Hiking Experience in the Vincennes Wood

This Hiking Experience takes you to the Bois de Vincennes (Vincennes wood). Originally named 'Vilcena', the Bois de Vincennes is a remnant of the old belt of forest that once surrounded Lutetia.

It is located on the eastern edge of Paris, and is the largest public park in the city. It was created between 1855 and 1866 by Emperor Napoleon III.

The park is next to the Château de Vincennes, a former residence of the Kings of France. It contains an English landscape garden with four lakes; a zoo; an arboretum; a botanical garden ...

There are many hidden venues in this wood that you would never guess like the unknown Colonial Exhibition garden, the Belvedere with an amazing view of the city of light in the distance, or these narrow trails that make you feel you are somewhere else in the countryside.

In this 10km walk across the wood, we will explore all of these unknown landmarks.

This Hiking Tour is operated only on request to paris.ramblingexperience@gmail.com

Price: 20€ / person

Where do we meet ?

We are going to meet up at the Porte de Charenton Metro station (line 8) outside the exit 1.

The hike finishes at Nogent sur Marne RER A station

Our route

Distance : about 10Km ( roughly 6.5 miles)

Grade : easy

Elevation profile : mostly flat

Bathroom breaks: in the forest and at the end at Nogent sur Marne RER A station.

Your equipment

Hiking shoes advised
Enough water for the day (at least 1.5L)
Your Packed lunch
Depending on the weather (rain wear or sunblock cream and sunglasses)
Money for your transportation fees and personal expenses

A little history…

The bois de Vincennes was part of the ancient forest that surrounded the ancient Roman town of Lutetia; at that time it was called Vilcena, the origin of the present name.

In about 1150 King Louis VII (1137–1180) built a hunting lodge at the site of the present chateau. King Philippe-Auguste (1180–1223) enclosed the forest with a wall, stocked it with game, and began building a castle. King Louis IX, or Saint Louis (1226–1270) built a chapel next to the castle to house an important religious relic, which he believed to be the crown of thorns from the Crucifixion of Jesus. He was also famous for holding a royal court of justice under an oak near the chateau.

The Wood

In 1854 the Emperor Louis Napoleon, and his new Prefect of the Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, decided to transform the Bois de Vincennes into a public park. Haussmann had three major projects for Paris; to improve the traffic circulation of the city, for both practical and military reasons; to build a new system to distribute water and take away sewage; and to create a network of parks and gardens all over the city. The purpose of the park was to provide green space and recreation to the large working-class population of eastern Paris, similar to the Bois de Boulogne, which Louis Napoleon had begun building in 1852 for the more affluent population of the west side of Paris.

Colonial Exhibition garden

In 1899, an experimental tropical garden had been established in the far eastern end of the park, where rubber trees, coffee trees, banana trees and other tropical plants were scientifically studied.

In 1907, this garden became the site of the first Colonial Exposition held in Paris, designed to showcase the cultures and products of the French colonies. The exposition featured six villages, complete with inhabitants, from the different parts of the French Empire; an emcampment of Tuaregs from North Africa; a farm from Sudan; a village of Kanaks from New Caledonia; and villages from Madagascar, French Indochina, and the Congo. The Exposition was seen by two million visitors.

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