Paris does not reward those who drive to its parks. The 19th arrondissement has metered street parking, but finding a space on a weekend morning is an exercise in optimism. Take the metro. It is faster, cheaper, and you will arrive in the mood for a walk rather than in the mood for a drink.

From central Paris, take Métro Line 7bis — one of the city's quietest and most charming lines, running rubber-tyred trains through the northeastern arrondissements — to either Buttes-Chaumont station (for the main western entrance) or Botzaris station (for the quieter eastern entrance near the Rosa Bonheur guinguette). The journey from Châtelet takes approximately 20 minutes.

From Gare du Nord, the park is a 30-minute walk through the Canal Saint-Martin neighbourhood — a route that passes some of the best independent cafés in Paris and is worth doing at least once. From the Marais, allow 45 minutes on foot or take the metro via République.

If you are arriving from outside Paris, Gare du Nord is the main terminus for Eurostar trains from London (2 hours 20 minutes) and Thalys trains from Brussels and Amsterdam. Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport is connected to the city by the RER B line, which stops at Châtelet–Les Halles.

The first thing you notice is the silence. Not the silence of emptiness — Buttes-Chaumont is never empty — but the silence of a city that has agreed, for the duration of your visit, to turn itself down. The plane trees are enormous. The paths curve. The lake appears suddenly, and on the island at its centre, the Temple de la Sibylle sits on its rocky cliff like something from a dream you had about Italy.

The main entrance on Rue Botzaris deposits you near the western lake shore, with the island and temple directly ahead. Resist the urge to walk straight to the temple. Instead, turn left and follow the lakeside path clockwise, past the weeping willows and the rowing boat hire, until you reach the suspension bridge. This is the correct approach.

The suspension bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel — yes, that Eiffel — and it sways slightly underfoot, which is either alarming or delightful depending on your disposition. Cross it slowly. Look back at the city. Look forward at the temple. This is one of the great small moments in Paris.

The climb to the temple is short but steep — perhaps 40 metres of elevation on a well-maintained path. At the top, the view opens: Montmartre to the west, Sacré-Cœur's white domes catching the light, the rooftops of the 19th arrondissement spreading in every direction. On a clear morning, you can see as far as the Eiffel Tower.

Before it was a park, this land was a disgrace. The site of the Gibbet of Montfaucon — the main gallows of Paris, where criminals were hanged and their bodies left on public display — it was also a dumping ground for sewage, horse carcasses, and the city's less mentionable waste. The name itself comes from chauve-mont: bare hill. Nothing grew here by choice.

In 1860, Napoleon III and his Prefect of Paris, Baron Haussmann, decided to transform the city. The Bois de Boulogne had already been remade in the English style. The Bois de Vincennes was under construction. Now it was the turn of the northeastern arrondissements — the working-class districts that had been absorbed into Paris in 1860 and needed, in Haussmann's view, civilising.

The engineer Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand and the horticulturist Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps were given the commission. They had four years and a remarkable brief: take a former quarry and gallows site and turn it into a romantic English-style garden. They used the quarry holes to create the lake, filled the topsoil to build the island, and used dynamite to give the rocky cliff its jagged, dramatic shape. The Temple de la Sibylle — designed by Gabriel Davioud, modelled on the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy — was placed on top.

The park opened on April 1, 1867, in time for the Universal Exhibition of Paris. It has been free and open to the public ever since. The Petite Ceinture — Napoleon III's circular railway line, built in 1862 and abandoned in 1934 — still runs through the park's edges, its tracks overgrown and its tunnels sealed. On the right day, you can still find the hole in the fence.

Most visitors to Buttes-Chaumont see the lake, climb to the temple, and leave. This is understandable but unfortunate, because the park's most extraordinary feature is hidden on the far side of the island, accessible only by the second bridge — the stone arch bridge known, with characteristic Parisian directness, as the Pont des Suicidés.

The grotto is a 65-foot cavern carved from the former quarry, fitted with artificial stalactites and a waterfall that tumbles down the limestone walls into a dark pool below. Shafts of light enter from openings above. The effect is theatrical in the best sense — it feels like a stage set for a 19th-century opera, which is more or less what it was designed to be.

Alphand and Barillet-Deschamps were working in the tradition of the English picturesque garden, where artificial ruins, grottoes, and follies were used to create moments of surprise and wonder. The grotto at Buttes-Chaumont is the most ambitious example of this tradition in Paris, and it has survived largely intact for over 150 years.

Find it by taking the Pont des Suicidés to the island, then following the path around the base of the cliff rather than climbing to the temple. The entrance to the grotto is easy to miss — look for the dark opening in the rock face, just above the waterline.

For a park in the middle of a city of two million people, Buttes-Chaumont supports a remarkable range of wildlife. The lake is home to black swans, mallards, geese, black-headed gulls, and water hens, as well as a healthy fish population — gudgeon, roach, tench, and pike — that attracts both student researchers and patient fishermen.

The trees are the park's most underappreciated feature. Alphand and Barillet-Deschamps planted with ambition: Oriental plane trees now tower over the main paths, their dappled shade creating the characteristic light of a French summer afternoon. Look also for the ginkgo biloba near the main entrance — one of the oldest specimens in Paris — and the Lebanese cedar on the southern slope, planted in 1867 and now of considerable size.

In spring, after April 1st, the cherry blossoms along the eastern path are briefly spectacular. The park is studied by ornithologists from the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and a morning visit in spring will reward patient observers with warblers, wagtails, and hedge sparrows moving through the undergrowth.

The lake is not for swimming — it is artificial and the water quality is not monitored for bathing — but it is for watching. Bring binoculars if you have them.

