Six of the best parks in Paris
Bois de Vincennes is almost three times the size of New York's Central Park.Credit: Alamy
BOIS DE VINCENNES
Parks might not be the first thing to spring to mind when you're visiting Paris, but the French capital is blessed with lovely, leafy, family-friendly escapes. The biggest is Bois de Vincennes, which is almost three times the size of New York's Central Park, sprawling 995 hectares across a former royal hunting preserve by a medieval chateau on the city's eastern limits. Its diverse attractions include botanical gardens, picnic spots, a boating lake, a zoo, a Buddhist pagoda and seasonal festivals (such as a flower-powered jazz one; June 29-September 7, 2023). There are woodland trails to hike, but you'll cover more ground by saddling up - the handy city-wide Velib' bike-hire scheme has docking points in and around Bois de Vincennes. See velib-metropole.fr/
PARC DES BUTTES-CHAUMONT
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Undulating near the trendy Belleville district, in northeastern Paris, this park has an idyllic charm that belies its gruesome past. Once the site of a gallows, a sewage dump and a quarry, it's now a favourite with Parisians, who come for peaceful strolls and to loll and sunbathe on the grassy slopes, spying Montmartre in the distance. Buttes-Chaumont's piece de resistance is its lake, where a suspension bridge leads to a craggy peak soaring above the water, crowned by a miniature Roman-style temple. For refreshments, perhaps some wine and tapas, try Rosa Bonheur, a hip modern take on a guinguette, a traditional watering hole, eatery and dance hall named after a 19th century feminist artist. See rosabonheur.fr/rosa-buttes
PARC DE LA VILLETTE
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Swiss-born architect Bernard Tschumi masterminded the transformation of abandoned abattoirs into this haven of leisure and culture, a kilometre north of Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Canalside lawns lure loungers, picnickers and festival-goers (the northern summer sees vegan, pop and open-air cinema gatherings). Bamboo groves, quirky installations and monumental venues pepper the park, including one of Europe's largest science museums, and Philharmonie de Paris, which hosts a symphony hall and music exhibitions in a spaceship-like structure by Jean Nouvel. See philharmoniedeparis.fr
JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG
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You may have spotted this Latin Quarter beauty in Netflix shows Lupin and Emily in Paris. Primed for people-watching, the telegenic garden unfurls behind Palais du Luxembourg, which was built for Queen Marie de' Medici in the early 1600s and now serves as the seat of the French Senate. Stretch your legs along the gravel paths bordered by stone statues, terraces, fountains, floral beds, orchid-filled greenhouses, orchards, an apiary, tennis courts, petanque zones and puppet shows. When you fancy a rest, there are green metal chairs scattered about, with a cluster by the pond near the palace where kids (and adults) sail model boats. See en.parisinfo.com
PARC MONCEAU
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Claude Monet was enchanted by this delightful green pocket in the 8th arrondissement, depicting it in a series of paintings between 1876 and 1878. A mini Egyptian-inspired pyramid and a colonnade overlooking a duck pond are some of the curiosities embellishing a park that was a childhood playground for the Parisian writer Marcel Proust. Framing this eight-hectare retreat are chestnut tree-lined streets, Belle Epoque-era mansions and Haussmannian apartments, several housing chic bistros, cafes and galleries. Check out the excellent Asian art collection at the admission-free Cernuschi Museum. See cernuschi.paris.fr
BOIS DE BOULOGNE
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This epic getaway, another one-time hunting ground for French kings, and almost as big as Bois de Vincennes, flanks western Paris, 1.5km from the Arc de Triomphe. Its pine-scented paths are similarly suitable for cycling (there are Velib' docking stations here, too). Cherry blossoms and rose bushes rouse the senses in spring and early summer, while Fondation Louis Vuitton is a year-round attention-grabber, a contemporary arts space in a dazzling Frank Gehry-designed building. You won't go hungry in Bois de Boulogne. It's home to Le Pre Catelan, a three-Michelin star restaurant in Emperor Napoleon III's opulent old pavilion, and smart-casual Le Chalet des Iles, which you reach by taking a short boat ride to an island on a lake. See restaurant.leprecatelan.com and chalet-des-iles.com
Steve McKenna travelled at his own expense.
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