Paris à Pied, long distance walking through Paris

For long distance walkers the words Grand Randonnee is a household name. These are signposted long distance walking tracks in the French countryside, but also far beyond. Less known is the fact that there is also a city version of the long distance walking track, in Paris. These walks should not be called Grand Randonee du Pays (GRP), however,  because "Paris, c'est à part" - Paris is something else. In Paris there are two so called Traversees de Paris. One from West to East (Traversee no.1, 19km/12mi) and one from North to South (Traversee no2, 20km/12.5mi). Apart from that there are a number of circuits in the Bois de Bologne and the Bois de Vincennes.

We first discovered these walks in 1997 and on consecutive (short) visits to Paris we do a stretch of the walks. It is easy to do the walks bit by bit as they pass various metro stations along the way. The routes are signposted (in two directions) by yellow/red signs at eye level. Besides that there is a handy booklet called "Paris à Pied" in which the routes are described in great detail, together with good maps and descriptions of the sights and streets you walk past. The route follows mainly characteristic streets and paths and tries to show the typical spots of each area and neighbourhood. For us the Traversees are a good way for getting the know the unknown Paris and to get a better impression of those areas you otherwise would not go to.

On these pages you find a report of our impressions on the two routes along with photos we took on the way. Directions are printed in black, while descriptions of sights are in blue. The pictures are clickable and become real size if you do. For returning to the route you should use the Back button of your browser.

Traversée 1

... from the Bois de Boulogne to the Bois de Vincennes. The route carries you through pittoresque neighbourhoods, like Quatier Latin and la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève...

Traversée 2

... from Porte de la Villette to Parc Montsouris. A charateristic route between two parks in North and South: Buttes-Chaumont and Montsouris...