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The 10 best parks in Paris

8 min read — Published April 2nd, 2021

Lonely Planet EditorsWriter

With incredible museums, shops and restaurants, it's easy to forget that one of the best ways to enjoy Paris is outside. Hither are the all-time parks in Paris.

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Tiptop attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and subconscious gems throughout Paris .

Belfry

Eiffel Tower

There are different ways to experience the Eiffel Tower, from a daytime trip or an evening rising amid twinkling lights, to a meal in one of its restaurants. And even though some seven million people come annually, few would dispute that each visit is unique – and something that merely has to be washed when in Paris. History Named later its designer, Gustave Eiffel, the Tour Eiffel was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (Earth's Fair). It took 300 workers, 2.five meg rivets and two years of nonstop labor to assemble. Upon completion, the belfry became the tallest human-fabricated structure in the earth (324m) – a tape held until the 1930 completion of New York'due south Chrysler Edifice. A symbol of the modern age, it faced opposition from Paris' creative and literary aristocracy, and the 'metal asparagus', every bit some snidely called it, was originally slated to exist torn downwards in 1909. Information technology was spared only considering it proved an ideal platform for the transmitting antennas needed for the newfangled scientific discipline of radiotelegraphy. Sporting six different colors throughout its lifetime, the tower has been painted cherry-red and bronze since 1968. Work is underway to strip the previous 19 coats and apply the yellow-brown shade originally conceived past Gustave Eiffel, giving it a new golden hue in time for the 2024 Olympics. Get-go floor: cafe and gift shop Of the belfry'south iii floors, the 1st (57m) has the most space just least impressive views. The glass-enclosed Pavillon Ferrié houses an immersion moving-picture show along with a small cafe and gift shop, while the outer walkway features a discovery excursion to help visitors acquire more about the belfry's ingenious pattern. Cheque out the sections of drinking glass flooring that provide a boundless view of the ant-like people walking on the ground far beneath. This level also hosts the eating house 58 Tour Eiffel. The 1st floor'southward commercial areas are powered by two sleek wind turbines within the tower. 2nd floor: Le Jules Verne restaurant Views from the 2nd floor (115m) are the best – impressively high but nevertheless close enough to see the metropolis beneath. Telescopes and panoramic maps pinpoint locations in Paris and beyond. Story windows requite an overview of the lifts' mechanics, and the vision well allows yous to gaze through glass panels to the ground. Also upward here are toilets, a souvenir shop, a macaron bar, and Michelin-starred restaurant Le Jules Verne. Top flooring: Champagne bar and 'hole-and-corner flat' Views from the air current-buffeted pinnacle floor (276m) stretch up to 60km on a clear twenty-four hours, though at this height the panoramas are more than sweeping than detailed. Celebrate your ascent with a glass of bubbly (€thirteen to €22) from the Champagne bar (open up 10.15am to 10.15pm). Later on peep into Gustave Eiffel's restored pinnacle-level role, otherwise known as the 'secret flat', where lifelike wax models of Eiffel and his daughter Claire greet Thomas Edison. Tours, tickets and other practicalities Visitors must pass through security at the bullet-proof drinking glass barriers surrounding the tower's base of operations. The two entrances to the glass enclosure are on artery Gustave Eiffel; the 2 exits are on quai Branly. Ascend every bit far as the 2d floor (either on foot or past lift), from where there's a separate lift to the top floor (closed during heavy winds). Pushchairs must be folded in lifts and bags or backpacks larger than aeroplane-cabin size aren't allowed. Annotation that the top floor and stairs aren't accessible to people with limited mobility. Pre-purchasing tickets online gives you an allocated fourth dimension slot and ways y'all simply have to queue for security. Print your ticket or bear witness it on your phone. If you tin't reserve your tickets ahead of fourth dimension, expect lengthy waits for tickets in loftier season. Stair tickets can't exist reserved online. Buy them at the south colonnade, where the staircase can also be accessed: the climb consists of 360 steps to the 1st floor and another 360 steps to the 2d floor. If you accept reservations for either restaurant, yous're granted straight post-security access to the lifts. For the best view of the light evidence, head beyond the Seine to the Jardins du Trocadéro. How to go there The nearest Metro terminate is Bir Hakeim, while the nearest train station is Champ de Mars–Tour Eiffel (RER C).
Museum

