Tuileries Garden

The Tuileries Garden is a formal public garden in central Paris located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde. It was created in the 16th century and later redesigned in the 17th century into the French formal garden layout familiar today.

Visitors walk along wide, straight gravel promenades, see sculptural groups and ponds, and visit adjacent institutions such as the Musée de l’Orangerie and the Jeu de Paume. The garden functions as a major pedestrian axis linking key Paris landmarks and hosts seasonal plantings and outdoor exhibitions.

Originally laid out for the Tuileries Palace in the 1500s, the garden was remodelled by gardener André Le Nôtre in the 17th century into the formal terraces and axial geometry visible today. The space survived the palace’s destruction and has been a public park since the French Revolution.

It sits on the right bank of the Seine in central Paris, spanning the 1st and 8th arrondissements directly west of the Louvre and east of the Champs-Élysées.

• Size and location: Covers roughly 25 hectares between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde, forming a continuous public promenade through central Paris.
• Best time to visit: The best light for photography is usually early morning or late afternoon when the long axial views and sculptures are less crowded.

What to See #

• Musée de l'Orangerie: A purpose-built museum at the western end of the garden housing Claude Monet's Water Lilies series in two oval rooms and other late 19th-early 20th century works.
• Jeu de Paume: A gallery focused on contemporary art and photography located on the garden's eastern side near the Place de la Concorde; it occupies a former tennis court building.
• Grand Allée and ponds: The long central axis formed by straight gravel promenades, aligned between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde and punctuated by fountains, pools and sculptures.
• Main terraces and sculptures: A rectangular open lawn and promenade area that hosts sculptures and provides direct sightlines to the Louvre to the east and the Champs-Élysées to the west.