Walk along the canal de l'Ourcq passing by the parc de la Villette.

A walk without any difficulty that follows the bike path along the canal de l'Ourcq and that passes in the middle of the parc de la Villette.

This walk follows the bicycle path that leaves Paris through the Parc de Villette and follows the Canal de l'Ourcq. The bike path continues for 25 kilometers. The walk presented here is much shorter because it stops in Pantin just outside Paris. The ride starts at the Jean Jaurès Metro station and ends at the Eglise de Pantin station (or the other way around). In my opinion it is better to start the walk in Pantin and finish it in La Villette at the terrace of a café! The bassin de la Villette is a very nice place.

Interest: ratinggood (1 user)
Difficulty: difficulty
Duration: 3 h.
Departure point (Google Maps)

The lock of the Villette basin

The lock of the Villette basin
The walk starts at the Jean-Jaurès Metro station. You can also take the cycle track at the place de la Bastille. Then the path is not hard to follow, just follow the canal.

The rotunda of La Villette

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The rotunda of La Villette
The rotunda is a magnificent building where taxes were collected for all goods entering Paris. Today it is mainly a restaurant. You can visit the interior.

MK2 Cinemas

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MK2 Cinemas
There are two cinemas and restaurants along the basin. The place attracts a lot of people. There is a small electric shuttle to cross the basin.

The basin of La Villette

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The basin of La Villette
At the end of the basin you can rent pedal boats. In summer Paris-Plage settles along the basin. The place is very pleasant.

The park of La Villette

The park of La Villette
We can see on the map the departure of the Saint-Denis canal which can bring us to the Stade de France.

Walk in the Parc de la Villette

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Walk in the Parc de la Villette
We can see the Cité des Sciences with the famous Géode which presents films in Imax (large hemispheric screen). In Paris there is for the moment only one other cinema which shows films in Imax: the Pathé Quai d'Ivry in Ivry-sur-Seine.

The Argonaut

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The Argonaut
The Argonaut is a real submarine from the 50's that you can visit. The entrance is paying, we can note in passing the difficulty of living in such a small space.

The Great Mills

The Great Mills
The Grands Moulins is a former flour mill. They closed in 1996 and are now buildings of the campus of the University Paris VII-Denis-Diderot.

The Ourcq canal in Pantin

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The Ourcq canal in Pantin
We leave Paris to enter Pantin. Along the banks there are many joggers, cyclists, rollerbladers, walkers...

The canal in Pantin

The canal in Pantin
For the path you can't go wrong: it's straight ahead.

End of the promenade

You can of course continue the walk along the canal much further to the Parc de la Poudrerie in Sevran for example but you can also take the metro back to the Eglise de Pantin station. It is better to start the walk here and finish at La Villette.

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