Coulée verte René-Dumont

What it is

The Coulée verte René-Dumont is a footpath laid along the top of a disused railway viaduct — a park built above the street rather than beside it.

It opened in 1993 on the former line of the Vincennes railway, whose viaduct arches once carried trains and now carry a planted walkway roughly 4.5 km long from near Bastille out toward the Bois de Vincennes. New York's High Line, opened in 2009, is the better-known project usually credited as following this one's lead.

The path takes its formal name from René Dumont, the French agronomist and environmentalist who ran as the country's first Green presidential candidate in 1974; older references still call it by its original name, the Promenade Plantée.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

What's inside

A raised, planted walkway over the viaduct's arches, and the Viaduc des Arts underneath it, where the arches themselves house artisan workshops and galleries facing Avenue Daumesnil.

Rose beds, pergolas covered in climbing plants, and benches line the elevated section; landscape architects Jacques Vergely and Philippe Mathieux designed the planting to change character in stretches, from formal rose garden near the start to looser green corridor further out. Further along, the path drops to ground level and continues through the Jardin de Reuilly and a tunnel section before reaching the edge of the Bois de Vincennes.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

How long to spend

An hour to walk the full 4.5 km at an ordinary pace; twenty to thirty minutes for the best-known viaduct stretch near Bastille alone.

The path is flat and paved throughout its elevated section, so the time spent is really a question of how much of its length a visitor chooses to walk rather than any physical difficulty in covering the distance involved.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

Season and crowds

Late morning to late afternoon, when the rose beds and climbing plants along the viaduct are at their fullest and the light reaches down between the buildings on either side.

Spring and early summer show the planting at its best; the elevated path has little shade, so a hot midday in summer is less comfortable than the ground-level stretches further along, which pass through more tree cover and offer a cooler alternative on the hottest days.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

Tickets

Free. The Coulée verte is an open public path with no admission and no fixed opening or closing routine beyond ordinary park hours.

The workshops and galleries under the arches in the Viaduc des Arts are separate commercial premises with their own hours, distinct from the path above them, which stays open on the same schedule as the rest of the city's public parks.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

Getting there

The elevated section starts near Bastille, at the corner of Avenue Daumesnil and Rue de Lyon in the 12th arrondissement, and runs southeast toward the Bois de Vincennes.

Bastille, on Métro lines 1, 5 and 8, is the closest station to the start; Reuilly–Diderot and Michel Bizot, further along line 8, sit near the middle and later sections of the route and are the more useful stops for joining or leaving the path partway through.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

What to watch out for

The elevated section is narrow in places and shared by walkers, joggers and cyclists despite being intended mainly for pedestrians, so it pays to keep to one side rather than walk two abreast.

Stairs and lifts connect the elevated walkway to street level at intervals, but not everywhere, so a visitor who needs step-free access should plan the route around the access points rather than assume one is always nearby.

The path closes at the same ordinary hours as other Paris parks rather than staying open around the clock like some larger green spaces, so an evening walk should check the current closing time rather than assume year-round access.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

Photography

The view down onto Avenue Daumesnil from the viaduct, with the Viaduc des Arts arches visible below and the planting framing the shot, is the path's signature image.

Early morning light along the rose beds near the Bastille end photographs better than midday, when the elevated path's lack of shade flattens the colour. Where the route drops to ground level through the Jardin de Reuilly, the change from raised walkway to open lawn makes a useful contrast shot within the same walk, and the tunnel section further along gives a rare enclosed frame in an otherwise open, sky-heavy set of shots.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

Where it is

• 1 hour

  2 min walk · Paris 12e Arrondissement

  jardin de Reuilly-Paul-Pernin

  • High
  • Nature site
• 1 hour

  2 min walk · Paris 12e Arrondissement

  Saint-Éloi

  • High · Heritage site
  • Art and culture venue
• 1 hour

  3 min walk · Paris 12e Arrondissement

  Square Saint-Éloi

  • High
  • Nature site

External links

• Official site
• View on Wikidata