UrbanPicnics

France

Paris

Parisians eat outside constantly and have worked out the details: a bakery for the bread, a fromagerie for the cheese, a square with gravel and chairs to eat it in. You can do the same thing with one stop and a paper bag.

5 places to sit · 11 places to buy food · checked 2026-09-14

Green markers are the picnic spots. Amber ones are where to buy the food. Every place below also links straight to Google Maps for walking directions.

Before you go

  • Many of the best bakeries close on Saturday and Sunday, or take all of August off. Check before you walk.
  • Grass in Paris squares is often fenced off, marked pelouse au repos. Gravel, benches and the stone quais are always fair game.
  • Drinking alcohol in a park is broadly tolerated. Glass bottles on the canal banks are not.

Place des Vosges

Le Marais, 4e

The oldest planned square in Paris and still the most civilised: red brick arcades on all four sides, plane trees, four fountains, and lawns you are actually allowed to sit on.

Where to sit
Grass in the central squares, plus benches under the trees. Arcades for shelter if it rains.
Open
Gates open early, close around dusk.

Walking directions to Place des Vosges

Pick up food first

  1. L'As du Fallafel

    €€

    The falafel special: pita stuffed with falafel, fried aubergine, cabbage, tahini and hot sauce

    Closed Saturdays for Shabbat. There's a separate, faster window for takeaway — join that queue, not the restaurant one.

    8 min walk Sun–Thu 11am–11.30pm, Fri until 3.30pm. Closed Saturday.

    34 Rue des Rosiers, 75004 · Directions

  2. Miznon

    €€

    Pitas stuffed with roast lamb, steak and egg, or whole roasted cauliflower

    Loud, chaotic, excellent. The ratatouille pita is the best vegetarian option in the neighbourhood.

    8 min walk Tue–Thu & Sun 12pm–11pm, Fri until 4pm. Closed Mon & Sat.

    22 Rue des Écouffes, 75004 · Directions

  3. Chez Alain Miam Miam

    €€

    One enormous griddled sandwich, built in front of you

    Expect to queue twenty minutes or more. They let you taste the cheeses before you pick one.

    12 min walk Wed–Sun 9am–5pm. Closed Mon & Tue.

    26 Rue Charlot, 75003 · Directions

Canal Saint-Martin, Quai de Valmy

10e

The single most reliable free evening in Paris. People sit along the stone edge with their legs over the water, iron footbridges swing open for boats, and nobody is in a hurry.

Where to sit
The stone quai itself, and the benches on the tree-lined banks.
Open
Open all hours. Busiest from about 6pm on warm evenings.

Walking directions to Canal Saint-Martin, Quai de Valmy

Pick up food first

  1. Du Pain et des Idées

    €

    Pain des amis, escargot pastries, chausson aux pommes

    Closed Saturday and Sunday, which catches a lot of visitors out. The 1889 shopfront alone is worth the detour.

    3 min walk Mon–Fri 7am–7.30pm. Closed weekends.

    34 Rue Yves Toudic, 75010 · Directions

  2. Liberté

    €

    Croissants, sandwiches, tarts

    Open seven days, which makes it the weekend answer when Du Pain et des Idées is shut.

    5 min walk Mon–Sat 7.30am–8pm, Sun 8.30am–5pm

    39 Rue des Vinaigriers, 75010 · Directions

  3. Le Petit Cambodge

    €€

    Bo bun: cold rice noodles, herbs, grilled beef, nuoc cham

    Ask for it à emporter. Cold noodles are the one hot-restaurant dish that genuinely improves on a canal bank.

    3 min walk Daily 12pm–11pm

    20 Rue Alibert, 75010 · Directions

Jardin du Luxembourg

6e

The grandest public garden in the city, and unusually generous about it: hundreds of free metal chairs that you can drag wherever you like. Take one to the edge of the octagonal basin and watch children push model sailboats around.

Where to sit
Moveable green chairs everywhere. The lawns are mostly off-limits.
Open
7.30am until dusk, whistle blown at closing.

Walking directions to Jardin du Luxembourg

Pick up food first

  1. Cosi

    €€

    Sandwiches on flatbread baked to order

    The bread comes out of the oven while you wait, so the sandwich is warm when you get to the park.

    13 min walk Daily 12pm–11pm

    54 Rue de Seine, 75006 · Directions

  2. Maison Mulot

    €€

    Quiche, croque-monsieur, pastries, macarons

    Open on Sundays, when much of the sixth is closed.

    9 min walk Daily 7am–8pm

    76 Rue de Seine, 75006 · Directions

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

19e

A former gypsum quarry turned into something improbable: cliffs, a suspension bridge, a waterfall in a cave, and a Roman-style temple on a rock in the middle of a lake. The west-facing slopes fill with locals on any sunny afternoon.

Where to sit
Steep grass slopes, which is the whole appeal. Bring something to sit on.
Open
7am–10pm.

Walking directions to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

Pick up food first

  1. Boulangerie Benoît Castel

    €

    Bread, viennoiseries, tarts, ice cream

    A proper neighbourhood bakery rather than a destination one, with prices to match.

    24 min walk Wed–Sun 7.30am–8pm. Closed Mon & Tue.

    11 Rue Sorbier, 75020 · Directions

Square du Vert-Galant

Île de la Cité, 1er

The sharp western tip of the Île de la Cité, down a staircase behind the statue of Henri IV. The Seine splits around you on both sides. Almost everyone on the Pont Neuf above walks straight past the steps.

Where to sit
Benches and a small lawn under a weeping willow, right at water level.
Open
Open all hours; can flood in winter.

Walking directions to Square du Vert-Galant

Pick up food first

  1. Cosi

    €€

    Warm flatbread sandwiches

    Cross the Pont Neuf and keep going. Ten minutes on foot.

    7 min walk Daily 12pm–11pm

    54 Rue de Seine, 75006 · Directions

  2. Maison Mulot

    €€

    Quiche and savoury tarts

    A quiche eaten cold on a river bank is a better lunch than it sounds.

    11 min walk Daily 7am–8pm

    76 Rue de Seine, 75006 · Directions

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