Centre Pompidou

Home to Europe's largest collection of modern and contemporary art, Centre Pompidou has amazed and delighted visitors ever since it opened in 1977, not just for its outstanding fine art collection but also for its radical architectural argument. Don't miss the spectacular Parisian panorama from the rooftop. What you can come across The Musée National d'Fine art Moderne, France's national collection of art dating from 1905 onwards, is the main depict; a fraction of its 100,000-plus pieces – including Fauvist, cubist, surrealist, pop art and contemporary works – is on display. It'south located on the 4th and 5th floors. The permanent collection changes every two years, just the basic layout more often than not stays the aforementioned. The 5th floor showcases artists agile between 1905 and 1970 (give or take a decade). You'll find works past Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Kandinsky, Arbus, Warhol, Pollock and Rothko here. The 4th floor focuses on more contemporary creations, roughly from the 1990s onward, with monumental paintings, installation pieces, sculpture and video taking centre phase. The focus here is on contemporary art, compages and design. Entered from rue du Renard, the huge Bibliothèque Publique d'Information (public library) takes up office of the 1st and the entire 2nd and 3rd floors. The 6th floor has two galleries for temporary exhibitions (mostly excellent) and eating house Georges, with sweeping views of Paris. There are cinemas and more exhibition space on the footing flooring and in the basement. Due west of the center, place Georges Pompidou and the nearby pedestrian streets attract buskers, musicians, jugglers and mime artists. S of the centre, on place Igor Stravinsky, are fanciful mechanical fountains of skeletons, hearts treble clefs and a big pair of cerise-carmine lips, created past Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle. Heart Pompidou for children On the 1st flooring, the Galerie des Enfants, open from 11am to 7pm Wed to Monday, is an exhibition area aimed at children aged 2 to x, which encourages interactive experimentation; various workshops take place on Wed, Saturday and Sunday. For teenagers aged 13 to 16, Studio 13/16, open 2pm to 6pm Wed, Saturday and Sunday on the lower basis floor, has visual, multimedia and performing fine art kits and opportunities to meet artists. The building Quondam French President Georges Pompidou wanted an ultra-gimmicky creative hub, and he got it: competition-winning architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers effectively designed the building inside out, with commonsensical features, such equally plumbing, pipes, air vents and electrical cables, forming part of the external façade, freeing upward the interior space for exhibitions and events. The building was renovated in 2020. Tickets and other practicalities Center Pompidou opens late every night (except Tuesday, when information technology'due south closed), so head here around 5pm to avoid the daytime crowds. Admission to the museum is costless on the first Sun of each month. Rooftop entry is included in museum and exhibition admission; alternatively, buy a panorama ticket (€5) merely for the roof. You lot'll nonetheless have to queue to become through security, just the entry process will go faster if you buy museum and events tickets online. Sound-guided tours are downloadable on its website (y'all'll need your own smartphone and earphones). Guided tours in English language take place at 2pm on Sabbatum and sometimes Dominicus (€4.50; reserve online). The museum is wheelchair accessible with a step-free entry at the s side of building at the corner of Rue du Renard and Rue St Merri. There are elevators inside to get between floors. The nearest metro station is Rambuteau.
Chapel

