Silk in Lyon: workshops, museum and canut tours compared
4 min read
The answer first
If you only have an hour, book the guided tour of the silk-printing workshop (€12, 4.8/5 from 287 reviews): fifty minutes, in French or English, and you watch printing happen rather than hear about it. If you want the story of the weavers, pick one of the canut tours below. Two of them are French only, so check the language before you pay.
Why silk, and why Croix-Rousse
Croix-Rousse, the hill north of the centre, is the district of Lyon’s silk weavers, the canuts. The heritage website patrimoine-lyon.org counts silk as part of Lyon’s memory and explains the conflict: in 1831 the canuts and the merchants clashed over the piece rates, the tarif; on 21 November the weavers took Croix-Rousse and then the Presqu’île, and on 2 December the army retook the city. According to the tourist office, the traboules served the canuts as secret routes during that revolt. The canut tours tell this story; the workshops show the craft.
Five ways to do it
- Silk-printing workshop (€12, Maison Brochier, 33 Rue Romarin, 50 minutes, French and English). The page lists screen-printing and block-printing demonstrations and hand-painting on silk velvet. Children under 10 are listed as not suitable.
- Guided tour of the Soieries Brochier museum (€12, 4.8/5 from 115 reviews). One hour at 18 Quai Jules Courmont, in English or French, with haute couture pieces and textile innovations. The page lists it as wheelchair accessible and says it suits adults and children from 8; confirm access with the museum before you travel. The page adds that you can extend the visit with the printing workshop.
- Soierie Vivante’s weaving workshops (€17.50, 4.9/5 from 16 reviews). Ninety minutes in English across two real canut workshops with looms in action. The description says English tours run on Fridays by appointment and start at 3 p.m. sharp, so look at the dates first. There are stairs and a ten-minute walk between the two workshops; wheelchair users and people with mobility impairments are listed as not suitable.
- Storytelling tour of Croix-Rousse (€20, 4.9/5 from 168 reviews). A professional actor tells the revolt of 1831 along the traboules, in French only, 1.5 to 2 hours. Many stairs; under-10s and people with mobility impairments are listed as not suitable.
- Traboules and Resistance tour (€31.50, 5.0/5 from 17 reviews). 2.5 hours, French, up to 10 people, meeting at Le Gros Caillou. It is more about the Resistance than silk, with the canuts as one chapter.
Side by side
| Tour | Duration | Language | Not suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printing workshop | 50 minutes | French, English | children under 10 |
| Brochier museum | 1 hour | English, French | children under 8 (page: from 8) |
| Soierie Vivante | 1.5 hours | English | mobility impairments, wheelchairs |
| Storytelling tour | 1.5 to 2 hours | French only | under 10, mobility impairments |
Who should skip it
- Families with children under 8: the museum starts at 8, the workshop and the storytelling tour at 10. For Soierie Vivante and the Resistance tour, the listed restrictions concern stairs and mobility.
- Anyone who cannot climb stairs: Croix-Rousse is a hill of stairways. The Brochier museum is the one silk visit whose page lists wheelchair access; confirm it with the museum.
- Non-French speakers: two of the five tours are French only.
Our recommendation
For most visitors, the printing workshop: short, in English, and the craft is the point. Add the Brochier museum if you want context and fine pieces, or the weaving workshops if you want to see looms run. For the passageways themselves, read our guide to Vieux Lyon and the traboules. More choices: silk workshops in Croix-Rousse.
