Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon

Very large art museum with an excellent collection of painting, sculpture, artifacts and more from various periods and by many masters including: Monet, Matisse, Degas. Plan on spending at least two hours to wander around and admire the pieces. They also have a good size gift shop and an excellent cafe with great pastries!

A very beautiful museum, with many interesting collections. If I had to criticize it for something, it would be a certain lack of coherence in the organization of the collections. The museum is not large enough to cover (almost) all eras and all regions of the world (as is the case with the famous Louvre, for example), so the curators have exhibited what they had available. As a result, some collections (the Egyptian one, for instance) occupy a large part of the museum space, while several other civilizations (the Middle and Near East, the Indian subcontinent, pre-Columbian civilizations, etc.) are poorly represented. Painting enthusiasts will be truly delighted by the visit, especially fans of Impressionism. And even if you don't particularly like this movement (I myself am not a big fan), it's not every day that you have the chance to admire up close paintings by Monet, Manet, Degas, Pissarro, Renoir... As a bonus, the museum's inner courtyard, where admission is free, is filled with trees and, on hot days, offers a pleasant place to relax for a few moments away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Oh, I almost forgot. Oh, I almost forgot. If you don't speak French, the experience might not be as pleasant as it should be...

The building itself is worth seeing. I visited only the Permanent Collections, for €8. (There is currently a Temporary Exhibition of Courbet, Monet & Matisse.) Many rooms on three floors, including paintings and sculptures from pre- and post-1900s, antiquities (Egypt, Islam, Greece, Rome), coins, porcelain, furniture and more. I seem to have missed the section on 20th- and 21st-century art. All the signage is in French only (why 4 stars, not 5). There is a café (I saw one vegan pastry) and a gift shop with many books.The large courtyard holds several large sculptures. There are lockers available and a spot to leave baby carriages.

Probably the best fine arts museum in France outside of Paris. Not the Louvre or Musée d'Orsay obviously, but keeps very solid collection of paintings including famous artists from Jan Brueghel, Rubens and Tintoretto to the impressionists. But it also has a lot of magnificent works of local artist like Auguste Flandrin and Louis Janmot. The latter, a pupil of Ingres and fantastic graphist, has a whole room dedicated to his whole life project - The poem of the soul. Don't miss it. There is not a lot of people here. Even on week-ends the rooms are usually half empty and you can find a moment when you're alone in there facing the paintings.

Super impressive! They have an incredible amount of ancient artifacts, art, crafts and carved walls. Great paintings and lots of sculptures. The modern art was a bit of a letdown-very monotonous.

Very good museum, huge, good stuff and well taken care. My low score is just because if you don’t speak french you are trapped. Every explanation is just in french, at least in permanent exposition.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon truly exceeded my expectations. I was genuinely impressed by the remarkable collection of sculptures and paintings—from classical masterpieces to captivating modern works. Each gallery offered something new and inspiring. What surprised me most was the incredible Egyptian section. I hadn’t expected to see ancient walls, artifacts, and even real mummies—it felt like stepping into another world. The museum is beautifully curated, spacious, and easy to explore at your own pace. Whether you’re an art lover or simply curious, this museum offers a rich and diverse experience that goes far beyond what you might imagine. A must-see cultural gem in the heart of Lyon.

A very nice museum in a grand old building. The gardens as you come in are very peaceful compared to the square just out front. We got in using our Lyon city card but the entry price is pretty cheap for such a large museum. You might be waiting a little if you haven't pre bought tickets but I would say no more than 10mins. Some amazing works of art by some of the biggest names. The building itself is laid out well and some of the rooms are hosting monumentally sized pieces. There is a cafe on the first floor with some excellent varieties of eclair. Enjoy them on the balcony if the weather is nice. Even though it was a hot day when we went out was shady and a lovely place to relax.

It's a museum!!! How do you not like museums???? Plus this one was in the square. And it was free that day!

Three Stars only from an English speaking perspective. The collection is large, and the price is good. My chief complaint is that I had read that it is best to download the app before going to the museum, which we did. However, the exhibit numbers and the app numbers to the exhibits do not match. It was a complicated mess of trying to find the commentaries that go with the specific pieces. It was doable by finding the artist's name in the app, but it was far from efficient. My only guess is that the exhibits were recently reorganized and the app was not updated or the English version numbers (for the audio English commentary) were never posted with the exhibits in the galleries. **My advice is to ask if the English version of the audio guide available at the museum matches the exhibit numbers. If so, use the museum-provided guide and not the online app available for download. The audio guides appeared aligned for the French version because the French speaking visitors seemed to have no problems. Otherwise, the museum has great potential for English speaking visitors too. If I better know how to align the English commentary with the exhibits, I would eagerly return and could spend a day or longer there. As I mentioned, the collection is large including lots of different types of art from antiquity to modern.

A beautiful building houses a beautiful art collection spanning eras from Egyptian to Monet. Even on a Sunday, the crowd was light and quiet so you can enjoy the displays.

