10 Things to do in Lyon with Kids

The plans in the city of Lyon are almost endless. In addition to attracting thousands of tourists from all over the world for its cultural and historical charm, picturesque neighbourhoods, murals, museums, monuments, viewpoints, and extensive traditional and international cuisine, it also offers activities to enjoy with the little ones.

For example, the Guignol Museum offers different shows and an exhibition of thousands of puppets from all over the world. Or you can take a trip back in time at the Cinema and Miniature Museum. And how about a boat trip, the Tête d'Or Park has it all. Nature walks, a botanical garden, a zoo, and you can even have a picnic while your kids have fun.

To discover, learn and discover the wonders of the marine world and the species that inhabit it is an opportunity not to be missed.

At the Aquarium, located in the district of La Mulatière, children can observe a fascinating variety of marine animals, and even touch some of them and appreciate the majestic sharks and other predators while they are being fed.

Species from America, Europe and Africa, such as clownfish, sea urchins, seahorses, octopuses, jellyfish, and some more exotic and tropical species of different colours, sizes and characteristics, which inhabit deep waters, will arouse the admiration and curiosity of children.

Useful information

• Opening hours: The aquarium is open all year round from 10:30 a.m. to 18:30 p.m. except on December 25th and January 1st.
• Price: Adults from 11 years old pay around €18 and children around €8 (3 to 4 years) and €14 (5 to 10 years). Children under 3 years old are free.

Captivating children and adults has been the aim of the La Maison de Guignol Theatre, on Place de la Trinité, for more than 20 years. The universe of the puppet and the Guignol - a character representative of Lyon, created during the 19th century - will offer you different family shows every day of the year and has more than a thousand puppets from all over the world, each with a magical story that stimulates the imagination and creativity.

Tour the two-level space with an audio-guided tour that tells you the story of the creation of Guignol through amazing animated scenes that you will certainly enjoy.

The theatre has a very varied programme. During the day you can enjoy family puppet shows, live performances and even meet the artists backstage.

Although it is no longer recommended for children, this theatre is not to be missed among the activities to do in Lyon at night. At that time, you will have fun with the café-theatre performances, stories inspired by love, couples, work relationships, naturism, the art of seduction, among many other themes, which will make you laugh and have a very comforting time. A unique experience.

Useful information

• Opening hours: The theatre-museum is open all year round. Doors open 30 minutes before each performance. Online booking is recommended.
• Ticket price for the museum: about €11 per adult and about €9 for children. Theatre-Café costs about €18 (subject to seasonal adjustments).
• The performances are recommended for children from the age of 3 years and up.

If you are a film fanatic, you should take advantage of your stay in Lyon to learn about the history of the Lumière brothers, who created the cinematograph, as the first device to project moving images was known, an innovative and creative process, exhibited at the Lumière Institute.

The institute, located in the brothers' mansion in the historic Monplaisir district, has a museum, a projection and editing centre, an exhibition of more than 1,400 restored films, galleries, bookshops, a café, among other spaces.

You can enjoy films of different genres in the Hangar cinema, sessions with guests, among other activities. And, on the third floor of the mansion, you will find a library, where you can find magazines, photographs, books, posters, a large database for you to become an expert on the subject.

It even offers meetings for young children every Sunday morning with fun short films for them. And if you visit the Institute on 19 March, your children can take part in the filming of a short film, which takes place every year, in the same place where the Lumière brothers shot the first film.

It's a place full of magic where you'll also find the first film cameras.

Useful information

• Opening hours: The Hangar cinema, the photo gallery, the Premier-Film Bookshop and the Café Lumière are open from Tuesday to Sunday.
• Cinema ticket prices: between €7 and €10. Children under the age of 7 are free. The meeting with the artists costs around €6.

This 117-hectare open space, which receives more than 3 million visitors a year, is ideal for a family outing. There you can relax while walking along the paths, visit the botanical garden and the rose garden.

There you can stroll through the velodrome, and see giraffes, lions, turtles, waterfowl, elephants, squirrels, and many more animals in the zoo; take a boat ride on the lake -in summer-, ride a bike and play mini-golf or take a ride on the tourist train.

The Parc de la Tete d'Or or Golden Head Park, with 8 entrances, is located in a central area of the city of Lyon and in addition to the public events such as film screenings, theatres, exhibitions, you can have fun in the playgrounds or have a picnic with the little ones.

Its location makes it easily accessible. You'll definitely see it if you go on any guided tour of Lyon. Also, if you are looking for plans in the city for Christmas, there is a skating rink inside.

Useful info

• Price: Entry to the park is free, except at the Rose Garden gate.
• It offers commercial spaces and restaurants, among other services.
• Hours: Admission is from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. (subject to change).

If you visit the Cinema and Miniatures Museum, you will enjoy in one place an amazing collection of more than 400 pieces related to cinema, 6 complete sets, different objects used in 200 films, among many other things that will surprise you in 12 exhibition rooms.

In the Museum, located in the historic centre of Lyon, you will also have the opportunity to learn about the making of special effects, 3D animation, and you will enjoy a large collection of costumes and iconic characters from different genres of cinema, such as superheroes, Harry Potter and even the scooter from the film Back to the Future 2, the Gremlins, among others.

In an area of two thousand square metres you will see more than 100 handmade miniature scenes, representing different situations and everyday spaces in which more than a thousand objects have been used with great care and detail to recreate churches, houses, kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, supermarkets, and even some landscapes and world famous places such as Maxim's restaurant in Paris or the Natural History Museum in Berlin. A fascinating and fun place.