Sainte-Chapelle

Visit Sainte-Chapelle on a sunny day when Paris ' oldest, finest stained glass (1242–48) is at its dazzling all-time. The chapel is famous for its stained-glass windows, holy relics, and concerts. Enshrined within the city's original, 13th-century Palais de Justice (Constabulary Courts), this gem-like Holy Chapel is Paris' virtually exquisite Gothic monument, completed in 1248. Information technology was conceived past Louis Nine to firm his personal collection of holy relics, including the famous Holy Crown. Some seventy% of the stained glass, covering a full area of 640 square meters, is original. To understand the biblical stories illustrated in the 1113 scenes, view or 'read' the windows from left to correct, and from bottom to summit. History Sainte-Chapelle was built in the courtyard of the purple palace on the Île de la Cité as a sacred space to business firm Louis Nine'south collection of Christian artefacts. The famous Ste-Couronne (Holy Crown) was acquired by the French king in 1239 from the emperors of Constantinople for a sum of money easily exceeding the amount information technology cost to build the chapel. Formerly safeguarded in the treasury at Cathédrale Notre Matriarch de Paris, the wreath of thorns was transferred to a safety inside the Louvre for safekeeping following the devastating cathedral fire of Apr 2019. Sainte-Chapelle was built in simply six years (compared with well-nigh 200 years for Notre Dame) and consecrated in 1248. Insider tips Join a gratis 1½-hour guided bout in English (daily between 11am and 3pm); rent a 30-minute audioguide (€three); or download the Sainte Chapelle smartphone app to explore all 1113 windows in luxuriant, intricate item. Sainte-Chapelle'south location within the Palais de Justice (Police Courts) means actress-tight security; exist sure to go out pocket knives, scissors et al at your adaptation. Classical- and sacred-music concerts held here are a soul-stirring experience really non to be missed. Check schedules and buy tickets at Fnac. Tours, tickets and accessibility Costless 45-infinitesimal guided tours (only in French) depart from the information desk-bound at the far end of the ground-floor bookshop daily at 11am and 3pm. Audioguides (xxx minutes) cost €iii, or download the Sainte-Chapelle Windows smartphone app. Entry is gratis on the first Sunday of the month from November to March. Skip long queues at Sainte-Chapelle past purchasing a combination ticket next door at Conciergerie, assuasive y'all to bring together the shorter 'priority access' queue at the chapel. The number of visitors in wheelchairs is capped at two visitors per floor. At that place'south an accessible entrance on Boulevard du Palais. The lower chapel is accessible by an access ramp, while access to the high chapel is by an elevator in the adjacent building. Visitors tin can avail of an adapted wheelchair. Toilets are wheelchair-friendly. Information technology'southward appropriate to make a reservation for aid in advance. What's nearby? Cathédrale Notre Matriarch de Paris is near a 10-minute walk away. Local dining is typically geared towards tourists and function workers. That said, pretty Place Dauphine is home to several eateries, including bistro Ma Salle à Manger. Sleek Sequana cooks up creative modern-French dining courtesy of a French-Senegalese chef duo. How to get at that place Metro Cité (line 4) stop, practically next door.
Museum

