Best Gardens in Paris
 

I don't really care to see museums. Which is the most beautiful garden or outdoor attraction? I love flower gardens.

Luxembourg Garden and the Tuileries top the list but here is a full list:

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France...s_parks2.shtml

Perhaps the most beautiful garden in Paris is Le jardin Albert Kahn. This is not a public garden, a modest entry fee is collected. It's hardly ever mentioned in guide book but it's well worth the effort to see its 4 hectors.

I recommend a spring visit with the azaleas are in bloom:

Le jardin Albert Kahn
14, rue du Port
92100 Boulogne

Open hours: everyday except on Monday's from 11:00 A.M to 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM during summer

Metro : Boulogne Pont de Saint Cloud (line 10)

There are lots of nice gardens in Paris. I do like Luxembourg Gardens. The Tuileries are impressive, I suppose, and very French, but I don't really "like" them that well or want to hang out there, myself. For me, it's just like a place to look at but not relax, like some formal living rooms. I like Parc Monceau, also, and Square des Bagtinolles, but I really do think the most beautiful one I've seen is the Parc de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne. It sounds like you would like Monet's home and gardens, which are very beautiful, also -- Giverny, which is a short train ride away from Paris, about an hour's trip.

If you are in paris in May or June, do not miss "Les Gardins de Bagatelle", in the Bois de Boulogne. The roses are out of this world and there is a little place where you can sit and have a trink and enjoy the moment.
For a quick retreat from the hustle and busle in the midst of Paris, have a time -out in the garden of the Rodin Museum, 77 rue de Varenne, 75007.

I spend a lot of time at several parks in Paris but by far my favorite park is "Park of Bercy". It is adjacent to the "Bercy Omnisport" complex on the Seine. This area was built on the grounds of the old Paris wineries where wine was made and where wine was transported by barge and rail to Paris from all over France in the 1800s. There are still rail tracks in places throughout the park. The park is different from other parks. There is a merry-go-round for the kids, an outdoor snack cafe with tables and chairs near the merry-go-round, a large vegetable garden maintained by elementary school children, a prosperous vineyard, many ponds, an abundance of waterfoul and fish, free maintained restrooms, a beautiful fountain water fall between the bridge over the Seine and the grounds,great flower gardens and at the far end opposite Bercy Omnisport is a small village of shops, restaurants including a Starbuck's (if you must)and many nearby restaurants and hotels including Ibis, Mercure, Novotel etc. The village shops were once warehouses for the wine operations. The park is very large probably stretching nearly a mile from Bercy Omnisport to the village.

Another unique Paris park is the "Promenade Plantee" which is a park built from an abandoned elevated (overhead) railroad line that runs between the Bastille and Porte St Mande. It is the only elevated park in the world although New York City is planning one. There are nice flower gardens along the way, fountains etc. There is access at several locations along the way including stairs and elevators. The park is 4.5 km in length. A good access point is on Avenue Daumesnil near the train station Gare Lyon.

Larry J

Good question and I'm enjoying the recommendations.

[sorry if this comes out twice] My favorite small park in Paris is the Parc Vert Gallante just down the steps form the Pont Neuf...

http://babette.smugmug.com/photos/43827336-M-1.jpg

Pjk

One I hardly ever see mentioned is Jardin Atlantique, atop the Gare Montparnasse, fairly small but unusual

I didn't realize there were so many. Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I am busy looking at them all!

Paris has lots of parks, there are probably at least a half dozen in every arrondisement, and there are 20 of those. Of course, a lot of those are fairly small, and some of these parks aren't really known as having major gardens in them, either. All the ones I've seen have some plants and flowers, of course (and they do landscaping very nicely in Paris), but many are nothing that would be a particular destination point for their gardens. A couple of the ones that people have named above as one of their favorite parks are nothing I would recommend special and worth making a point to visit for wonderful gardens, for example. Some parks can be special for other reasons than the gardens, of course.

There is a book available called <i>Parcs et Jardins de Paris &agrave; pied</i>, r&eacute;alis&eacute;s avec la collaboration de la Direction des Parcs, Jardins et Espaces Verts, offering 23 walks through various Paris neighborhoods going from one garden to the next. The first one meanders exclusively in the P&egrave;re Lachaise cemetery, and the second through the parc de la Villette. Each walk starts and ends at a m&eacute;tro stop. The one in the Marais starts at Bastille, connects to the Place des Vosges, the square Georges-Cain, the square L&eacute;opold-Achille, etc. until one end up at the m&eacute;tro stop R&eacute;aumur-S&eacute;bastopol