Bois de Boulogne
The city's western wood, with lakes, gardens and racecourses
- Area 16th arrondissement
- Type Park
- Time needed 2h
The Bois de Boulogne is the city's western wood, around 850 hectares of former royal hunting forest laid out as a public park under Napoleon III in the 1850s. Inside it are two lakes, the Pré Catelan and Bagatelle gardens, the Jardin d'Acclimatation, two racecourses at Longchamp and Auteuil, and the Fondation Louis Vuitton. It is more than twice the size of Hyde Park, so you pick a corner rather than seeing the whole. Two hours for one part of it.
Open in the planner →Getting there
Which station you want depends on the corner. Métro 1 to Les Sablons serves the northern end, the Jardin d'Acclimatation and the Fondation Louis Vuitton, about 25 minutes from Châtelet; Porte Maillot on line 1 and RER C is the next stop in. Métro 10 to Porte d'Auteuil reaches the southern end and the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil, and Métro 2 to Porte Dauphine puts you at the Lac Inférieur side. From any of these the park begins within a few minutes' walk, but distances inside it are long, so a bike or a plan helps.
What you see
The Lac Inférieur is the set piece, with rowing boats for hire and a short ferry across to the wooded island and its chalet restaurant. North of it, the Jardin d'Acclimatation is a children's amusement garden and small zoo, with Gehry's glass sails rising behind the trees. West, the Parc de Bagatelle has a small eighteenth-century château, a rose garden at its best in June, and peacocks on the lawns. The Pré Catelan holds a Shakespeare garden planted with the species named in the plays, and at the southern tip the glasshouses of the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil keep tropical collections under iron and glass.
What to pair it with
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is inside the park and the obvious anchor for a visit. La Défense and the Grande Arche are a few stops north on Métro 1, and the Musée Marmottan Monet sits just outside the eastern edge near La Muette.
When to go
Spring and early summer are the point, with Bagatelle's roses in June and the horse chestnuts out along the avenues. Weekend mornings bring runners and families; weekday afternoons are close to empty in the wooded parts. The wood has a long-standing night-time reputation and is best left alone after dark. Bagatelle and the Serres d'Auteuil keep their own hours and some parts are ticketed, so check before you go.
What is hard about it
Scale is the problem: the main sights are kilometres apart, signage inside is poor and walking between them eats an afternoon. Large stretches are plain woodland cut through by roads carrying real traffic, so it is less tranquil than its size suggests. Facilities are thin away from the Jardin d'Acclimatation and the lake. After dusk the wood is not somewhere to wander.
Common questions
How long do you need at the Bois de Boulogne?
Two hours for one area, such as the lake and the Jardin d'Acclimatation. A full day if you want Bagatelle and the Serres d'Auteuil as well.
What is the best way to get around inside?
A hired bike, or pick one corner and reach it by the nearest Métro. Walking from the northern to the southern end takes well over an hour.
Is the Bois de Boulogne free?
The woodland, the lakes and the Pré Catelan are free. The Jardin d'Acclimatation, Bagatelle at times and the Fondation Louis Vuitton are ticketed.
Nearby
- Palais de TokyoRaw concrete halls given over to contemporary art, open late
- Place du TrocadéroThe terrace that frames the Eiffel Tower across the river
- Musée Marmottan MonetThe largest Monet collection, including Impression, Sunrise
More of the same kind
- Jardin du LuxembourgFormal gardens round the Senate, with green chairs and a toy-boat pond
- Tuileries GardenThe formal garden between the Louvre and the Concorde
- Parc de la VilletteThe largest park in Paris, scattered with bright red follies
- Coulée verte René-DumontA planted walk along a disused viaduct, the first of its kind