Bassin de la Villette in the 19th Arrondissement – Mark Craft

The 19th Arrondissement occupies the northeast corner of Paris, where the Bassin de la Villette meets Canal de l'Ourcq and the waterways leading south to Canal Saint-Martin. Parc de la Villette fills the northern end of the arrondissement, while Parc des Buttes-Chaumont rises above its residential streets farther south.

The broad lawns and former market buildings of Parc de la Villette are now home to major museums of science and music, the Philharmonie concert hall, and cultural events throughout the year. Nearby, the Bassin de la Villette is a broad stretch of canal where sightseeing boats depart along Canal Saint-Martin toward Bastille and the Seine, electric boats take to the water, and swimming areas open during the summer.

Things To Do In The 19th Arrondissement

Fontaine aux Lions and the Grande Halle at Parc de la Villette

The Bassin de la Villette and the two large parks are the focus of the 19th Arrondissement. Canal cruises, boating, and summer swimming center on the water. Parc de la Villette is home to museums and concert halls; Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a landscape of steep paths, cliffs, bridges, and a lake.

Bassin de la Villette

Bassin de la Villette is the broad expanse of water at the heart of the 19th Arrondissement. Canal de l'Ourcq enters from the northeast after crossing the northeastern suburbs, and Canal Saint-Martin continues south toward Bastille. Tree-lined quays run along both sides. The MK2 Quai de Seine and Quai de Loire cinemas face each other across the water, connected by a small boat shuttle.

During summer, a supervised swimming area opens along Quai de la Loire, with separate pools for children and swimmers. Pedal boats, canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards also take to the Bassin, while canal boats pass between the quays on their way through the Paris canal system.

Take A Paris Canal Boat Cruise

Board a canal boat at Parc de la Villette for a slow journey through Canal Saint-Martin and onto the Seine. The route crosses the Bassin de la Villette, passes through a series of locks and beneath the canal's iron footbridges, then enters the long underground tunnel beneath Boulevard Richard-Lenoir before emerging at Port de l'Arsenal near Bastille.

From there, the boat enters the Seine and continues past Notre-Dame and Île de la Cité to the Musée d'Orsay. The trip takes about two and a half hours, with much of the canal portion spent watching the locks fill and empty as the boat descends toward the river.

Book a Canal Saint-Martin & Seine cruise →

Parc de la Villette

Parc de la Villette spreads across 55 hectares on the site of the former livestock markets and slaughterhouses of Paris. Baron Haussmann, in his mid-19th century reconstruction of the city, chose La Villette to consolidate the city's meat trade in one enormous complex, with slaughterhouses north of Canal de l'Ourcq and three market halls to the south. The markets opened in 1867; the abattoirs closed in 1974.

The site was subsequently transformed into the park that opened in 1987. Broad lawns, themed gardens, walking paths, and 26 bright-red folies extend along both sides of Canal de l'Ourcq. The Cité des Sciences and Géode occupy the northern end; the Grande Halle, Cité de la Musique, Philharmonie, and Zénith are among the buildings spread across the grounds.

The Grande Halle survives from the livestock market, built in the 1860s for cattle and now used for exhibitions and performances. In front, the Fontaine aux Lions de Nubie dates from 1811 and originally stood on Place du Château-d'Eau, today's Place de la République. Moved to La Villette in 1867, its cast-iron lions supplied water to cattle arriving at the market.

Read our guide to Parc de la Villette →

Parc de la Villette, Cité des Sciences, and the Géode - Ville de Paris

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie

The Cité des Sciences is worth knowing about if you're in Paris with school-age children. Permanent exhibitions cover space travel, robots, the human brain, mathematics, sound, climate, and the oceans, with experiments, demonstrations, and objects to handle throughout the museum. The Argonaute, a 1950s French submarine, is moored outside and open for visits.

The Cité des Enfants has separate hands-on areas for ages 2 to 6 and 5 to 10, and the Planetarium runs immersive astronomy programs beneath its dome. Next door, the huge mirrored Géode reopened as a cinema in 2024, with films projected across its hemispherical screen.

One tip from our own visit: French school groups use the Cité des Enfants extensively during the school week. If your schedule is flexible, choose a weekend or a French school holiday.

Musée de la Musique

The Musée de la Musique displays nearly 1,000 instruments and objects from a collection spanning centuries and musical cultures. Among them are a Pleyel piano played by Chopin, violins by Stradivari, Django Reinhardt's guitar, an amethyst-studded crystal flute, and an enormous three-stringed octobass. Musicians perform inside the galleries each day, giving some of the historic instruments a voice.

After the museum, we've had a good simple lunch at Café de la Musique, just outside on Place de la Fontaine-aux-Lions. Its large terrace looks across the park toward the Grande Halle — a pleasant place to stop before continuing around La Villette.