Musée du Louvre

It isn't until yous're standing in the vast courtyard of the Louvre, with its glass pyramid and ornate façade, that yous tin truly say you've been to Paris. Why you should go Property tens of thousands of works of art–from Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek antiquities to masterpieces by artists such as da Vinci (including his incomparable Mona Lisa), Michelangelo and Rembrandt–it'south no surprise that this is one of the earth's about visited museums. The Louvre contains works of art and artisanship from all over Europe too every bit priceless collections of antiquities. The Louvre's raison d'être is essentially to nowadays Western fine art (primarily French and Italian, but besides Dutch and Spanish) from the Centre Ages to about 1848 – at which betoken the Musée d'Orsay takes over–likewise as works from ancient civilisations that formed the W'due south cultural foundations. History Long before its mod incarnation, the vast Palais du Louvre originally served as a fortress synthetic by Philippe-Auguste in the 12th century; it was rebuilt in the mid-16th century every bit a royal residence in the Renaissance mode. The Revolutionary Convention turned information technology into a national museum in 1793. When the museum opened in the late 18th century it independent 2500 paintings and objets d'art; the 'One thousand Louvre' project inaugurated by the belatedly president François Mitterrand in 1989 doubled the museum's exhibition space, and both new and renovated galleries have opened in recent years devoted to objets d'art such every bit the crown jewels of Louis Xv. The Islamic art galleries are in the restored Cour Visconti. Tickets and other practicalities The sheer size of the place can exist overwhelming. Even so, there'southward an assortment of self-guided thematic trails (one½ hours; download trail brochures in advance from the website) ranging from a Louvre masterpieces trail to the art of eating, plus several for kids (hunt lions, galloping horses). Even improve are the Louvre's self-paced multimedia guides (€5). More formal, English-language guided tours depart from the Hall Napoléon, which has free English-language maps. The main archway is through the 21m-high Grande Pyramide, a glass pyramid designed by the Chinese-American architect IM Pei (1917–2019). Standard tickets are €15. The simply way to guarantee entry is by booking online (€ii surcharge) or making a fourth dimension-slot reservation through the Paris Museum Laissez passer. You can avoid the longest queues (for security) outside the pyramid by inbound the Louvre complex via the hush-hush shopping centre Carrousel du Louvre, or the Porte des Lions entrance. If y'all don't take a pre-bought ticket, you'll need to queue up again to buy your ticket once within (not recommended at peak times, when capacity can hateful anyone without a prior reservation won't arrive). Tickets are simply valid for the duration of your visit (you can no longer come and go as you lot please throughout the day). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Louvre introduced new measures such as timed-tickets and a ban on cash. It has at times closed in response to lockdown measures. E'er cheque the website for the latest data. Hotels near the Louvre Hotel Westminster Apartments du Louvre La Clef Louvre
Cemetery

Les Catacombes

It'south gruesome, ghoulish and downright spooky, merely it never fails to captivate visitors. In 1785, the subterranean tunnels of an abandoned quarry were upcycled every bit storage rooms for the exhumed bones of corpses that could no longer fit in the metropolis'south overcrowded cemeteries—now it'due south one of Paris' near visited sights. History Every bit the cemeteries became a public health business organisation, officials decided to motion their contents to a site that was, at that time, exterior the capital. The first evacuations happened from 1785 to 1787, from the Saints-Innocents cemetery, a site that had been in use since the Middle Ages and closed in 1780. At offset, the human remains were simply piled into the quarry. Nonetheless, before opening to the public in 1809, in that location was a decorative restoration of the ossuary. By 1810 the skull- and bone-lined catacombs—resting place of millions of anonymous Parisians—had been officially born. Les Catacombes refers to the role of underground quarry that became the publicly accessible ossuary. However, the term catacombs is oft used colloquially to refer to the more vast underground network of tunnels under Paris. These hush-hush tunnels have remained a storied part of Parisian history: during WWII the Resistance held meetings in that location. Today, at night, thrill-seeking cataphiles roam the tunnels illegally. Tickets and other practicalities In a visit to the official site, visitors volition cover ane.5 km (almost one mile) of the underground tunnels on an hour-long visit. The route through Les Catacombes begins at its spacious 2018-opened archway av du Colonel Rol-Tanguy. Walk down 131 screw steps to reach the ossuary itself, with a heed-boggling amount of basic and skulls of millions of Parisians neatly packed forth the walls. The exit is upwards 112 steps via a minimalist all-white 'transition space' with a gift shop at 21bis av René Coty, 14e. The surface is uneven and tin be slippery—sturdy shoes are essential. It's not suitable for young children. People with claustrophobia may experience some anxiety in the confined surround. Also note that information technology is not wheelchair accessible—there'due south no lift and no ramp, but stairs. The temperature remains at a cool 14°C (57°F). A maximum of 200 people are allowed in the tunnels at a fourth dimension and queues tin can exist huge—when the queue extends beyond a xx-minute wait, you'll exist handed a coupon with a return entry time afterwards that twenty-four hours. Last entry is at seven.30pm. Renting an audioguide profoundly enhances the feel; ninety-minute guided tours in English take place at 1pm on Th. Online bookings are pricier only include an audioguide and guarantee a timeslot, whereas standing in the queue does not, as online ticket holders have priority. Bag searches are carried out to forbid visitors from taking bones.
Museum

