Parks and gardens in Paris: The Buttes-Chaumont park

The Buttes-Chaumont park is one of the biggest green spaces in Paris. Situated in northeast part of Paris, this is one of the most popular Parisian places for leisure during the spring and summer time. And when we say popular it means really popular! During the sunny afternoons this park is full of people enjoying the nice weather. Just imagine a place where you can find caves, waterfalls, suspended bridges, exotic trees and numerous birds like seagulls, moorhens and mallard ducks. And also this is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the stunning view of the city below.

From the old gypsum quarry to a magnificent park

During the expansion of Paris in 1860, Napoleon III decided to transform the old gypsum quarry into a magnificent park. He hired Jean-Charles Alphand, the architect who created all major Parisian parks, like the Montsouris park and the Monceau park. The Buttes-Chaumont park was inaugurated during the Universal Exhibition in Paris on April 1st, 1867. Thanks to the old digs made to extract the gypsum this park has the most unusual landscape. Today, this is is the fifth largest park in Paris and the most incredible place where visitors can appreciate stunning views of Paris.

Main spots in the park

In the heart of the Buttes-Chaumont park is an artificial lake of 1.5 hectares surrounding the Belvedere Island, a rocky island with steep cliffs made from the old gypsum quarry. On the top of the island, fifty meters above the lake, you can see the Temple of Sibylle. This is the most famous spot of the park and it represents a miniature version of the ancient Roman Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy. The island is connected with the rest of the park by two bridges. One of them is a 63-meter-long suspension bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel. The other interesting spot is the grotto, a fourteen meters wide and twenty meters high cave, sculpted and decorated with the artificial stalactites. An artificial waterfall cascades from the top of the cave and down through the grotto to the lake.

Place to relax

The Buttes-Chaumont park is perfect place to relax and spend some nice time with your friends. You can take a drink, get some homemade tapas or even spend the night dancing at “Rosa Bonheur” a famous bar, set in a former guinguette, an* open-air tavern s*ituated in the heart of the park. It is specially crowded on Saturday night, so make sure to get there earlier.

Practical information

To access the Buttes-Chaumont park take an exit on the following Paris metro stations: Buttes Chaumont, Laumière or Botzaris. Entrance to the Buttes-Chaumont park is free and the park is open every day.