The African plain
Giraffes and zebras in a free open exhibit — Lyon's family pride.
Daderot — CC0 · Another one of my pictures: This photograph was taken by Medium69 (William Crochot) and released under the license stated below. You are free to use it for any purpose as long as you credit the author — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Thomas Bresson — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Thomas Bresson — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Tête d'Or is Lyon's great lung and among Europe's largest city parks: 117 hectares on the Rhône bank around a broad rowing lake, opened in 1857 — before New York's Central Park — and named for a golden treasure legend says lies buried here. Its wonder is a completely free zoo: an open African plain where giraffes, zebras and lemurs graze side by side, no ticket asked — among the last free zoos in Europe. With it come a botanical garden under great nineteenth-century glasshouses and a rose garden of thousands of bushes. Lake boats, children's trains and carousels complete a family day that costs nearly nothing — this is where Lyon spends its Sundays, fifteen minutes' walk up the Rhône bank from the centre.
Giraffes and zebras in a free open exhibit — Lyon's family pride.
Broad rowing around the memorial island in the green.
Nineteenth-century glass with palms and tropical flora.
Thousands of bushes blazing from May.
Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, 69006 Lyon
Lyon ZooA zoo inside the Parc de la Tête d'Or, Lyon's great park, and entry to it is ent4 minutes walk4.4
Maison des Canuts (Silk Weavers' House)A museum and working workshop in the Croix-Rousse quarter devoted to the history20 minutes walk4.5
Place du Maréchal LyauteyA square in Lyon's 6th arrondissement with a fountain at its centre, on the edge20 minutes walk4.8
Opéra Nouvel, LyonLyon's national opera house, and one of Europe's boldest examples of fusing a co25 minutes walk4.4An old, renewed city decision: the park is a fully public service funded by the municipality, with continuing upgrades (the 2006 African plain is modern open-exhibit design). The only trade-off: smaller scope than ticketed zoos — and the giraffes cannot tell the difference.
A comfortable family half-day: animals, lake, glasshouses, picnic on the grass. Spring for roses and lively animals; summer early or late. Sunday is charmingly full of locals — Monday its quietest day.
The modern art museum and Nouvel's concert hall at its north edge, and the Rhône bank walk-and-cycle path running to the centre — arrival and return are outings themselves.