The Greenways and parks of Champvert

This circular route offers maximum greenery and minimum tarmac in an almost 100% urban environment, right in the heart of Lyon. The three green sections are the parks of the 5th arrondissement town hall and La Passerelle, the Champvert Greenway and, finally, an unexpected path along the motorway, above the entrance to the Fourvière tunnel. The asphalt-free section accounts for around 80% of the total, which is rather nice in the middle of the city!

Details

14995606
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 4.74 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 1h 30 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 57 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 60 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 275 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 223 m

Photos

Description of the walk

The starting point is at the Parc de la Mairie in the 5th arrondissement, served by several buses, Luzy stop. The C21 takes 15 minutes from the Perrache transport hub. The park entrance is just opposite the post office.

(S/E) Enter the park and go to the far right. There, continue through the next two parks to the exit at the bottom. Once you leave the park, stay on the left-hand side of the pavement, leaving the private property on your left.

(1) Turn left and enter the Voie Verte, which is clearly marked with a large green sign explaining everything.
The Voie Verte is well laid out from one end to the other, so there is no risk of getting lost. You can have fun taking one or other of the side paths, as they all lead back to the main path.

(2) At the end of the Greenway, cross over and take Avenue Barthélémy Buyer on the right.

(3) Turn left onto Rue Patel and keep to the right at the three-way junction. Go around the roundabout on the right, staying on the same street.

(4) At the junction with Rue Frère Benoît, turn left into the cul-de-sac.

(5) At the end of the cul-de-sac on the right, you will find the entrance to the path that runs alongside the motorway and continues to Avenue Sidoine Apollinaire. Stay on the pavement on the right, which runs alongside the supermarket, and you will reach the crossroads that leads to the Greenway and the parks you came from.

(1) Cross the avenue, turn left, then take the entrance on the right that leads to the Passerelle and Mairie parks, which you already crossed on the way there. Take the same route back to Avenue du Point du Jour (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 275 m - Entrance to the park of the 5th arrondissement town hall
  2. 1 : km 0.6 - alt. 242 m - Crossroads of the circular loop, Voie Verte entrance
  3. 2 : km 2.19 - alt. 226 m - End of the Greenway - on the right
  4. 3 : km 2.52 - alt. 230 m - Crossroads - turn left onto Rue Patel
  5. 4 : km 2.94 - alt. 234 m - Crossroads - on the left Impasse Frère Benoît
  6. 5 : km 3.03 - alt. 232 m - End of cul-de-sac - path on the right
  7. S/E : km 4.74 - alt. 275 m - Entrance to the park of the 5th arrondissement town hall

Notes

Please note: it is not always easy to find parking, and all spaces near the park are paid parking.
Make sure you have enough money to pay for parking if you plan to come by car.

Distribution of areas:
Starting parks: 600 m
Greenway: 1.6 km
Path along the motorway: 1.1 km
Tarmac: 850 m, less than 80% of the total.

The entire walk is in the city, so you have to put up with the noise, especially near the motorway!
The parks are very busy, but fortunately you leave them quickly.
The Greenway is well maintained and fairly busy.
The motorway path is poorly maintained and overgrown with brambles and nettles. Unfortunately, it is often dirty. Long trousers are recommended.

Shortcut of a few hundred metres on the Greenway: when you reach a tunnel and see a staircase on the left leading up to it, take it, then turn right onto Rue Maurice Bellemain and follow it to (3). Resume the route as normal.

Worth a visit

The parks have all kinds of facilities, including playgrounds for children and exercise equipment for adults. There are wooden deckchairs, picnic tables... in short, everything you would expect to find in a city.

The Greenway has benches and exercise equipment for adults.
For children, there is the Parc de Champvert.
Children and adults can also enjoy the Parc du Bois de la Garde if they want to stroll through the woods and relax a little longer. This park is really pleasant, quite large, with a slight slope, and it's a great place to spend some time.

The path along the motorway is really unexpected given its location: you can see vehicles entering and exiting the Fourvière tunnel, one of the most famous in France! And yet, if you look ahead, you see a forest path like thousands of others. It's a really surprising contrast.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 9 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
3.2 / 5
gerlandais
gerlandais

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 12, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

picturesque, but not very interesting because it is very noisy

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User 26207240

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The path along the motorway should be cleared of numerous nettles and brambles, which make this passage unpleasant:

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beslin jean
beslin jean

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 07, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

There are no signposts, so you need a smartphone and the Visorando app.

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Stéphanie Le Touzé
Stéphanie Le Touzé

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 27, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

I was very familiar with the greenway that runs along Barthélémy Buyer Avenue (which is very pleasant!), but not with the "path" that runs alongside the motorway. I admit that its only merit is that it exists, because it is really of no interest: it has been mowed, so the vegetation is not very high, but it is full of brambles and quite dirty, with users of the path entrance happily leaving behind bottles and cans... I admit that, while I wasn't expecting a bucolic environment given the proximity of the motorway, I was hoping for better.
Thanks anyway to Thabor for their efforts in finding us some urban routes...

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C_Graf
C_Graf

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The first half of the route is very pleasant along the greenway, but the second half along the motorway is not maintained, with brambles and nettles all along the way! Avoid wearing shorts.
Thanks for the trip!

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Thabor
Thabor

Thank you for this information. It's really useful to have someone give us an update on the condition of this route in winter.
Clearly, maintenance leaves something to be desired at this time of year. I think the city is waiting until spring to clean everything up.
As for the motorway, nothing has changed from what I wrote: it is indeed very noisy.
So it's best to give it a miss at this time of year.
Thanks again, Hermance. This will save others from having an unpleasant journey at this time of year.

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ASEB Marche-Loisirs
ASEB Marche-Loisirs

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 24, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Very busy route : No

Hello,

I did this route on my own this morning with the aim of doing it in a fortnight with a group of elderly walkers, but it's not feasible.
While the first part, which is usually very busy, is easy, the second part of the greenway, which is flat, is difficult because it is very slippery at this time of year with leaves and mud, and there are many trees to climb over. At the end, I had to squeeze between branches to continue, as I was too far away to turn back. What's more, this second part is in the woods, but above the motorway, so it is very noisy due to the constant flow of traffic.
Not recommended.
Hermance

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Fabrice0869
Fabrice0869
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 01, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely little urban route, perfect for getting some fresh air and stretching your legs.
The greenway is very pleasant.
The little path that runs alongside the motorway is really original (yes, it's a bit noisy, it is the motorway after all lol).

Thank you for this route that is both urban and rural.

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Thabor
Thabor

Glad you enjoyed it. This route is truly a curiosity.

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DURAND Jacqueline
DURAND Jacqueline

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 09, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice route, shame about the motorway!

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OALAN
OALAN

You're right, I did want to say hello to them... but I was too proud to go faster than them, with many more negative ions. Well done on your creation!
Have a good evening...

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Thabor
Thabor

When I created this walk, this path alongside the motorway was really something of a curiosity, as there isn't even a fence between it and the road below! It's almost an invitation to go and say hello to the people stuck in traffic.
As for the noise... well, we're in the city, aren't we
Thank you for your comment.

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OALAN
OALAN

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Very beautiful route through the parks; shame about the section along the motorway: noisy (over long distances) despite the pleasant nature of the path...
Thank you!

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