Parc de la Tête d'Or

Parc de la Tête d'Or is Lyon's great urban park, a green expanse of well over a hundred hectares on the east side of the Rhône, beside the Part-Dieu business district. It opened in 1857 and was laid out by the Bühler brothers, landscape gardeners who designed it in the English style, with sweeping lawns, winding paths and a large lake at its heart. Its name, meaning Park of the Golden Head, comes from a local legend that a treasure in the form of a golden head of Christ lies buried somewhere in the grounds, and nobody has ever found it.

The lake, dug out from a former branch of the Rhône, is the park's centrepiece. You can walk around it, rent a rowing boat, or sit on the grass and watch the swans, and on its island there is a monument to French soldiers. Century-old trees provide shade around the lakeshore, and the paths are popular with joggers, cyclists and walkers throughout the year. The lanes through the park pass lawns, ponds and small buildings, and the overall effect is of a country estate dropped into the middle of a city.

The park is also home to a free zoo, with animals from different continents, including African savanna species and an Asian forest area. Alongside it stands the botanical garden, with historic greenhouses and a large collection of plants from around the world, and the international rose garden, which is at its best in late spring and early summer. Several of these areas are arranged so that you can drift between them without a fixed itinerary.

Families make good use of the park. A little train circuits the grounds, there are pony rides, miniature golf, playgrounds and, for the youngest visitors, Guignol puppet shows, a form of puppet theatre that was born in Lyon and is part of the city's identity. Guignol, the cheeky character created by a Lyon puppeteer in the early nineteenth century, still has devoted audiences, and the shows give children a small taste of local culture. The zoo, the greenhouses and some other facilities keep their own opening schedules, so check them before planning a day.

The park is easy to combine with the rest of Lyon. It lies about a short tram or bike ride from the centre, and its gates open directly onto the busy east bank, with the Cité Internationale and the Musée d'Art Contemporain at its northern edge. A visit works well as a slow half-day with a picnic after the museums and monuments of the old town, such as the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière and the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, or the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. It suits families, joggers, plant lovers and anyone who simply needs space and shade on a hot day.