Buttes-Chaumont is an excellent park for children, and it has the advantage of being almost entirely free of the tourist crowds that make the Tuileries and Luxembourg Gardens difficult with small people in tow. The Parisian families who use this park are here for the same reasons you are: the grass, the lake, the sense of space.

The park has a puppet theatre (Guignol) that has been operating since the 19th century — performances are in French, but the slapstick is universal and children under eight will not care about the language. There are pony rides in the warmer months, a carousel near the main entrance, and several well-maintained playgrounds scattered through the park.

The lake is a particular draw for children: rowing boats can be hired seasonally, and the combination of swans, ducks, and the dramatic island creates a sense of adventure that is hard to manufacture. The climb to the temple is manageable for children over five, and the view from the top is genuinely exciting — the city spread out below, the white dome of Sacré-Cœur visible to the west.

The grotto requires some care with younger children — the floor is uneven and the entrance is low — but it is one of those experiences that children remember for years. Bring a torch.

The Rosa Bonheur is a guinguette — an open-air bar and dance hall, a tradition that dates to the 18th century when Parisians would travel outside the city walls to drink wine that had not been taxed by the city. The guinguettes along the Marne and the Seine were the original escape from urban life, and Rosa Bonheur continues that tradition inside the park itself.

Named after the 19th-century French painter Rosa Bonheur — known for her monumental animal paintings and her refusal to conform to the social expectations of her time — the bar occupies a restored pavilion on the eastern side of the park, near the Botzaris entrance. In spring and summer, the terrace fills with Parisians drinking rosé and pression under the plane trees, and the atmosphere is exactly what you hoped Paris would be.

Rosa Bonheur is open from spring through autumn, typically Wednesday through Sunday from midday. It closes in winter. On weekend evenings, there is often a queue — arrive before 7pm or accept that you will be standing. The food is simple: charcuterie, cheese, tartines. The wine list is short and well-chosen. The music, when it happens, is eclectic.

A note on the name: Rosa Bonheur the painter was one of the first women in France to receive official permission to wear trousers — a dispensation she required to work in slaughterhouses and horse fairs, where she studied animals for her paintings. The bar named after her has been a gathering place for the LGBTQ+ community in Paris since it opened in 2009. It is a welcoming, joyful place.

Buttes-Chaumont is a free public park maintained by the Ville de Paris. It receives millions of visitors each year and shows it — the grass near the main entrances is worn in summer, and the paths around the lake can become crowded on warm weekends. A few habits make a difference.

The park has bins throughout, but they fill quickly on busy days. If you bring a picnic — and you should, this is Paris — take your packaging home with you. The lake is an artificial ecosystem and is sensitive to food waste: do not feed the birds, and do not throw anything into the water.

The rocky cliff below the Temple de la Sibylle is steep and the paths are clearly marked. Stay on the paths. The vegetation on the cliff face is fragile and the rock is not as stable as it looks — it was built from quarry fill and dynamite in 1864, not from solid geology.

Dogs are welcome on leash throughout most of the park. There are designated off-leash areas — check the signs at the entrance. Pick up after your dog. The park has dispensers for bags near the main entrances.

• Carry your picnic waste out — bins fill quickly on busy days
• Do not feed the birds or fish — it disrupts the lake ecosystem
• Stay on marked paths near the island cliff — the rock is unstable
• Dogs on leash except in designated areas — bags available at entrances
• Do not pick flowers or break branches from the historic trees
• Respect the Guignol and carousel areas — they are for children

Take the 7bis from Châtelet at 8:30am. The train is quiet. The platform at Buttes-Chaumont station is tiled in cream and green, and the exit brings you out directly opposite the park's western entrance. The gates open at 7am, and at this hour the park belongs to the dog-walkers, the joggers, and the occasional philosopher.

Walk to the lake. The cherry blossoms along the eastern path are at their best in early April — a week, maybe ten days, before they fall. The light at this hour is low and golden and the water is still. The black swans are on the lake. The Temple de la Sibylle is reflected in the water below the cliff.

Cross the suspension bridge. Feel it sway. Climb to the temple. Stand at the top and look west toward Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur. This is one of the great views in Paris, and almost no one knows it.

Come down by the stone bridge. Find the grotto. Spend ten minutes inside it. Come out blinking into the morning light.

By 11am, Rosa Bonheur is not yet open. Walk to the Botzaris exit and find a café on the Rue de Crimée — there are several, all unremarkable and all excellent. Order a café crème and a croissant. Read something. Come back to the park at noon when Rosa Bonheur opens its terrace. Order a glass of rosé. Stay longer than you planned.

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is free and open year-round. The park is managed by the Ville de Paris and maintained to a high standard — the paths are well-kept, the toilets are clean, and the staff are helpful. The park is accessible to wheelchair users via the main entrances, though the climb to the temple is steep and not suitable for all mobility levels.

The nearest metro stations are Buttes-Chaumont (Line 7bis) for the western entrance and Botzaris (Line 7bis) for the eastern entrance near Rosa Bonheur. The park is a 30-minute walk from Gare du Nord and a 45-minute walk from the Marais.

Boat hire on the lake is available seasonally (spring and summer), typically from a kiosk near the main entrance. Rates are modest. The Guignol puppet theatre and pony rides operate on weekends and school holidays — check the Ville de Paris website for current schedules.

The Rosa Bonheur guinguette is open from spring through autumn, typically Wednesday to Sunday from midday. It does not take reservations. There is a café-kiosk near the main entrance that is open year-round for coffee and snacks.