereids (the tomb of Xanthos) were introduced. The terraces feature decorative vases, a stone balustrade adorned with statues of goddesses, a playground and a cloister.
In 1884, Abraham Hirsch restructured the garden and the vaulted galleries of the lapidary museum where bronze medallions representing the illustrious artists of Lyon were installed above the arcades alongside the Greek frieze.
From 1990 to 1998, the last renovation of the museum highlighted the old and original sculptures which animated the alleys of the Garden of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Garden of Curiosities
The Jardin des Curiosités was donated by the city of Montreal to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of cooperative relations with the city of Lyon. Since summer 2001, the Garden of Curiosities is open to the public.
The Garden of Curiosities or the Garden of Montreal or the Garden of Belvedere has an area of 6 hectares. It is located on the heights of Saint-Just, in the 5th district of Lyon.
The Garden of Curiosities has six sculpture chairs embedded in the ground on either side of the park, which brings a romantic touch to the site. You can feel the art of Montreal.
Gerland Park
The Gerland Park, named Henry-Chabert Park since December 19, 2019, is a green space of nearly 18 hectares, located south of Lyon, on a former industrial site.
The Gerland Park development project began in 1996 and will eventually cover 80 hectares. It was designed for sports activities, leisure and the discovery of flora. The Parc de Gerland or Parc Henry-Chabert is made up of a series of gardens’The terraces include decorative vases, a stone balustrade with statues of goddesses, playgrounds and enclosed plains, a modern skatepark and a botanical garden called "Megaphorbia".
The Gerland Park is close to the Gerland Stadium.
The Garden of Saint-Pierre Palace
The garden of the Palais Saint-Pierre, located within the Museum of Fine Arts, is one of the most beautiful gardens in Lyon. It is designed as a sculpture museum. It's a place to seek peace and beauty.
The garden of the Palais Saint-Pierre is located in the old cloister of the monastery of Saint-Pierre.
The garden of the Palais Saint-Pierre is located on the Place des Terreaux in the 1st arrondissement, in the heart of Lyon. It has the same opening and closing hours as the Museum of Fine Arts. Every day, except Tuesdays and public holidays, from 10 am to 6 pm, but on Fridays from 10:30 am to 6 pm.