Useful information

• Opening hours: Open daily from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
• Price: Admission is approximately €12.50 or free with the Lyon City Card. Children under the age of 5 are free.

If your children are more adventurous and want a little more adrenaline, you can take them to France Aventures, and spend a fun-filled day in the three outdoor parks on offer: Amnéville, Lyon Fourvière and Saint Etienne.

The professionally guided and supervised trails allow you to relax and enjoy some food and drink in the picnic area, while your children enjoy nature and show off their skills and abilities.

At Amnéville you can enjoy 13 tree climbing trails, outdoor laser games, archery, maxi bungee and interactive rallies.

At Lyon Fourvière you can go on an ultimate adventure in the Explor Games, a mixture of orienteering course and escape game, solving riddles and many challenges that you will enjoy with your family, while the little ones take part in activities designed for them, such as the squirrel festival or the chocolate egg hunt throughout Easter.

And at Saint Etienne, located in a private forest in Saint-Jean-Bonnefonds, there are countless activities for adults and children alike. You'll find more than 10 tree climbing trails by day and night, workshops, courses, neon evenings, pyjama parties, escape games and lots of other fun and entertainment.

Useful info

• Opening hours: The parks are open on weekends and Wednesdays from 13:00 p.m. to 18:00 p.m.
• Ticket prices: range from €4 to €25, depending on age.
• For some activities, such as tree climbing, a minimum age of 4 years is required.
• Due to the high number of visitors, we recommend booking a date and time slot.

If you are looking for activities to do in Lyon and your children love speed, racing and dream of being the best drivers in the world, the Karting complex, one of the largest in Europe, located just 15 minutes from the centre of Lyon, offers you safe fun, a sense of freedom and many surprises that you will enjoy to the fullest and they will thank you for it.

The place, with an extension of 16 hectares, has five independent tracks and more than 250 cars, to enjoy day and night. There is even a mini-track with electric karts for the little ones to enjoy with their parents, while the older ones can test their driving skills in any of the categories they choose.

The services offered by Karting range from leisure karting to professional karting on a national and international scale, for those who are specialists in this motor sport. At the end of the year, it even brings together the best drivers (from the age of 11) and teams from the five continents in the most important leisure karting exhibition in the world. You will have an exciting and adrenaline-filled afternoon.

also offers short courses for those who have not yet mastered the kart, laser tag, bowling, tree climbing, as well as team races with different obstacles and relays to test the endurance of the competitors.

Useful information

• Opening hours: Open every day of the week, from 9 a.m. to 19:00 p.m.
• Price: Each activity has a different price, depending on age and circuit, starting at €19.

Those heading to Lyon in June, when the weather is much better, can head to this park for their children to enjoy.

The Wakko Park offers different options for recreation and multiple activities, from physical exercise to being in contact with nature, stimulating their senses.

In one place, your children can climb trees, jump on the trampolines, climb up and down the bouncy castle, hide in the labyrinth, or enjoy the water battle with sprinklers to cool off on summer days or share with them in the spring games or tunnels, plastic animals and big balloons, developing motor and playful skills.

The park, located south-east of the centre of Lyon, also offers acrobatic rides, a pedal go-kart track, a tricycle track, safe inflatables, a rope course and zip lines for the more adventurous. It also has a restaurant service and nature walks, being a tourist attraction mainly for families because most of the attractions are for children.

Useful information

• Opening hours: The park is open daily from 10am to 7pm.
• The rides are for children from 2 to 12 years old.
• Price: The entrance fee is approximately €12 for children and €2 for a companion. Children under 2 years old are free of charge

In a combination of fun and learning, a visit to Touroparc Zoo is to meet more than 600 animals including mammals, birds and reptiles, such as red pandas, lions, giraffes, giant tortoises, camels, orangutans, wild boar, tigers, monkeys, pink flamingos, Indian rhinoceroses, and many more.

The complex, which covers 12 hectares of nature, allows you to walk along trails that transport you to different scenarios and environments, learning about different terrestrial and aquatic animals, characteristics and feeding, as well as the care of nature.

Touroparc has a leisure area, where you will find attractions for the family with free access. An aquatic zone, an area with 36 games outside the pool, 5 slides, which will ensure you have fun.

And if that wasn't enough, you will have the opportunity to browse through thirty shops, enjoy the bar, restaurant and picnic areas. There are also souvenir shops, workshops, geological exhibition, museums and an amusement park with playground, tourist train, among many other options.

Useful information

• Opening hours: The attractions are open from 9:00 a.m. to 18:00 p.m.
• Price per adult or child: about 15€, depending on the season of the year and the number of people to enter.
• Due to the large number of visitors, online booking is recommended.

Surprise your children with miniature replicas of different buildings and emblematic places of the French city of Lyon such as the Parc de la Tête d'Or, the Colline de Fourvière, the Rhône pool or the Place Bellecour.

The animated miniature park with an area of 4,500 square metres offers you multiple attractions in movement suitable for the whole family. It is a space of magic, colour and a spectacular scenography made up of 70,000 mini inhabitants, reproduced buildings, vehicles, trains, moving trucks, light projections, projections that recreate day and night, accompanied by sounds and stimulating projections.

I recommend that you and your family go through each of the perfectly recreated scenarios, such as the world of the countryside, with farmers, tractors and crops, and the colourful environments in the mountains or the ice-covered slopes. The best thing is to let the magic, the famous characters, scenes that refer to films and cartoons and even life-size dinosaurs.

Useful information

• Opening hours: The park opens at 10:00 am and closes at 7:00 pm.
• Ticket price: for adults from €14 and for children from €9.