Musée Rodin

Even if you're not an art lover, it is worth visiting this loftier-contour fine art museum to lose yourself in its romantic gardens. Sculptor, painter, sketcher, engraver and collector Auguste Rodin donated his entire collection to the French state in 1908 on the proviso that it dedicate his former workshop and showroom, the cute 1730 Hôtel Biron, to displaying his works. This is where he lived and worked while in Paris. Rodin'southward artwork is non only installed in the mansion itself, but too on its rose-filled garden—one of the most peaceful places in key Paris. Highlights The rose garden is a wonderful spot to contemplate his famous piece of work The Thinker. Other sculptural highlights are: The Gates of Hell, the 180 figures of which comprise an intricate scene from Dante's Inferno; Rodin'due south marble monument to love, The Osculation; and the world's largest collection of works by Rodin'due south protégé and muse, Camille Claudel. On the 1st floor, in room 12, admire paintings by Van Gogh and Monet that belonged to Rodin. The basis-floor 'Rodin at the Hôtel Biron' room incorporates an eclectic collection of sculptures and curiosities acquired by Rodin and placed in the room in which he worked in 1908. (Le Baiser) caused controversy on completion due to Rodin's then-radical depiction of women as equal partners in ardour ©alarico/Shutterstock" data-embed-button="images" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-brandish-settings="{"image_style":"","image_link":""}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="34fc53ae-9412-4f7f-b449-edc57fdba19b" information-langcode="en" title="shutterstockRF_422654617.jpg"> Tickets, tips and accessibility A combined ticket with the Musée d'Orsay costs €21; tickets are valid for a single visit to each museum within 3 months. An audioguide costs €6. End your visit with a relaxed drink alfresco in the museum's garden buffet (closes 5pm). If y'all just want to see the outdoor sculptures, cheaper garden-only entry is bachelor. Pre-buy tickets online to avert queuing. The Musée Rodin is free for everyone on the offset Sunday of the month, from October to March. The exhibition, garden, cafe and auditorium are accessible, and the museum is equipped with ramps. Wheelchairs are available to visitors free of charge. Blind and visually dumb visitors can avail of a visitor services assistant who will provide them with gloves and a listing of work that can be explored by affect. Guide dogs are welcome. Induction loops are bachelor throughout the museum for visitors with hearing difficulties. What's nearby? Both Musée d'Orsay and Hôtel des Invalides are well-nigh a 15-minute walk abroad. Nearby boulangeries (bakeries) include Besnier. For traditional French fare, book a table at Paris' oldest and all the same excellent restaurant, À la Petite Chaise. For something a scrap livelier, try Chez L'Ami Jean. How to get there Metro Varenne (line xiii), right next door, or Invalides (line eight or xiii), 10 minutes' away on pes. RER Invalides (line C) then a x-minute due south.
Park

Jardin du Luxembourg

This famous inner-city haven of formal terraces, chestnut groves and lush lawns has a special place in Parisians' hearts. Why yous should become Napoléon dedicated the 23 gracefully laid-out hectares of the Luxembourg Gardens to the children of Paris, and many residents spent their babyhood prodding 1920s wooden sailboats with long sticks on the octagonal Chiliad Bassin swimming, watching puppets perform puppet shows at the Théâtre du Luxembourg and riding the carrousel (merry-go-round) or ponies. All those activities are withal here today, as are modern playgrounds and sporting and games venues. Dozens of apple varieties grow in the orchards in the gardens' south, while bees take produced honey in the nearby Rucher du Luxembourg since the 19th century; the two-day Fête du Miel (Honey Festival) takes place in late September. Around the back of the Musée du Luxembourg, lemon and orange trees, palms, grenadiers and oleanders shelter from the cold in the palace's orangery. History The gardens are a backdrop to the Palais du Luxembourg, built in the 1620s for Marie de Médici, Henri Iv'south consort, to assuage her longing for the Pitti Palace in Florence, where she had spent her childhood. Since 1958 the palace has housed the Sénat, the Upper House of French Parliament, which is occasionally visitable by guided tour. East of the palace is the Italianate, 1630-built Fontaine des Médicis, an ornate fish pond. Nearby, the heavily guarded Hôtel du Petit Grand duchy of luxembourg was the modest 16th-century pad where Marie de Médici lived while the Palais du Luxembourg was being built. The president of the Senate has called it home since 1825. Opening hours and other practicalities If you lot're planning on picnicking, forget bringing a blanket – the elegantly manicured lawns are off limits apart from a small wedge on the southern purlieus. Instead, do as Parisians practice, and corral one of the iconic 1923-designed dark-green metal chairs and detect your ain favourite part of the park. Entry to the park is free, just there is a toll to enter the Musée du Luxembourg, which hosts prestigious temporary fine art exhibitions. Opening hours vary greatly throughout the yr; seasonal entry times are posted at entrance gates.
Mausoleum

