2,000 Years of History: An Audio Tour of Vieux Lyon

Overview

Vieux Lyon holds more than 2,000 years of history within its narrow, cobbled streets. On this walking tour, you'll trace the city's story from its Roman foundations to its Renaissance golden age, when Florentine bankers and silk merchants made it one of Europe's wealthiest cities. Starting at Jardin André Malraux, you'll follow the remnants of the longest Roman aqueduct in France to Fourvière Basilica, with sweeping views over Lyon's two rivers. From there you'll descend into Vieux Lyon, the Renaissance old town nearly bulldozed in the 1950s before being saved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and duck through the city's longest secret passageway, snaking through five courtyards and four buildings. Along the way you'll hear how Eugénie Brazier became the first person to earn six Michelin stars, discover the origins of Lyon's Fête des Lumières traced back to a plague epidemic, and spot Ahmed — France's only Muslim gargoyle, carved by a sculptor in his own likeness.