The Tuileries Garden: The Royal Walk from the Louvre to the Champs-Elysées

(86 reviews)

Paris audio tour: The Tuileries Garden: The Royal Walk from the Louvre to the Champs-Elysées

This is a 1.1mi walking tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

Paris

France

$8.99

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About the Tour

There are few sights in Paris that have changed as little over the past 350 years as the Tuileries, the grandfather of French gardens. Long before it was a public thoroughfare, the Tuileries was the place to see and be seen, to seduce and to be seduced, to practice one’s vices, and display one’s virtues.

Stroll through the Tuileries and Carrousel Gardens on this walking tour, starting outside the Louvre or Orsay Museums. Leaving Paris’ busy streets behind, I’ll transport you back to the era of the garden’s creation, when it was the stomping ground of kings and queens. Along the way, you’ll learn its history, hear the stories behind its sculptures, and enjoy incredible views of Paris.

I've designed this 60-minute tour as an easy-going and informative walk that you can enjoy at your leisure. There are garden chairs and outdoor cafés along the way if you need a break. The tour ends at Place de la Concorde and the entrance to Paris’ most famous avenue, the Champs-Elysées.

Note:

The Arc de Triomphe of the Carrousel, a major monument located near at the start of this tour, is currently under restoration. That won’t stop you from hearing and learning about it on this tour, but the statues on the top have temporarily been removed for restoration and scaffolding around the monument temporarily blocks the long view
through the Tuileries Garden and up the Champs-Elysees that I describe during the first few minutes. Start at the indicated point but be patient in viewing what's described. You’ll see and understand that long view once you’ve walked around to the opposite side of the arch.

Tour Producer

Gary Kraut

4 tours

Gary Lee Kraut is an American and French dual citizen who has been inspiring and informing travelers for over three decades through travel writing, consulting, lecturing, and private guiding. He is the author of five travel guides to France and Paris, hundreds of articles, and numerous essays, short stories, and op-ed pieces concerning travel, culture, cross-culture, and life abroad. He operates the award-winning travel e-magazine France Revisited, francerevisited.com.

Gary’s unparalleled experience has made him the go-to guy for individuals and travel professionals seeking highly personalized tours, advice, and small-group adventures in Paris and throughout France, garysparistours.com.

He’s happy to share his passion for travel discovery in his VoiceMap tours.

Preview Location

Location 3

The Arc de Triomphe of the Carousel

You’re standing before the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the Triumphal Arch of the Carousel. No need to look for a merry-go-round, there isn’t one here. The carousel in question was a tournament or exhibition of horsemen that typically went around in circles and that took plac... You’re standing before the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the Triumphal Arch of the Carousel. No need to look for a merry-go-round, there isn’t one here. The carousel in question was a tournament or exhibition of horsemen that typically went around in circles and that took place in this area. We call a merry-go-round a carousel for that very reason. The carousel exhibitions took place here because this space used to be the vast courtyard in front of the Tuileries Palace.

But where is the Tuileries Palace? Well, it was burned down in a Parisian civil war of sorts in 1871. This arch led toward the central entrance of the Tuilieries Palace, which used to stand about 100 yards further on. Stand with a good full view of the arch as I tell you about it.

Like that more famous triumphal arch that you can see beyond it, just over two miles in the distance, this arch is one of Napoleon I’s projects. Construction of both arches began in 1806, but Napoleon got to see only this one completed since it was finished in two years, whereas the famous triumphal arch in the distance, which is much larger, took 30 years to build, mostly because the project was halted when Napoleon went into exile.

Feel free now to approach and walk around the arch as I continue to tell you about it.

Napoleon saw himself as a military heir to Julius Caesar and other Roman leaders, so he was often inspired by Roman architecture in the monumental work that he ordered built to decorate Paris. This Arc de Triomphe recalls the arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum, which also has four columns. Here, they’re Corinthian columns of red and black marble, four on the front, four on the back, each topped by a soldier, each representing by his uniform a different military rank or division. The sculpted portion between the columns present scenes from Napoleon’s military campaigns throughout Europe.

The inscription on the front toward the top boasts of Napoleon and the French Army busting up the Third Coalition of European nations that gathered to oppose France, leading the French Army, as it’s written, to fly from the ocean to the Danube, to free Bavaria, to take the Austrian Army prisoner at Ulm, to enter into Vienna and to triumph at Austerlitz, dissolving the coalition in less than one hundred days.

The inscription on the back further proclaims the victory of Austerlitz and, as a consequence, the fall of the German Empire, the rise of the Confederation of the Rhine, and Italy’s willing acceptance of—quote— “the laws of its liberator,” as the French proclaimed themselves.

To the victor goes the spoils. Among them were four magnificent horses from the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, during the time of the Roman Empire. Napoleon looted them from Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice and had them placed atop this arch. The fall of Napoleon in 1815 led to their return to Venice, where they can be seen today. In their place, a sculptor named Francois-Joseph Bosio created the stunning horses that you see here today. Return to the front of the arch to see them.

The horses are similar to but not replicas of the Venetian foursome. Standing to either side of the horses are gilt winged figures representing victory and peace.

We’re now going to walk into the nearby garden, called the Carrousel Garden, which precedes our entrance into the Tuileries Garden.

When you’re ready, while facing the arch as you were when you originally approached it, turn right, toward the trees then up the 11 steps that you’ll see as you walk. I’ll meet you as you’re going up the steps.

Now that you have more of a feel for the tour, let me give you some advice in case you run into any issues with the app. If you look at your screen, you're the blue dot, the red line is the route and the red pinpoints are audio files. If for some reason a file does not play, simply click on the red pinpoint and it will start.

Continue towards the steps ahead. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Louvre Museum
Arc de Triomphe
Jardin du Carrousel
Tuileries Garden
Musée de l'Orangerie
Jeu de Paume
Champs-Élysées
Place de la Concorde
Hôtel de la Marine
Obelisk

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
75001 Paris, France
Total distance

2km
Final location
17-13 Pl. de la Concorde, 75008 Paris, France
Distance back to start location

1km

Directions to Starting Point

Start: Louvre Pyramid, 75001 Paris, France

The starting point is the equestrian statue near the Pyramid entrance/exit of the Louvre Museum. This tour is therefore ideal for an airy walk after visiting the museum or before visiting the Champs-Elysées, since the Champs-Elysées begins just beyond where this tour ends.

The nearest metro station is Palais Royal, a 3-minute walk to the starting point. If arriving by metro, walk into the courtyard of the Louvre and you'll see the equestrian statue on the opposite side of the Pyramid.
Or the tour can be taken after exiting the Orsay Museum, a 10-minute walk from the starting point. From the Orsay, walk upstream along the river to the Pont du Carrousel to the Pont Royal bridge, then straight into the courtyard of the Louvre, where you'll see the equestrian statue before reaching the Pyramid.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

There are cafés (outdoor seating only) in the garden as well as garden chairs throughout, so you can rest at any time.
The Orangerie Museum is inside the garden. Highly recommended. Since it's near the exit, consider going there after completing this tour.
The Jeu de Paume, an exhibition space for contemporary art, is also inside the garden, near the exit. The museum/café/restaurant complex called Hôtel de la Marine is just beyond the exit.
There are rest rooms by the exit.

Best time of day

Any time of day. The Tuileries Garden generally closes at about sunset. The exact time depends on the season. The garden is at its most calm in the morning.

Precautions

As a national garden near major sights and museums, the Tuileries Garden is generally considered as a safe, including for families with small children. As in all major cities that attract tourists, beware of pickpockets.

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