What to do in Lyon when it rains
In Lyon, rain rarely comes as a short shower. It often settles in for the whole afternoon. The ten places below all have a roof, firm opening hours and prices checked against official sites on 10 October 2026. Some fill two hours, others a full day, depending on what you want to do.
Two museums that swallow an afternoon
The Musée des Confluences, 86 quai Perrache in the 2nd, opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10.30am to 6.30pm and closes on Mondays. The glass and concrete building at the tip of the confluence holds natural history collections and temporary exhibitions. Entry is 12 EUR full price, 7 EUR reduced, free under 18. Pick this one if you want to fill most of an afternoon.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts, 20 place des Terreaux in the 1st, opens Wednesday to Monday from 10am to 6pm, and from 10.30am on Fridays. It closes on Tuesdays and public holidays. Collections cost 8 EUR, 4 EUR reduced; temporary shows 12 EUR or 7 EUR. Some rooms shut between 12.30pm and 2pm, so keep long routes for the morning.
If you only see one museum in the rain, make it the Confluences. The building and the collections fit into a single visit.
- Confluences: late opening to 10pm on the first Thursday of the month.
- Beaux-Arts: timed tickets must be booked online, including the free ones.
A cinema and a museum in the Lumière brothers’ house
The Institut Lumière, 25 rue du Premier-Film in the 8th, pairs the museum of the invention of cinema with an art-house screen. The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6.30pm and closes on Mondays. Entry is 9.50 EUR, 7.50 EUR reduced, free under 7.
Tickets are sold at the door before each screening: 8.90 EUR full price, 7.40 EUR reduced. The programme leans on restored prints and classics rather than new releases. The Hangar du Premier-Film is free to walk through during screenings, Tuesday to Sunday from 2pm to 8pm.
Two indoor pools, no need to get wet outside
Piscine Garibaldi, 221 rue Garibaldi in the 3rd, is a covered winter pool of 33.25 by 11.25 metres with five lanes. A single entry costs 4 EUR, 2.60 EUR reduced. During school terms it opens Monday 12pm to 1.30pm and 5pm to 8pm, Wednesday 12pm to 8pm, Thursday and Friday 12pm to 1.30pm then 5pm to 9pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 9am to 12.45pm. It closes on public holidays.
The Centre nautique Tony Bertrand, 8 quai Claude Bernard in the 7th, keeps its 50-metre Olympic pool open all year, heated to 27C in winter. Open Monday to Friday from 12pm to 8pm and weekends from 12pm to 6pm, same 4 EUR entry. Both pools sell time slots online; the queue builds at the end of the working day.
A covered market for a warm lunch
Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, 102 cours Lafayette in the 3rd, gathers around fifty traders under one roof. Entry is free. Traders open Monday to Saturday from 7.30am to 7.30pm and Sunday from 7.30am to 1pm. The restaurants serve 11.30am to 2.30pm on weekdays and until 3.30pm on Sundays.
By 1pm on a Sunday, most stalls have packed up. For lunch on site, aim for noon, not 2pm.
The fishmongers stay open until 10pm Monday to Saturday, so you can still pick up a seafood platter after work.
Climb and play, indoors
Climb Up Lyon Gerland, 11 rue Lortet in the 7th, near Jean-Macé metro, occupies a historic Lyon climbing hall. It holds 2,000 sq m of walls, routes up to 13 metres and a bouldering area, and opens Monday to Friday from 8.30am to midnight, weekends from 8.30am to 10.30pm. A day pass runs around 17.50 EUR, 15.50 EUR reduced, and entry includes shoe and harness hire.
Play In Park, 117 boulevard Stalingrad in Villeurbanne, opposite the Parc de la Tête d’Or, is a covered leisure complex. The bowling alley has twelve lanes and takes no bookings: 8 EUR per person Monday to Thursday and Friday before 7pm, 9.50 EUR on Friday nights, weekends and holidays. The same building holds a laser game, a virtual reality room, pool tables and karaoke. Open 2pm to 11pm Monday, until midnight Tuesday to Thursday, until 2am Friday, and from 1pm Saturday.
A library where you can settle in for free
The Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu, 30 boulevard Marius Vivier Merle in the 3rd, is the largest municipal library in France: 27,290 sq m over seven floors and more than 3.2 million documents. Entry is free and a card gives you borrowing rights. It opens Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 7pm and Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and closes on Mondays and Sundays.
If you plan to work through the rain, arrive at opening. The seats by the windows go first.
Cross the Presqu’île without opening an umbrella
The Passage de l’Argue links 43 rue de Brest to 40 rue de la République in the 2nd, passing under rue Édouard-Herriot. Built in 1825 by the architect Vincent Farge, it keeps its glass roof, central rotunda and wooden shopfronts. You can walk through freely during the day, and cut from Bellecour towards rue de la République without opening an umbrella.
The shops close on Sundays, like much of the Presqu’île. On weekdays the passage stays a dry shortcut and a place to look at the windows while a shower passes.
What this page leaves out
This selection stays in central and eastern Lyon, between the Presqu’île, Part-Dieu and Gerland. Neighbourhood cinemas, smaller museums and suburban pools are not here. Several of these places change their hours during school holidays, so check the venue’s own site before you set off.