Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon wheelchair accessibility
Lifts to every floor. Two free wheelchair loans. Free entry on proof.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts is Lyon's main art museum, on Place des Terreaux. Lifts run to every floor of the public collections. Two free wheelchairs are at the collections reception. Admission is free for disabled visitors with valid proof; standard tickets are €8 for collections and €12 during temporary exhibitions. Closed Tuesdays.
The museum occupies a former Benedictine abbey from the seventeenth century, around a quiet cloister. The collection runs from antiquities through to twentieth-century modern art, with strong rooms on Italian Renaissance, French and Spanish Baroque, and Impressionism. Most visitors plan two to three hours.
Place des Terreaux itself is fully step-free across the wide square in front of the museum, and the museum reception is reached without crossing a road. Reserve a wheelchair in advance if you want to be sure one is available; both can be in use on a busy Wednesday-free-entry afternoon.
Accessibility at a glance
| What | Details | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Step-free entrance from Place des Terreaux | The main museum entrance is at 17 place des Terreaux. The threshold between the square and the reception is flat. Reception staff direct wheelchair visitors to the dedicated lift. | Confirmed accessible |
| Lifts accessible across the building | Lifts are accessible to visitors with reduced mobility or visitors who find stairs difficult. The lifts cover every floor with public collection access. | Confirmed accessible |
| Two free wheelchairs at the collections reception | Two wheelchairs are available for visitors with reduced mobility or visitors with difficulty walking, at the collections reception desk. Lightweight folding seats are also available at the desk. Both wheelchairs can be reserved in advance. | Confirmed accessible |
| Accessible toilets | Accessible toilets are signposted from the reception level. Ask reception staff for the closest one to the gallery you are visiting. | Partially confirmed |
| Free admission for disabled visitors | Admission is free for visitors with a disability on presentation of valid proof. Standard adult prices are €8 for the permanent collection and €12 during temporary exhibitions. Reduced rates exist for under-25s and other categories. Companion policy: confirm at the desk because the public pricing page does not specify a companion count. | Confirmed accessible |
Getting there: TCL metro line A
From Bellecour or Part-Dieu, take metro line A to Hôtel de Ville - Louis Pradel. The station is step-free with lifts to street level. The museum is a one-minute roll across Place des Terreaux.
Tram line T1 stops at Hôtel de Ville - Louis Pradel two minutes from the museum. Both metro and tram are wheelchair-accessible on the TCL network.
Driving: accessible parking is in the Parking Terreaux underground car park beneath the square. The car park lift comes up directly onto Place des Terreaux level with the museum entrance.
Inside the museum: layout
The museum is laid out around a central cloister with three storeys of galleries. The ground floor holds the antiquities and decorative arts; the first floor the paintings (Italian Renaissance, French Baroque, Spanish Old Masters, Dutch and Flemish); the second floor the modern collection and the print and drawing rooms.
The lift covers the cloister side of the building and serves every public floor. The grand stair is the main visual landmark on the cloister side; the lift parallels it for accessible visits.
The cloister itself is accessible from the ground floor via a wide doorway with no step. The cloister garden is at slightly lower level but the perimeter walkway runs level around it.
Booking and assistance
Reservation desk: 04 72 10 17 40, weekdays 09:00 to 17:00. Tell the desk you need a wheelchair on the day and they will set it aside at reception. The same desk handles guided-tour bookings for accessible visits.
Walk-ins are normal for free disability admission. Show valid proof at the on-site ticket desk; the staff issue a free ticket on the spot. No advance online registration is required.
Online ticketing was unavailable at last check (technical issue). Buy tickets on site at the museum.
Practical details
Address: 17 place des Terreaux, 69001 Lyon.
Metro: TCL line A to Hôtel de Ville - Louis Pradel.
Open Wednesday to Monday; closed Tuesdays and bank holidays (1 January, Easter Monday, 1 and 8 May, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, 14 July, 15 August, 1 and 11 November, 25 December).
Admission: collections €8; exhibitions €12; reduced rates and free admission categories at the desk.
Phone: 04 72 10 17 40.
How we verified this page
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Sources:
- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (Handicap moteur) (verified )
- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (Accessibilité) (verified )
- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (Ticketing and admission) (verified )
- TCL Lyon (network accessibility) (verified )