Parc Monceau (Paris 8th) is a free public garden of 8 hectares, open daily from 7am to 8pm (until 10pm from May to August); metro Monceau, line 2. Located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, Parc Monceau is one of the city's most beautiful parks. It's bordered by streets and avenues named after famous 17th-century painters (Velázquez, Rembrandt...) and lined with luxurious private mansions. Once you pass through its wrought-iron gates, you'll find, within its one-kilometer circumference and 8 hectares, statues of famous figures (Guy de Maupassant, Alfred de Musset, and Frédéric Chopin), trees, fish, and beautiful birds. The garden features colorful flower arrangements that are constantly refreshed. Like Marcel Proust or Michel Berger before you, enjoy the park's calm and beauty while the children enjoy the playgrounds and the old-fashioned carousel.
Highlights
A century-old sycamore maple
Parc Monceau boasts remarkable flora and fauna, embodied by this old sycamore maple standing over 30 meters tall, one of the most striking trees in the garden. You'll also find an oriental plane tree, a Corsican pine, a southern hackberry, silver lindens, and a tulip tree. Marsh tits and Eurasian jays animate the canopy, while goldfish and carp populate the park's pond.
Statues of writers and musicians
Parc Monceau is home to several marble statues dedicated to great writers and musicians, including this monument to Frédéric Chopin, made by Jacques Froment-Meurice in 1906. Nearby, you can also admire the statues of Alfred de Musset, sculpted by Antonin Mercié that same year, and Guy de Maupassant, the work of Raoul Verlet unveiled in 1905. These tributes punctuate the park's paths with a cultural and artistic trail.
The Naumachia and its Corinthian colonnade
Commissioned by the Duke of Chartres in the 1770s and later reshaped after the Revolution by landscape architect Thomas Blaikie, Parc Monceau blends structures in a wide range of styles: temple ruins, a Gothic castle, a pyramid, an Asian pagoda. Its most famous feature remains the Naumachia, an oval basin ringed by Corinthian columns where visitors love to stroll. The park was inaugurated in its current form by Napoleon III in 1861.
Practical info
Tips
- Take advantage of the guided park tours organized by the Directorate of Green Spaces and the Environment. Extend your walk with the Arc de Triomphe, a few metro stops away (line 2), or the nearby Musée Jacquemart-André. At 1 place du Général-Catroux, the Cité de l'économie (Citéco) occupies a mansion close to the park. The Nissim de Camondo Museum, another mansion on rue de Monceau, is closed for renovation; its reopening is announced for 2030.
How to get there
By metro: "Monceau" or "Courcelles" stations (line 2) and "Malesherbes" (line 3) By bus: lines 30, 84, 94 By Vélib': stations 17018, 8036, 8044
Opening hours
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