This is museum of the fine art of Lyon. It is a municipal museum serve the local. The collection has many Egyptians collection including many mummy. The museum is located near city hall. Parking is just underground below museum. In front of museum is the Terreaux square. The collection includes Claude Monet 1903 London painting. This museum has good beautiful painting collection. The collection includes the giant painting. We saw some Flemish painting. We saw some Degas painting too. They have Paul Gauguin Native Mahana painting as well as Louis Janmot painting on Fleur des Champs. The painting are very expressive. This museum is big. There are two floors and a courtyard. It needs two half hours to complete. The courtyard sculpture is minor. But the in room also intriguing.

Amazing art gallery. This was our favorite stop in Lyon. We spent 4 hours and could have easily spent longer. They have a good mixture of art, artifacts, statues, etc. The building is beautiful itself. Almost no one was there when we went in September on a weekend. The audio guide is a must.

Yes many classics here! But to see the more well known pieces buy the high priced ticket. Wish some one would Have told me that when I went. They also didn't offer me the listening speaker so...the art was great and the Egyptian exhibit was wonderful!! Just customer service was crappy.

What a fantastic collection. Beautiful building with a tiny garden. Friendly staff and spectacular collection of modern and historic Aeropean art and arcaic too... We spent most of our time gazing at the magnificent oil paintings of the great renassaince artists... Do not miss!

Great place to visit. Lots to see but not so gigantic compared to Paris. Bring your camera and hunger for art.

Wonderful museum if you happen to be in Lyon France. Excellent collection of art from several centuries. Notable and HIGHLY enjoyable works by such well known artists as Monet, Degas, Manet, Picasso, Gauguin, et al. Also, works worth examining by lesser known artists. Fascinating "antiquities" section, too. We spent 2.5 hours there and basically skipped one floor. HIGHLY recommended if you are in Lyon!

A wonderful museum, filled with a very curated collection. There are wonderful pieces around every corner and surprises in each room. The museum maps provide a good list of "can't miss" items - - my one recommendation is to dedicate extra time to the sculpture area with the breathtaking Rodin "le tentacion de saint Antoine".

Whoo hoo!! My 100th review! I couldn't pick a better review for my #100 either....loved this place! This museum was wonderful, definitely one of the best collections I have seen, next to the Louvre. They have a large body of art, and from all different periods in history, starting with antiquity and ancient Egypt, all the way up to modern art in the 20th century. Even the building the museum is housed in is history, in a Benedictine abbey of the 'Dames nobles de Saint-Pierre' which was built in the 17th century. Its a four-sided structure, with a lovely garden in the middle courtyard. The courtyard also has some statues, one of which was sculpted by Rodin. The front of the building looks out over Place des Terreaux. We spent about 3 hours there, but I mostly wanted to see the older art pieces and skipped through some of the more modern paintings and did not see the temporary exhibition. We started out with the Egyptian artifacts, which were amazing! Then Greece, and Rome, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and so on. All the antiquities and artifacts are on level 1, then paintings are on level 2. There is also a coin and medallion collection in a room on level 1 as well. Also, their 19-20th century sculptures are in the Chapel on the ground floor...this was my favorite part, a definite "do not miss"!! You can also take pictures, however no flash is allowed. Also, please, DO NOT TOUCH! They do have attendants everywhere, so they will catch you if you do! When you walk in, there is also an area for their free audio guide, that you can pick up to help guide you through the museum. I did not take it, and if you can read a bit of French you should be fine. They also have a coat check which is really nice on cold days, as the museum was rather warm. A few of the "don't miss" pieces: the Egyptian "Porte de Medamoud", "Odalisque" by James Pradier, and Monet's "Mer agitee a Etretat". This is such a wonderful museum to see so many pieces of art from the beginning of time. It is so great to see all this history here in Lyon, being from America, all our history is relatively new when you look at Europe! I would say its a "must see", especially for Americans who are visiting the area! I had a wonderful time, and really loved all the artifacts, sculptures, and paintings!

I went here for a few hours on my short stop to Lyon this summer. Most of the art isn't my cup of tea; lots and lots and lots of old religious paintings, some a bit ancient and others gigantic and with lots of grandeur. I was more there for the Monet and Van Gogh, but there were only a few by them. I enjoyed the impressionist section. I have to take a star off because I had wanted to have lunch at their cafe, but it was closed for food. I know its different in Europe and stuff, but it was only 3pm or so and I had waited out to have lunch until I arrived at the musuem. So that was dissapointing. We had walked in the cafe and wandered around, and waiters passed us and said nothing (not asking us if we needed help, giving a menu, etc. although there were ppl sitting and enjoying drinks). But I'm American, so I can't judge how much of it is my lack of cultural understanding and how much was their rudeness. The gift shop was nice and had a lot of art books. I wouldn't go back as a lot of the art is that old European Christian style, which is fine and was beautiful but repetitive. I guess the lack of deviation made the visit a little lackluster. The actual building and courtyard is vey beautiful as well. It's not something I would pass up, just wouldn't go again.

Definitely worth visiting. You can easily spend a couple hours or all day here. Layout is well organized. The building has a charming atmosphere. The employees were friend and helpful. There is an app for smartphones with an audio guide, but while the app language is English, the audio guide is only in French. We visited on a free admission day during a heritage celebration weekend, so there may be audio guides available from the museum that are in English.