Spotlight on Parc Rives de Seine

The Parc Rives de Seine riverside promenade is an oasis where everyone can enjoy sport, nature, a meal or simply relax in central Paris.

In April 2017, Paris rolled out a new 10-hectare green space: Parc Rives de Seine. Walkers and sporty types can now enjoy a 2.5-kilometre riverside promenade for walking, sport and cycling on the left bank of the Seine river from Pont des Arts to the Eiffel Tower, past the Musée d’Orsay and the Pont de l’Alma and on the right bank of the Seine (from the Senghor footbridge to Place de la Bastille.

Ecology matters

Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, the Seine riverbanks have been converted into a 10- hectare promenade, swapping tarmac for a natural setting. The roads have been replaced by plants and countless fun things to do - just like on the left bank. More environmentally friendly than before, this new area is home to fair-trade, collaborative and locavore food outlets, and a store selling sustainable tourist products.

An immediate and undeniable success

A total length of 7 kilometres extending over both banks of the Seine, the riverbanks are dotted with sports facilities, play areas for kids (big and small!), and places to relax, all open to the public. Designed to protect the environment, sustainability is also at the heart of this space. In these extraordinary surroundings you can have a drink or nibble tapas in the open air with breathtaking views of the finest museums and monuments along the Seine.

Parc Rives de Seine now enables walkers, cyclists and joggers to go from Place de la Bastille** to the Eiffel Tower, via the many bridges across the river, totally avoiding car traffic.

Please note: the banks of the Seine are accessible to people in wheelchairs and equipped with adapted sanitary facilities.

Top activities at Parc Rives de Seine

To relax and have fun by the water, here is a selection of the best activities to do on the riverbanks, either on your own, with family or friends:

  1. Play a game of pétanque on one of the 5 courts below the Louis-Philippe bridge. During school holidays, equipment is available to borrow every day from 9am to 8pm!
  2. Have a drink on the 175 m²-terrace of the fair-trade cafe Scilicet. You can also play a few board games or table football here on summer evenings
  3. Teach your children games of skill with 2 vias ferratas and a balancing trail in the stems of trees specially designed for them.
  4. Travel back in time with the 3D Timescope binoculars. This free-to use virtual-reality terminal has been designed for you to admire the Paris of the past via an immersive reconstitution of the surrounding landscape, plunging you into the heart of the 17th century!
  5. Recharge your mobile phone while pedalling at one of the 5 sports apparatus areas at the Parc Rives de Seine.
  6. Visit Fluctuart, the floating museum of urban art moored at the foot of the Pont des Invalides (left bank); it has a surface area of 850 m², including a lively rooftop terrace.
  7. Stroll around the Niki de Saint-Phalle garden**.** Full of luxuriant plants, this unusual archipelago is made up of 5 metal barges floating on the Seine.

© Jean Baptise Gurliat Mairie de Paris