Just a few steps from Le Royal hotel, on the other side of the Saône, lies one of the largest preserved medieval districts in Europe. Vieux Lyon is famous for its tiled roofs, its Renaissance jewels erected during Catherine de Medici’s reign, and its countless traboules (passageways) that are a delight to lose oneself in for a while.
Cafés, boutiques, artisans and bouchons (restaurants serving traditional Lyonnais cuisine) pack these narrow alleys, classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, around the imposing Saint-Jean Cathedral.