Secret Gardens and Quiet Corners, a Self-Guided Paris Walk
2h. 1.6 miles. From Jardin du Palais Royal to Square du Temple.
Paris hides dozens of small gardens and silent courtyards a step off its busiest streets. This walk strings together the calmest of them, the antidote to a crowded museum day, ending in a quiet neighborhood square.
The local move
Treat noise as your compass, backwards. Every time you turn off a loud street into a garden or a courtyard, the city drops away. Parisians duck into these to eat lunch or read; do the same, sit a while, then move on.
Best time to go
Weekday daytime; gardens are loveliest in late spring and early autumn.
When to avoid it
Some courtyards close on weekends; keep it a weekday walk.
The stops
Jardin du Palais Royal
An arcaded garden of rose beds and lime trees behind the old palace, with the striped Buren columns.
Tip: Start on a bench by the central fountain. The surrounding arcades are full of tiny curiosity shops.
Galerie Vivienne
The most beautiful covered passage in Paris, mosaic floors under a glass roof.
Tip: A calm, gorgeous shortcut. Pause for tea under the rotunda.
Place des Victoires
A perfect circular square around a statue of Louis XIV, ringed by elegant matching facades.
Tip: A quiet, grand pause between the passages. Beautiful symmetry, rarely crowded.
Jardin Anne Frank
A tiny hidden garden in the Marais, reached through a covered passage, with a chestnut tree grown from a cutting of the one Anne Frank watched.
Tip: Easy to miss via the Impasse Berthaud passage. Small, moving and almost always empty.
Hôtel de Soubise gardens
The grand horseshoe courtyard of a Marais mansion, now the national archives, free to enter.
Tip: A vast calm courtyard hidden behind a plain gate on rue des Francs-Bourgeois.
Square du Temple
A leafy neighborhood park with a pond, a waterfall and a bandstand, the local's back garden.
Tip: A gentle green finish among residents, not tourists. Bring a pastry and sit.
About these walks
This is one of the free self-guided Paris walks written by the Chic Trip team, locals who plan and book full Paris trips for American travelers. Get our free insider Paris guide at chic-trip.com/free-paris-guide, or have us plan your whole trip at chic-trip.com/paris-travel-planner.