Read our guide to Musée de la Musique →

Philharmonie de Paris

The Philharmonie de Paris opened in 2015 in a large building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, winner of the 2008 Pritzker Architecture Prize. His other work in Paris includes the Institut du Monde Arabe and Musée du Quai Branly. The main auditorium, the Grande Salle Pierre Boulez, seats about 2,400 people, with tiers and balconies arranged around the stage.

Performances extend beyond symphonic music to chamber ensembles, solo recitals, jazz, contemporary music, and musical traditions from around the world. The building also contains exhibition and rehearsal spaces, with a rooftop viewpoint over northeastern Paris.

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont was carved out of a former gypsum quarry during the rebuilding of Paris under Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann. Opened in 1867, the 25-hectare park has steep hills and paths, rocky cliffs, a lake, bridges, and the Temple de la Sibylle high above the water.

The sloping lawns are open for picnics, sunbathing, and lounging on warm days, with plenty of room for children to run around. Paths climb through mature trees and across the hills, with views toward Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur from the higher areas.

Current access: the central island and Temple de la Sibylle, the waterfalls, and part of the path around the lake are closed during a major renovation of the park. The remaining lawns, paths, and other sections are open.

Read our guide to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont →

Where To Stay In The 19th Arrondissement

Beside the lake in Parc des Buttes-Chaumont - Wikimedia, Jean-Louis Vandevivere

Choose the 19th for direct access to La Villette, Buttes-Chaumont, and the Bassin de la Villette. Concerts at the Philharmonie, the science and music museums, canal cruises, parks, and summer activities on the Bassin are all found in this quartier of Paris.

Hotel Atlas

Hôtel Atlas is a new four-star hotel near Buttes-Chaumont at 12 Rue de l'Atlas, close to the cafés and restaurants around Belleville. The contemporary rooms are air-conditioned, with doubles, deluxe rooms, and connecting rooms for families. Belleville Metro is a five-minute walk away.

Check availability at Hôtel Atlas →

Green Park Hotel Paris

Green Park Hotel Paris is a small three-star hotel beside Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, with 29 rooms renovated in 2024. Some upper-floor rooms look toward the park, and the Buttes Chaumont Metro station on Line 7bis is a four-minute walk from the hotel.

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More To See In The 19th Arrondissement

A pedestrian passage in the Mouzaïa quartier

Beyond the parks and La Villette, the 19th has smaller corners worth seeking out. Former railway tracks, narrow residential passages, a working lift bridge, and the modern tram reveal pieces of the arrondissement that are easy to miss among its larger attractions.

La Mouzaïa. Narrow pedestrian villas climb the hillside between small houses and front gardens near Buttes-Chaumont. The neighborhood was developed for workers beginning in the late 19th century, after gypsum quarrying ended beneath this part of the 19th. The unstable former quarry ground helped preserve the area's unusual low-rise scale.

Petite Ceinture. The former railway that once circled Paris has two sections open for walking in the 19th: a short stretch between Rue de Thionville and Rue de l'Ourcq, and a longer section from Rosa Parks to Avenue de Flandre. Tracks and railway structures survive among the vegetation along this piece of the 32-kilometer line.

Pont de Crimée. At the northern end of the Bassin de la Villette, this 1885 lift bridge rises vertically to let boats pass between the Bassin and Canal de l'Ourcq. Cast-iron columns and large wheels from the original design flank the roadway, with a separate pedestrian bridge alongside. Both are protected historic monuments.

Tram T3b. The T3b is a modern street-level tram that runs around the outer edge of Paris, following a scenic route from the 12th to the 16th Arrondissement. At La Villette, it stops at Porte de Pantin by the Philharmonie and Porte de la Villette by the Cité des Sciences, with the park between them.

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FAQs About The 19th Arrondissement

IS THE 19TH ARRONDISSEMENT WORTH VISITING?
Yes. La Villette is the main destination, with the Cité des Sciences, Musée de la Musique, Philharmonie, Grande Halle, and canal cruises concentrated around the park. The Bassin de la Villette and Parc des Buttes-Chaumont are also worth time in this part of Paris.

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED IN THE 19TH ARRONDISSEMENT?
Allow at least half a day for La Villette, particularly if you plan to visit one of its museums. A full day gives you time for the park and museum plus the Bassin de la Villette or Buttes-Chaumont. A Canal Saint-Martin cruise from La Villette takes two and a half hours.

HOW DO YOU GET TO PARC DE LA VILLETTE?
Metro Line 5 stops at Porte de Pantin, near the Philharmonie and Musée de la Musique. Metro Line 7 stops at Porte de la Villette, near the Cité des Sciences. Tram T3b serves both Porte de Pantin and Porte de la Villette.

IS THE 19TH ARRONDISSEMENT A GOOD PLACE TO STAY?
The 19th is a good choice when La Villette, Buttes-Chaumont, or the Bassin de la Villette are central to your plans. It is also worth considering for concerts at the Philharmonie and family trips centered on the Cité des Sciences.