Yes, I know, that’s a bit provocative and chauvinistic. I’m actually far from loving Paris (it’s quite the contrary!). At the time in moved there, I was thinking that Paris was not a running-friendly city (“but I’m not going to take the metro to go running?!”), but that was before moving to Hanoi and Kampala (“if only there was a metro…”). So where to run in Paris?
City profile
Geography: Well, guess what, capital of France. Highly urbanised, dense but wide-spread urban area. Not so green.
Population: a bit more than 2 million intra-muros, but 11 million for the whole city area.
Climate: Depressing. Grey and cloudy most of the time. Windy and chilly in Winter, can be hot in Summer because it’s lacking greenery.
What it’s famous for: I will spare you that one. All non-Parisian French people will agree to say that Parisians are famous for being grumpy and not so friendly.
Running friendliness: ✴️✴️
How I ended-up in Paris
I moved to Paris quickly after returning from Berlin, for a three months summer internship. I was lucky enough to enjoy the city during the months when it’s relatively quieter, as Parisians are leaving (running away?) for holidays. I found a room in Belleville, a cosmopolitan neighbourhood.
First run
I quickly spotted that there was a park closed to where I was living (actually it’s one of the first selection criteria when I have to find accommodation in a new city…), les Buttes Chaumont. So one of the first visits I made was there (and it’s really worth a visit!). I realised that if the park where I was running in Berlin had some ups and downs, that one was clearly the next level up.
I don’t particularly remember THE first run but the first runs in general were challenging at least in two ways. First, and the most annoying (after running in the outskirts of Turin and in Berlin) was that the neighbourhood itself is very lively (which, in absolute, is very nice), full of people, shops, traffic, the pavements are not that large (or when they are, they are packed with restaurant and bar terraces). So I had to swerve, dodge, go down onto the road, go back onto the pavement, wait, sometimes stop (aaargh what are all these people doing in the street!?) before finally reaching the park itself. Second, the street I had to take to go to the park was just a looong ascent (rue de Belleville), and when I finally reached the top, that was actually just an appetizer. In French, “butte” means “small hill”. And indeed, the park is just a succession of ascents and descents. It took me probably three weeks to be able to run without interruptions in that park. I remember that during my first runs I had to stop at the top of some of the slopes to catch my breath again. But with time, every small hill you run up feels like a small victory and in the end, you don’t even notice them anymore (and it’s less boring that running on a flat surface right?).
Running spots
Parc des buttes Chaumont, for a classy hill running
I think you got the point: les Buttes Chaumont were my go-to for an evening run in the week, or when I didn’t have motivation to go somewhere else in the weekend. After some weeks, it became one of my favourites.
Why run there:
- It’s challenging in terms of elevation gain (ok, don’t get me wrong, this is not ultra-trail either), so that when you go back to running again on flat surfaces, it seems way easier. I actually thanked les Buttes Chaumont during my next race when I passed so many people in a small ascent (“c’mon, that was not even an ascent”). If you are a trailer, climbing those small hills over and over again is actually a good training (not everyone is lucky enough to live in the Alps…)
- It’s beautiful. Being at the top of a hill, you can enjoy a nice view over Paris (Montmartre etc etc…) while running. Tourism or sports, why choosing?
- It’s (relatively) fresh in Summer. Yes, it is tarmac but the trees are so big and dense that most of the time wherever you run you are somehow in the shade (unlike the Bois de Vincennes, where you have big portions without any sheltering option from the sun). And there’s also drinking water at the gates!
- It’s easily accessible. That’s the advantage of Paris. If you don’t live around, there are several metro stations next door.
…and why not:
- Well… it’s challenging. If you are beginner runner, that’s probably not the best idea (though that could make you progress super fast)
- Tarmac + ups and downs = harmful shocks for your knees, bones, joints. While in Berlin, I suffered during three months (understand: an eternity) from a shin splints, that was probably partly due to the fact that I was running exclusively on tarmac with frequent ascents and descents (okay, that was also because my shoes had around 700km on the clock, which does not help). When I arrived in Paris, I had just started running again for three months, and I was dead scared to reactivate that injury. So that’s why when I started to feel (or imagined I was feeling) the smallest pain in my leg, I decided to diversify my play ground and turned to the Bois de Vincennes (flat + dirt = bingo)
- It’s quite a big park but in terms of running, you will be limited for your long runs (unless you’re ready to make a lot of loops), especially if you run directly after going out of the metro. Including the kilometres running to and from the park, I was not exceeding 12 or 13km. I would recommend it for short runs and for challenging yourself in the small hills.
- Very crowded on weekends (at least in Summer). Remember, that’s a beautiful fresh park with a nice view, and there are cafés and restaurants in the park itself (what more could you ask?).
Le Bois de Vincennes, for long runs
Le Bois de Vincennes is a popular big park/forest (it’s so big I am not sure it fits into the “parks” category) in the South East of Paris. I was going there to run with a friend of mine. The first time I have been to this park was after discovering a route on the “Runnin’city” app, but in the end we didn’t follow it at all… I also turned to the Bois de Vincennes because I was feeling (or imagined I was feeling) that running up and down on tarmac in the park des Buttes Chaumont was starting to wake-up my old shin splint, and that a flat dirt park would be gentler for my legs.