Panthéon

Elegant and regal in equal measure, the massive neoclassical dome of the Left Depository financial institution's iconic Panthéon is an icon of the Parisian skyline. Louis XV originally commissioned the vast architectural masterpiece around 1750 equally an abbey defended to Ste Geneviève in thanksgiving for his recovery from an illness. Due to financial and structural problems, it wasn't completed until 1789. In 1791, the abbey was converted into a mausoleum for some of French republic's most illustrious citizens, modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. A copy of Foucault'southward pendulum, first hung from the dome in 1851 to demonstrate the rotation of the globe, takes pride of place. Until the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, the Panthéon was the highest building in Paris. Who is cached in the Panthéon? It has served since 1791 as the resting place of some of French republic'southward greatest thinkers, including Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Louis Braille and Victor Hugo. The first woman to be interred in the Panthéon based on achievement was two-fourth dimension Nobel Prize–winner Marie Curie (1867–1934), reburied here, along with her hubby, Pierre, in 1995. Also interred hither are Resistance fighters Pierre Brossolette and Jean Zay, every bit well as the symbolic interments of Resistance fighters Germaine Tillion and Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, with soil from their graves. In July 2018, Auschwitz survivor, feminist icon and human rights activist Simone Veil became the 5th adult female to be interred in the Panthéon. A permanent exhibition provides context on the lives and works of those interred in that location. Tickets and other practicalities It is €11.50 for an independent tour, or €9 for a grouping tour. Its colonnaded dome, accessible via 206 steps, is open to visitors (an additional €3) between April and October–predictably, the city panorama is swooningly skillful. Take a one½-hour DIY guided tour of the mausoleum with the excellent audioguide (€3), bachelor at the entrance.
Museum

Musée d'Orsay

Musée d'Orsay may non be quite as famous as the Louvre— though it'due south located a mere 10-minute walk away—just this Left Bank museum holds its own in its drove of artistic wonders. The museum is famous for holding the globe's largest collection of impressionist and postimpressionist art. Why you should go Richly coloured walls at the Musée d'Orsay make its impressionist and postimpressionist canvases past masters including Renoir, Gauguin, Cézanne and Degas appear equally if they're hung in an intimate habitation. Completed at the turn of the 20th century, the Gare d'Orsay – the grand old railway station in which the museum is located – is an exemplar of art nouveau architecture, but the star of the show is French republic's treasured national collection of masterpieces from 1848 to 1914. Allow ample fourth dimension to swoon over masterpieces by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro and Van Gogh. In that location are also some magnificent decorative arts, graphic arts and sculptures. Opening hours and other practicalities The museum is open 9.30am to 7pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday to Lord's day. It opens from 9.30am to eight.45pm on Thursday. A full rate ticket is €16. Salve time by pre-purchasing tickets online and caput to entrance C. Combined tickets with the Musée de fifty'Orangerie (€18) and with the Musée Rodin (€21) are valid for a unmarried visit to the museums inside iii months. An audioguide costs €five. Concerts, films, performances and cafe readings accept place regularly; check the website for schedules.