Tucked inside the eastern reaches of the Bois de Vincennes, Parc Floral de Paris is the kind of place Parisians adore and visitors rarely stumble upon. Sprawling across 35 fragrant hectares, it shifts personality with the calendar. In April the sakura grove blushes pink as hundreds of cherry trees burst into blossom. High summer turns the wide lawns into a breezy refuge where you can stretch out with a paperback or chase shade beneath soaring pines. Because the park is so vast, it never feels crowded. Even on a sunny Sunday you can still claim your own patch of grass for a picnic, or linger over lunch on one of the two leafy restaurant terraces. Families will find mini-golf, Rosalie pedal cars and playgrounds scattered among the botanical collections. We tested them all on our latest visit. Even so, the garden stays remarkably tranquil, inviting a slow wander past beds of irises and centuries-old bonsai. The peacocks strut around the park and are beautiful to watch.
Getting there and admission prices
Metro, RER, bus and cycling routes
Parc Floral lies inside the eastern Bois de Vincennes in Paris’s 12ᵉ arrondissement, a short stroll southeast of the medieval Château de Vincennes. The main gate stands at 1 route de la Pyramide, but most visitors arrive via the Esplanade entrance opposite the castle drawbridge. The simplest route from the centre of Paris is Métro Line 1: ride to Château-de-Vincennes, emerge at street level and walk about 10 minutes through the esplanade to the ticket kiosks. If you are coming from the RER network, Vincennes station on Line A is about ten minutes on foot or two stations by bus. Cyclists can follow sign-posted lanes through the Bois de Vincennes. Limited paid parking is available along Route de la Pyramide for those arriving by car.
Opening hours and admission prices
The gates open daily at 9.30am and close at 8pm between April and September. Entry is free from 1 October to 31 March, but between 1 April and 30 September you pay €2.70, or €1.55 on the reduced tariff. Children under seven enter at no charge year-round.
Things to do inside Parc Floral de Paris
Mini-golf among Paris landmarks
This 18-hole outdoor mini-golf course lets kids “tour” the capital without leaving the green. Each hole is built around a white-cement model of a Paris landmark such as the Eiffel Tower, the Panthéon or the Sacré-Cœur. The green turf with low white edging stays neat while adding just enough bounce for a surprise hole-in-one. Clubs in both child and adult sizes, balls, scorecards and pencils are supplied, and shaded tables and a snack stand provide handy spots for mid-round breaks. The tickets cost €12 for adults and €8 for children under twelve. You could buy your tickets in advance online here, or buy tickets at the kiosk.
Explore signature plant collections and greenhouses
Parc Floral packs a lot of botany into one visit. Near the entrance you will find two glass houses: a warm tropical hall that keeps orchids, palms and carnivorous plants thriving all year, and a smaller structure that turns into a walk-through butterfly garden from June to September. Right beside them sits the cedar-lined Bonsai Pavilion, home to about 200 miniature pines, maples and azaleas, many more than a century old, each clearly labelled in French and English.
Step back outdoors and follow the gently sign-posted trails. In spring 200 tulip varieties bloom near the children’s theatre, followed by iris, rhododendron and camellia displays as the season rolls on. Autumn answers with a dazzling dahlia garden, while a shady dell under tall pines shelters giant ferns. A large perennial border keeps 1,200 different species flowering in rotation, and a mirror-still pool shows off lilies and other aquatic plants; a vertical “living wall” nearby drapes foliage down a granite face.
If the weather turns, duck into any of the exhibition patios and micro-climate rooms scattered through the park. One houses Mediterranean olives and citrus, another desert-sharp cacti, others ivies or traditional medicinal herbs. All of these indoor and outdoor spaces are included in the standard entry ticket, so you can explore at your own pace, whatever the season.
Rent Rosalie pedal cars
Just next to the children’s playground, you’ll find a kiosk where you can rent Rosalie quadricycles by the half-hour. A single model carries three adults and two children, while the double version has room for six grown-ups and two kids. Staff recommend at least one strong pair of legs up front to handle the gentle inclines. There is a circuit that you can follow on the map that loops around flower beds and the lake. A half-hour hire is plenty for the full loop if everyone pedals. The single model costs €16 to rent and the double model costs €22. A deposit of €50 is taken before the journey. If you’re running much longer than the 30mins slot then you risk losing this deposit so keep an eye on the watch!
Playgrounds for all ages
Just next to the rental kiosk for Rosalie pedal cars, you’ll find several play areas for kids of all ages. There are rope-net pyramids for older dare-devils, shaded sand pits for toddlers, and even a zip-line. Each zone has benches and water points, so supervising adults can relax within eyesight. It’s in a shaded area of the park so it’s a nice place to hide from the sun.
Children’s Theatres
Parc Floral keeps young visitors entertained with two dedicated playhouses. Théâtre Astral, a 170-seat indoor venue beside the main playground, runs live shows for ages three and up all year. Its resident troupe mixes puppetry, music and storytelling with guest-company productions, so the programme changes every few weeks. Performances are usually on Wednesdays, weekends and throughout school holidays, and you buy a separate ticket at the door.
A short walk away, the open-air Guignol theatre brings the classic French hand-puppet to life. The striped booth opens at 15:00 and 16:00 on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, then daily during school holidays. Seats cost only a few euros, and the fast-paced antics of Guignol still raise giggles from toddlers and grandparents alike.
Tree-Top Adventure Course (Accrobranche)
Parc Floral hosts Évasion Verte, the only accrobranche (tree-climbing adventure park) located inside the Paris city limits. Once you have been fitted with a harness and helmet and completed a short safety briefing, you can tackle four aerial circuits that rise from 1 ½ m to around 12 m above ground. Each route is equipped with a continuous safety line, so even first-timers stay clipped in from start to finish, and the two-hour ticket lets you repeat favourite sections as often as your legs allow. The park admits children from six years old. It opens Wednesday afternoons, all weekend, and every day during school holidays from February to late November, though sessions may be postponed in bad weather. Access is easiest through either the “Château” gate on the esplanade opposite Château de Vincennes or the “Pyramide” gate on Route de la Pyramide. Both are sign-posted “Accrobranche”.
Where to eat in Parc Floral de Paris
Eating at Parc Floral is easy, whether you want a full restaurant meal or a quick snack between playground stops. The main sit-down option is Le Bosquet, the park’s main restaurant. The menu runs to generous salads, steak-frites and children’s plates, with mains around €18–25 and table service every day from late morning until the park gates close. A ten-minute stroll away, Les Magnolias occupies a lighter, glass-fronted pavilion beside the Valley of Flowers. Here the cooking leans Mediterranean and the breezy terrace is hard to beat on warm evenings during the jazz festival.
Picnickers are welcome everywhere except the formal flowerbeds. The quietest lawns spread behind the Bonsai Pavilion and along the mirror pool, where shade arrives by mid-afternoon and water fountains are close by. Bring your own blanket or use one of the many benches.
Final thoughts
Parc Floral rarely makes the top-ten Paris lists but it’s such an easy escape from the city noise. You can relax on wide lawns, play mini-golf, watch a puppet show, climb through the treetops, or simply wander past flowers and bonsai. Because the park is large and well laid out, it never feels crowded. Bring a picnic or try one of the cafés, and plan to stay longer than you expect – you’ll keep finding new corners to explore.
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