Why run there:
- It’s the perfect spot for long runs (above 10K)
- Some parts are quite “wild” with small trails in the forest, so you can feel a bit out of the city
- It’s dirt and it’s flat
- You’re far away from cars (no need to stop every 200 meters), noise, pollution
- It’s also a good place for a touristic run. You have a big castle at the entry and the park features some small scenic lakes (the soo romantic lac de Daumesnil with its two islands)
- It’s easy to access in metro or bus
…and why not:
- It’s easy to lose one’s bearings if you’re not used to the place and you may end-up running more kilometres than expected
- If you are living or staying on the West side of Paris, you should better choose the Bois de Boulogne, which is quite equivalent (it’s big, green, flat, has dirt tracks and small romantic lakes)
Les quais de Seine, for a touristic run
As far as I remember, I haven’t run along the Seine, but it is definitely my favourite walk in Paris as you can admire major monuments in a few kilometres (it’s also nice to have a beer with friends at night looking at Notre Dame or the Eiffel tower…). When we talk about the banks of the Seine, it refers to the pedestrian way (they have been closed to traffic for a few years now) along the river, downside compared to the street and which passes under the bridges. It roughly stretches from the Bastille/Austerlitz bridge down to the parc André Citroen/metro station Javel, but the core and most interesting part is from Cité island to the Champs de Mars (around 10K). A big portion of the Paris marathon is following the river banks, and it’s a popular spot among runners during the weekend.
Why run there:
- Mostly because it’s fancy. You can enjoy a view on the major Paris monuments, like Notre Dame, the Conciergerie, the Louvre museum, the Invalides, the Eiffel tower… including some beautiful bridges like Alexandre III
- It’s flat and free of cars
- It’s quite long, you can start from many different places, and you can do a loop by going on one side of the river and coming back on the other
…and why not:
- Once you have run there a few times, it can be quite monotonous. In the end, it’s just about always going straight
- It’s tarmac (I guess you expected that one), or even worse, cobblestones (a nightmare!)
- It’s nice when you get on the quays themselves, but once you get upstairs in the street, you find yourself in the heart of Paris, with large avenues packed with traffic
La coulée verte René Dumont, for a short unusual run
A pretty unknown running spot I discovered through the RunninCity app. La coulée verte is an elevated “planted walkway” built on a 4km straight bridge along a former railway infrastructure. The park starts close to the place de la Bastille and ends at the ring road before Vincennes.
Why run there:
- It’s a pretty and an unusual kind of park that is worth discovering
- If it’s too short for you, you can extend you run into the Bois de Vincennes. That’s what I did when I frustratingly found myself at the end of the park just after 3km or so. A fellow jogger told me to follow the flow of runners crossing the ring road. Not a very pleasant route to take but after running on a straight tarmac line for 3km in the coulee verte, coming out in the vast Bois de Vincennes felt like “fredooom”.
…and why not:
To be honest, it is not a very suitable park for running (if we can call it a park). I would rather recommend it for a walk.
- It’s short: it’s supposed to be a bit more than 4km, but it felt much shorter (or maybe I didn’t start at the very beginning?)
- It’s not very convenient: in some points, the park is a narrow straight line which consists of two concrete pathways each side of a pond. You will end-up stopping and swerving between walkers
Parc Montsouris
I went running there with a friend once. To be honest, I don’t really remember anything about that park, except that it was a bit hilly (but not as much as les Buttes Chaumont) and quite small, so we had to make many loops. Probably better for a short evening run (or early morning if you have the motivation) during the week.
Other popular places I haven’t tried for a run
Jardins du Luxembourg: the most central park, just a stone throw from my internship office (awesome for lunch break!). Always busy with joggers all running the same loop. It’s quite big, beautiful but overcrowded with tourists.
Bois de Boulogne: good choice is you live or stay on the West side of Paris! Pretty much the equivalent of the Bois de Vincennes: large, green, beautiful.
Parc de la Villette: another large park in the North East of Paris. Quite boring though, and not very green. There are so many things in this park (museums, concert halls, bars etc) that it doesn’t really feel like a park.
Parc Monceau: I have to confess that I have never been there, even for a walk (though it looks beautiful!), so if one of you has ever run there, feel free to share you experience!
And in Ile de France?
I never had the opportunity (nor the idea) to run “out of Paris”, since I found that taking the metro to go to Vincennes was annoying enough. However, as I was visiting friends in Paris last summer, I discovered that the region around offered many running spots, especially for trail running that are easily accessible by public transportation from the capital. Even if it’s mostly flat and some forests are very maintained like parks (the Parisian understanding of “wilderness”), it is still appreciable to escape from the city, traffic and pollution. We went to Bures sur Yvette, a town located South West of Paris, which features a “trail station” with 7 trail routes, all well indicated.
It’s the only “official” trail station around Paris, but surely not the only place to have a nice nature run. Check the routes on openrunner or other running apps!
And you, what are you favourite running routes in Paris and around?