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| Classical parks |
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Arènes de Lutèce
4 rue des Arènes
5th arrondissement
metro Place Monge or Jussieu
bus 47, 67, 89
wi-fi connection
 Actually, this is the only really classical park of Paris. It has remains of a Roman arena from the 2nd century. By chance, the arena came to the surface in 1869 when the rue Monge was constructed. There are beautiful trees and because of the close character of the site, there is more than enough shade. You can often watch a game of jeu-de-boules and regularly there are theatre productions.
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 Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
1 rue Botzaris
19th arrondissement
metro Buttes-Chaumont or Botzaris
bus 26, 48, 60, 75
open 7-22
wi-fi connection
This park was commissioned by Napoleon III and developed by Hausmann and his engineer Alphand in 1867. It looks like a classical park, but everything here is fake, the rocks, the belvedères, bridges, temples, caves and waterfalls. At the top of a rock you will find a copy of the Temple of the Sibyls. Although there are many joggers, especially in the weekend, this romantic park exudes a calm atmosphere.
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Jardin du Luxembourg
2 rue Auguste Comte
6th arrondissement
Metro Odéon, Cluny la Sorbonne or Luxembourg
Bus 27, 38, 82, 83, 85, 89
open 7.30-21.30
One of the largest and most beautiful parks of Paris , attractive to both young and old. A great place to wander around, or to sit at the pond and people-watch. Admire the flower beds or the 80 statues that can be found in the park. Go for a run, play tennis, table tennis, jeu-de-boule, or chess, and enjoy a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. The kids can go for a pony-ride or a ride in the carousel, enjoy the playground (for different age-groups), or sail a little boat on the pond. On Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays the young ones can attend a puppet show.
The park has been established at the beginning of the 17th century under Maria de´ Medici. It was part of the Palais de Luxembourg, which she had built after her husband Henry IV had been assassinated and she no longer wanted to live in the Louvre palace. The Palais and the park are similar in design to her birth home, the Palazzo Pitti, and the Boboli gardens in Florence. Originally, the park was larger, and it attained its current size following the construction of the surrounding streets by Hausmann in the 19th century. A plantation and a botanical garden had to give way to this project, which led to massive protests amongst the Parisians.
The garden has a reasonably austere design: A central area  with a large pond, terraces and straight lanes sided by trees: plane trees, chestnuts and lime trees as well as exotic trees such as the paulownia, ginkgo tree, soap tree and sequoia. From spring to autumn you can admire potted date palms, orange and lemon trees. Throughout the entire park you can find flower beds that are meticulously being maintained. Two balustrades are home to statues of French queens.
On the west side is a section in English style with winding paths, lawns and statues. On the south side is le Verger du Luxembourg, an apple and pear orchard with hundreds of trees. The fruit of this orchard is eaten by the Senators in the Palais du Luxembourg. At the back are beehives. The garden is maintained by over 80 gardeners who replace the annual flowers three times a year.
A lovely place to sit is near the Fontaine Medicis, originally a cave that Maria de Medici had built and that changed place several times. In warm weather this is the place to read quietly, talk, look around or take a nap. On the west side of the park you will find one of two Statues of Liberty in Paris. The other is on the Ile des Cygnes in the 16th arrondissement. There is also a Bocca della Verità and statues of Beethoven, Maria de' Medici and Delacroix. At the outside of the park photo exhibitions are regularly displayed on the fence.
Parisians call the Jardin du Luxembourg ‘Luco’. This abbreviation stands for Lucotitius, now the garden, but in Gallo-Roman times a place outside the city limits.
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Parc Monceau
35 boulevard de Courcelles
17th arrondissement
 metro Monceau
bus 30
open 7-22
wi-fi connection
This park was built in 1769. The site was purchased by the duc d'Orléans, who ordered a garden in English-German style with many classical buildings: the ruins of a castle, a temple, a corinthian colonnade, a stone vault in Renaissance style, and a pyramid. After 1850, in a large part of the park beautiful mansions were built that now border the park. They were inhabited by rich bankers like Rothschild and Cernuschi.
The park exudes an aristocratic atmosphere. There are statues of, for example, Gounod, Chopin and Guy de Maupassant, and beautiful old trees, including a maple from 1853 and a sycamore from 1814.
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Parc Montsouris
2 rue Gazan
14th arrondissement
metro Cité-Universitaire
bus 21, 88, 216, 261, 513
tram T3
open 8-21.30
wi-fi connection
This park was laid out during the nineteenth century ‘Hausmann’ period. Jean-Charles Alphand was appointed executor for the project. It was part of a plan for each of four Parisian districts to establish parks where people could enjoy a leisurely stroll, in a similar style to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Located at the site of an abandoned quarry, the park was opened in 1869. On the opening day itself it turned out that the lake had emptied and the engineer responsible for this shortcoming felt so disgraced that he promptly committed suicide.
