Accessible activities

Disability friendly ways to explore Lyon

List of accessible courtyards and traboules in Vieux-Lyon (Old Lyon)

Important: you must be accompanied by a guide to enter the traboules (hidden passageways between streets).

• 37 rue Saint-Jean (map ONLYLYON n°25)
• 54 rue Saint-Jean (map ONLYLYON n°28):  The long traboule. CAUTION: after the two inner courtyards, steps make the rest of the passageway inaccessible.
• 27 rue Saint-Jean (map ONLYLYON n°22). CAUTION: It is not possible to exit on the other side at number 6 Rue Maries due to a large step.
• 22 rue Saint-Jean (map ONLYLYON n°19)
• 7 rue Saint-Jean (map ONLYLYON n°17)
• 1 rue Saint-Jean (map ONLYLYON n°16)
• 2 place du Change (map ONLYLYON n°48)
• 10 rue Lainerie (map ONLYLYON n°62) 

Cultural offerings for people with hearing impairments

This site aims to bring together cultural events in Lyon and the surrounding area that are accessible for people with partial or total hearing loss. Various sections are provided to search by type of show/exhibition/tour/outing (visual, bilingual, French sign language, subtitled, hearing loop), by cultural venue or by company.

parcoursculturel-sourds.fr

Culture for all in Lyon’s museums

• The Fine Arts Museum of Lyon offers various accessibility options: tactile maps and model; video guide and videos in French sign language; an audio-guide with audio-descriptions; large-print exhibition texts; an easy-read guide; the ‘MBA Autisme’ app and sensory bags to discover works through the five senses for people with autism; wheelchairs; baby carriers and buggies. It provides “touch tours” for people with visual impairments, tours and conferences interpreted in French sign language, and “sensory walks” for people with autism..
• The Musée des Confluences It also provides a hearing loop, wheelchairs, walking stick-chairs, buggies, models/reproductions, subtitling of audiovisuals, and an interactive system with subtitles.
• Lugdunum - Museum and Roman Theatres offers an accessible tactile trail and sensory tours. It also provides a hearing loop, walking stick-chairs, an audio-guide, a ramp for people with reduced mobility, a lift, and reproductions.
• The Contemporary art Museum (macLYON) offers French guided tours translated into French sign language (Avec les yeux et les mains – with eyes and hands), and tours for visitors with visual impairments to experience artworks differently (Ecouter voir – listen see). Through a sponsorship agreement with Matmut, macLYON provides audio-descriptions of works in its collection located around the museum. Visit the dedicated webpage to find out more.
  It also provides wheelchairs, walking stick-chairs and baby carriers.
• The Gadagne museums provide wheelchairs, walking stick-chairs and buggies. Along its visitor trail, the museum of puppetry (MAM) offers games, subtitled videos and many seats.  The museum of Lyon’s history (MHL) offers a tactile model of Lyon.
• The Resistance and Deportation History Centre offers tours in French sign language and tours for visitors with visual impairments. It provides a hearing loop, wheelchairs, walking stick-chairs, audio-guides, a rest area and subtitled videos.
• The Musée de l'Automobile Henri Malartre invites visitors to take a ride around the grounds with the ‘Ça roule au musée’ initiative.
• The Museum of Printing and Graphic Communication welcomes and offers assistance for people with learning difficulties and mental or sensory impairments. It provides a freely accessible sensory touch area and baby carriers. The entire museum is accessible for visitors with reduced mobility, and the display cases and descriptions are at an accessible height.
• The Institut Lumière Hangar du Premier Film and Festival Lumière have an accessible cinema that screens heritage films from around the world in their original language versions. It provides a hearing loop and audio-guide.

Lyon’s libraries are taking action to improve access to culture for the widest possible audience.

Accessible show venues in Lyon

• The Auditorium of the Lyon National Orchestra has places reserved for audience members with visual impairments and specific seats on the first balcony for people with reduced mobility. A headphone loan and hearing loop service is available.
• The Maison de la Danse offers shows in French sign language and with audio-descriptions, often preceded by a tactile tour of the scenery and a meeting with the dancers. Seats are reserved for audience members with motor disabilities. A headphone loan and hearing loop service is available.
• The Lyon Opera House propose des places réservées PMR et beaucoup d'opéras sont sur-titrés ou sous-titrés. A cushion loan and hearing loop service is available.
• Les Subsistances (Les Subs) offers visual shows (sometimes subtitled if they are in a foreign language) and is a member of the Parcours Culturel Spectateurs Sourds (a site listing cultural venues that are accessible for people with partial or total hearing loss).
• The Théâtre des Célestins de Lyon has seats reserved for people with reduced mobility, a headphone loan service, hearing loops, tours in French sign language, and some audio-described shows (preceded by a tactile tour of the scenery and a meeting with the artists). The theatre is engaged in the Parcours Culturel Spectateurs Sourds (a site listing cultural venues that are accessible for people with partial or total hearing loss).
• The Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse provides seats reserved for people with reduced mobility, communication assistance, and a trail around the show for people with visual impairments.
• The TNG Théâtre Nouvelle Génération offers shows that are mostly visual and meetings alongside the stage.

Accessible events in Lyon

• Nuits de Fourvière is engaged in actions to make its events accessible for people with disabilities. The site is equipped to receive people with reduced mobility (ramps, wheelchair loan service, wheelchair lift near the stage, and drop-off area). One show is accessible through an audio-description and whisperers are available on request to describe what is happening on stage. Relaxation sessions are organised for audience members with mental disabilities.
• The Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights) is a popular event that welcomes all. Several adapted itineraries for different types of disabilities (including short and long formats) are available in the city centre, and dedicated teams (identifiable by their green vests) are on hand at the festival’s main locations to provide assistance. 
• Woodstower has a dedicated reception with a team of professionals and volunteers trained to assist people with disabilities. Hearing loops and vibrating vests are available on request. The site is accessible for people with reduced mobility (Handibus disability-friendly shuttle service, platforms for people with reduced mobility, ground indicators).
• Quais du Polar offers conferences in French sign language and film screenings with audio-descriptions. Headphones are available during meetings, and a team of volunteers is on hand to provide information before and assistance during the event.
• Nuits Sonores is held on sites that are accessible for people with reduced mobility (dedicated drop-off areas, priority access and fast-track queues, information stands run by the AMAAC – an association promoting access to art and culture). There is a bar where festival-goers can communicate in French sign language. Wheelchairs and vibrating vests are available to borrow on request.