Definitive guide

Jardin des Plantes

Founded in the 17th century as a medicinal garden, the Jardin des Plantes in Paris is a prominent conservation centre and botanical garden.

Paris’ Jardin des Plantes is the most important botanical garden in France. Originally, in the 17th century, it was the royal medicinal garden. The garden today acts as a public park but it also houses archives, libraries, research greenhouses and buildings, collections, works of art, and a zoological park.

Jardin des Plantes in Paris
Author: Benh LIEU SONG. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

These are the sections and buildings that make up the Jardin des Plantes.

  • The garden/park itself, open to the public.
  • The greenhouses.
  • The Alpine Garden, a highly controlled environment where everything (plant distribution, soil type, rocks, sun orientation) is geared towards creating different microclimates.
  • The School of Botany Garden, a section dedicated to medicinal plants.
  • The Labyrinth.
  • The Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes, a zoo.
  • The Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle, the National Museum of Natural History. It consists of the Gallery of Evolution, the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, the Gallery of Botany, the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology, and the Laboratory of Entomology. You can reserve your family tour at the Natural History Museum here .

In the public section of the Jardin, you can expect to find both formal-garden areas with curated lawns, rose gardens, and geometric paths, as well as park-like zones, with historical trees, bushes, and flowerbeds.

Location

Rue Cuvier 57, 5th arrondissement.

Tickets and entries

Entry to the Jardin des Plantes itself is free.

This does not include entry to the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (National Museum of Natural History), the Large Greenhouses, or the Ménagerie (Zoo).

If you are interested in visiting these structures, you have to go to the Jardin’s official website .

If you are visiting with your family, you can get a family tour at the Natural History Museum here

Schedule

Season
30 Oct - 28 Feb
1 Mar - 30 Sept
1 Oct - 29 Oct
Season Opening time Closing time
30 Oct - 28 Feb 8:00 am 5:30 pm
1 Mar - 30 Sept 7:30 am 8:00 pm
1 Oct - 29 Oct 8:00 am 6:30 pm

Transport

Method
Lines
Stops
Method Métro Bus RER
Lines 5, 7, 10 24, 63, 67, 89 C
Stops Austerlitz, Jussieu - Austerlitz

Nearby sights

Île Saint-Louis - 600 m (almost 0.4 miles) northwest, 7-minute walk.

Panthéon - 850 m (0.5 miles) west, 12-minute walk.

Notre-Dame Cathedral - 1.3 km (0.8 miles) northwest, 16-minute walk.

Musée Cluny - 1.2 km (over 0.7 miles) west, 16-minute walk.

Le Marais - 1.2 km (over 0.7 miles) north, 14-minute walk.

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Author: 1 Author: Benh LIEU SONG. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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Introduction
Jardin des Plantes