Lyon rewards the thrifty: permanent collections at municipal museums are free, the Fourvière basilica and Roman theatres cost nothing, and the Croix-Rousse silk-workers' hill hides free passageways. Budget €30–40 a day including food.
The Cour des Voraces at 9 place Colbert hides a six-storey open staircase built for silk workers in 1840. The Croix-Rousse traboules are free covered passages linking streets through courtyards; most open 07:00–19:00 via a coded gate left ajar.
A hidden garden built by hand between 1957 and 1983 by mason Jules Senis from shells, stones and lime mortar, hidden behind a door at 83 Grande Rue de la Croix-Rousse. Open Saturdays 14:00–18:00, April to October, free entry.
France's second-largest fine-arts collection sits in a 17th-century Benedictine abbey on place des Terreaux. The cloister garden with its Rodin and Bourdelle sculptures is free to enter without a ticket; the museum itself costs €8.
A 117-hectare park opened in 1857 with a free zoo of 300 animals, free botanical greenhouses and a boating lake. Open 06:30–22:30 in summer, 06:30–20:30 in winter; no entrance fee for park, zoo or glasshouses.
Lyon's biggest open-air food market runs Tuesday to Sunday, 06:00–13:30, along the boulevard. Saint-Marcellin cheese runs €2 a piece, a rotisserie chicken quarter €4, and a bag of Rhône valley apricots around €3 in season.
A small terraced garden built on the remains of the Roman amphitheatre of the Three Gauls, with benches, shade and a view over the Rhône. Free and open daily until sunset — the natural spot to eat the market picnic you just bought.
Lyon's most affordable eating street, running through the 7th arrondissement. North African, Vietnamese and Chinese kitchens serve bò bún or couscous for €8–11, and a bánh mì from the Vietnamese bakeries costs about €4.50.
Converted barges moored along the Rhône's left bank serve a glass of Côtes du Rhône for €3.50–5 and beer around €4 during happy hour, usually 17:00–20:00. Seating on deck and on the quay steps is free.
The F2 funicular from Vieux-Lyon to Saint-Just is part of the TCL network, so a standard €2.10 ticket covers it. It climbs the Fourvière hill in four minutes and connects to the free-entry viewpoint terraces above.
A slender 1832 pedestrian bridge over the Saône linking the Presqu'île to the Saint-Paul quarter, giving a free frontal view of the pastel façades of Vieux-Lyon with Fourvière behind. Best light falls on the west bank around midday.
The MAC sits in Renzo Piano's Cité Internationale beside the Rhône. Entry is €9, but the riverside promenade, the Feyssine banks and the free outdoor artworks along the 500-metre glass frontage cost nothing to walk.
A terraced belvedere at the top of Montée de la Grande Côte on the Croix-Rousse slope, looking straight down the Presqu'île to the Alps on clear days. Free, unfenced and open at all hours — locals bring bottles at sunset.