Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere tickets: which one to buy

Entry to the basilica and the crypt below is free. Two things cost a little: the guided tour of the roofs and the north tower, which climbs 345 steps to a walkway over the city and runs from spring to autumn, and the small museum of sacred art. The funicular from Vieux Lyon station is the way up, included in any city transport ticket, and takes four minutes; walking up the Montee du Chemin Neuf takes half an hour.

Guided tours of Lyon include the basilica and cost several times that. Nothing needs booking except the roof tour in summer. The esplanade beside the church is free at all hours and gives the best view over Lyon and, on a clear day, to Mont Blanc. The funicular runs from early morning to late evening and is included in the Lyon City Card along with the museums.

Visiting Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere: what to see

Lyon credited the Virgin with saving the city from plague in 1643, from cholera in 1832 and from the Prussians in 1870, and after that last deliverance the archbishop promised a church. Pierre Bossan designed it and it was built with private money between 1872 and 1896 on the hill that had held the Roman forum. The style is nobody's: Romanesque and Byzantine massing with four octagonal towers, a fortress silhouette and an interior of mosaic, marble and gilt so dense that visitors either love or dislike it immediately.

The mosaics show the Virgin in French, Church and world history, including the battle of Lepanto and the Council of Ephesus. Below, the crypt of St Joseph is plainer and often empty. A gilded statue of the Virgin stands on the older chapel's tower beside it. The older chapel beside the basilica, with its gilded Virgin of 1852, is the building the December festival actually commemorates.

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere opening hours and the best time to go

Open daily from early morning to evening. The Festival of Lights on 8 December, when Lyon puts candles in every window to thank the Virgin, begins here and fills the hill for four nights; it is the busiest and best time to come. The esplanade is at its best at sunset, looking over the Saone to the old town. The roof tour stops in bad weather. Lyon is hot in August and the basilica interior is cool. Dress modestly.

Photography without flash is allowed. Allow an hour. The Roman theatres and the Gallo-Roman museum are a five-minute walk along the hill and are among the best Roman remains in France. The hill is exposed and the esplanade is cold in winter, when the view is often the clearest of the year. Lyon's traboules and the Renaissance quarter below the hill are reached by the same funicular line from Saint-Jean.