Hotels near Croix-Rousse District

The Croix-Rousse hill rises steeply north of Place des Terreaux and was Lyon's silk-weaving heartland during the 19th century, when 30,000 canut looms operated in the tall-ceilinged apartments still standing today. The wide windows and 4-metre-high floors were built specifically to house Jacquard looms; you can visit a working restoration at the Maison des Canuts on Rue d'Ivry, EUR 7 for a guided demonstration. Halfway up the slope, the Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules is a 19-BCE Roman amphitheatre built as the meeting place for delegates from the three Gallic provinces, now a small free park where you can wander among the surviving arena walls. The district's daily open-air market runs along Boulevard de la Croix-Rousse every morning except Monday and is one of the liveliest in the city. Metro Line C connects Hôtel de Ville up through Croix-Rousse and Hénon stations.

Pro Tip: Croix-Rousse has its own network of traboules used historically by silk workers to carry finished bolts of fabric down to Presqu'île merchants without damaging them in the rain. The Cour des Voraces at 9 Place Colbert has the most photogenic staircase in the district, six storeys of exposed stone steps in an open courtyard, and unlike some traboules it's free to enter and open all day.