The Parc Montsouris is a hilly, trapeze-shaped park with waterfalls, a pond and three large lawns connected by three bridges. Through the park run two railway lines, the RER B line (the former Sceaux line) and the now disused Petite Ceinture line. You don’t notice the trains, however, as the view is obscured by the low-lying track which is also surrounded by trees.
 During spring and autumn the park is at it’s best, but even in the heart of winter it retains it’s character. Scattered through the park are several sculptures and a large number of old and exceptional trees such as gingko, a sequoia and an oriental plane tree. Located at one edge of the park is a meteorological observatory and a five meter high pillar as focal point for the Paris meridian. Just outside the park, across the Boulevard Jourdan, lies the Cité Universitaire.
Parc Montsouris is a relatively quiet park with lots of benches. On the lawns, you can read, picnic or simply lie on the grass. From May to September there are musical performances in the bandstand. For children it is an attractive park, there is a play area, a carousel, a puppet theatre and pony rides. There is also a coffee kiosk and a restaurant, the Pavillon Montsouris (entrance rue Gazan).
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Jardin du Palais Royal
2 place Colette
1st arrondissement
metro Palais-Royal
bus 21, 27, 69, 76, 81, 95
open 7.30-20.30
 A square, enclosed garden, commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu in 1625. The garden is surrounded on three sides by residential buildings with identical facades, which gives it an aristocratic atmosphere. In front of the buildings are arcades with unusual shops: second hand haute couture, perfumes and tin soldiers.
Four double rows of lime trees provide shade in summer and in between the hedgerows you can sit on a bench and enjoy the fountain in the pond and the flowering roses and flower borders. At the south side you will find yourself in front of a modern masterpiece of black and white marble columns of different sizes, made by Daniel Buren.
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Jardin des Plantes
2 rue Buffon
5th arrondissement
metro Jussieu or Gare d'Austerlitz
bus 24, 57, 61, 63, 67, 89, 91
open 8-18.15
 The Jardin des Plantes was fitted up as a herb garden of 7 hectares by the court physician of Louis XIII in 1626. The herbs were used as medicine, but the garden also served as study material for medical students and in 1640 the garden was opened to the public. At the time it contained some 1800 plants. In the 18th century the garden was extended to 17 ha and got its current form. In 1793 the garden became part of a natural history museum. A zoo was constructed after a ban was issued to walk tame animals in the streets: they had to be turned in and were placed in the zoo. Later on animals that were a gift to the king, including a giraffe from Egypt were placed here. In the winter of 1870-1871 Paris was besieged by the Prussians. When a famine arose, people marched into the zoo, killed the animals and took them home to eat.
 The garden is a heaven for garden and plant lovers. It consists of several rectangular sections with all kinds of flowers and plants (and their names) and in the middle a long green belt with lime trees. To the east is a labyrinth against a slope with old trees, including a cedar from 1734. The tropical greenhouses from 1834 have been renovated in 2009. A rock garden is located between the lime avenue and the labyrinth. Here you will find plants from Corsica, Morocco, the Alps and the Himalayas. In the southern part of the park is a rose garden (visit is highly recommended from May to July) and May is the flowering time for the irises in the iris garden. The building in the Jardin des Plantes is the the Natural History Museum with the famous Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, which is also interesting for children.
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Jardin des Tuileries
113 rue de Rivoli
1st arrondissement
metro Concorde, Palais Royal or Tuileries
bus 21, 24, 27, 39, 42, 48, 68, 69, 72, 73, 81, 84, 94, 95
open 7.30-19
The oldest and largest park of Paris, built in 1564 on the initiative of Catherine de’ Medici as a private garden near her Tuileries Palace. Before, there were tiles brickworks ('tuileries'). One hundred years later, landscape architect Le Nôtre opened the garden to the public and between 1991 and 1996, it was completely renovated.
 It is a real strolling garden, with trees, flower beds and lawns with terraces in between, ponds and benches. You can also admire the open air sculpture exhibition with works by Rodin, Moore, Dubuffet, Giacometti. and many more. Sculptures placed at the entrance on place de la Concorde represent antiquity, in the Jardin du Carrousel, bordering the Louvre, you will find 18 sculptures by Maillol between the yew tree hedges.
The park is famous for its elms that have survived the elms illness. Furthermore, there are many chestnut trees, oaks and limes, some over 200 years old. The trees are pruned to a height of no more than 2.20 m, so that the Grande Arche de la Défense in the west remains visible. The flower beds are planted twice a year with thousands of plants and bulbs. When the weather gets warmer 60 pots with orange trees are placed in the garden. Near the north-west entrance of La Concorde, Monum library has all the books about gardening and landscaping.
For children the Jardin des Tuileries is a joy. There is a children's playground, a trampoline, and they can take a pony ride or hire a small sailing boat to sail in the pond. In July and August each year a fair is organised on the Terrasse des Feuillants at the north side of the Jardin.
A big Ferris wheel is part of the fun.
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Last checked
25-01-2012
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| translation: Eveline van Koppen/Els van der Vos |
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