The most beautiful gardens to visit in Paris
Despite being just a fraction of the size of London, Paris is a city with an abundance of green space - you just need to know where to look. You may be familiar with the every-popular Luxembourg Gardens, or have spotted the sun-soaked gravel walkways of the Jardin des Tuileries in Netflix's Emily in Paris, but there are a few lesser-known gems hidden among the city's network of Haussman buildings.
According to the Paris-based interior designer Marianne Evennou, 'many of Paris's loveliest gardens are hidden behind some small museums. They are peaceful and charming'. Some of Marianne's favourites, including the gardens of the Musée Rodin and the Musée de la Vie Romantique, have made it on to this list. For these, and many more, look no further.
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1/10The Interior Garden at Petit Palais
If you happen to find yourself in the busy 8th arrondissement in the centre of Paris, make sure to pop into the interior gardens of the Petit Palais. The satisfyingly symmetrical gardens are one of the city’s lesser known botanical treats - despite being just a few minutes walk from the perennially busy Champs-Elysees. The semi-circular courtyard garden is bursting with plants and interesting architectural features - from mosaic-lined pools to columns and a fresco painted by Paul Baudoüin. It can even be rented out for private functions, if you’re looking for an unforgettable place to host a party.
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The Gardens at Versailles
Not exactly an under-the-radar attraction, the gardens at Versailles are arguably some of the most exceptional on the planet. A quick trip on the RER from the centre of town will take you to the former home of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI - a palace which has inspired interior design for centuries. Its gardens, which span 2,000 acres, took 40 years to build, and feature a winding network of canals that takes you through geometrically planted hedges, woodland, large ponds and 400 sculptures. Tickets cost €32.
3/10The Sculpture Garden at the Musée Rodin
One of the city’s best kept secrets, The Sculpture Garden at the Musée Rodin - a stone’s throw from Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissement - is the meeting place between art and nature. Neat hedges and topiary flank gravel pathways which wind their way through the manicured planting, and interspersed throughout the garden are several bronze sculptures by Rodin himself - including ‘The Thinker’ and ‘Ugolino and His Sons’. With the Eiffel tower providing an appropriately Parisian backdrop, and plenty of benches on which to sit and relax, we’re left wondering if there is a more serene place in Paris? Tickets cost €15 and grant access to the permanent and temporary collections as well as the Sculpture Garden.
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4/10Père Lachaise Cemetery
It may seem morbid, but a cemetery can be a deeply beautiful place. This is certainly the case for the Père Lachaise Cemetery in the north-east of Paris. The 44 hectares of greenery are not just home to some of the most culturally significant figures of the 19th and 20th Centuries, (namely Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison) but also scores of birds and animals. The largest green space in the city, it’s worth a visit not just for the sense of history but for the natural beauty too.
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5/10The Garden at Musée Balzac
For views of the Eiffel Tower without the crowds, the Musée Balzac in the 16th arrondissement is a great option. Open Tuesday-Sunday year-round (with the exception of May 1, December 25, and January 1), entry is free and includes access not just to the ‘Maison de Balzac’ - the impressive former home-turned-museum of the French novelist Honoré de Balzac, but also the idyllic garden. The garden is made up of three distinct zones: the lawn, the trees which run the length of the garden on the south side and groves, vines and trellised fruit trees on the north side.
Michael Austen / Alamy Stock Photo6/10Jardin de Luxembourg
The Luxembourg Palace, a grand 17th Century Mansion in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, was once the home of Queen Marie de Medici, who commissioned the creation of 61 acres of beautifully manicured gardens. Based on the Boboli gardens in Florence, the land is split into two: an English garden and a French garden, and in the middle is a large fountain - known as the ‘Grand Bassin’ - surrounded by pleasingly geometric planting. The garden has plenty to offer in the way of activities - there are tennis courts, chess boards, remote control boats which can be zoomed around the Grand Bassin and horses to ride around on. Or, simply sit in one of the many picturesque spots and take in the beautiful surroundings.
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7/10Garden of the Musée de la Vie Romantique
Slightly off the beaten track, the Musée de la Vie Romantique (Museum of Romantic Life) is about as close to quintessential Parisian Romanticism as you’re likely to get outside of a Netflix show, with its gardens providing a quiet and charming place to while away a few hours. The house sits at the foot of the Montmartre hill in the north of the city, and once hosted literary salons attended by notable figures such as George Sand, Frédéric Chopin, Eugène Delacroix, and Charles Dickens. Now it holds a number of romantic literary and artistic works. The small walled garden is appealing in its simplicity and privacy. Instead of elaborate planting, a handful of rose bushes and plenty of trees surround a gravel terrace. Get a cup of tea from the museum’s tea room and enjoy a moment of peaceful reflection.
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Jardin des Tuileries
In 1664, under the stewardship of Louis XIV, the gardens of the Tuileries Palace were revamped by the celebrated landscape gardener to the royals, André Le Nôtre. Though the palace was burned down during a riot in 1871, today the gardens remain as beautiful and regal as ever, and are a popular spot for Parisians and tourists alike. Canopies of trees make up the shaded section, called the ‘Grand Couvert’, which is flanked on one end by the ‘Grand Carré’, with liberally planted flowers, ponds and neatly trimmed box hedges, and on the other a series of terraces and ramps that run alongside the river Seine. A wander from the West to the East of the garden provides a scenic route from Place de la Concorde to the Musée de l’Orangerie. While you’re there, don’t forget to pop in and visit Monet’s paintings of Water Lilies.
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La Coulée Verte
Turn this from passive to active. The old railway line leading from Bastille to Bois de Vincennes in the east of the city is Paris's equivalent of the High Line in New York. It is now a 4.5 kilometre footpath which links a series of gardens. Some parts are above ground, others are underground in old railway tunnels, and the western end of the pathway is situated above Viaduc des Arts - an artistic hub where craftspeople and artists now occupy the arches of the former viaduct.
10/10Japanese Garden of the Buddhist Pantheon
Nestled behind the Buddhist Pantheon - a wing of the Guimet Museum which holds an impressive collection of Japanese and Chinese artworks - is the Japanese Garden. Built in 1991, the 450 square metres of luscious greenery is designed to evoke a sense of serenity. The garden features waterfalls, ponds, bridges, miniature pagodas and a japanese-style garden lodge. A brilliant time to visit is in the spring, when the blossom trees are bursting with petals.
