Palais Royal Gardens
Paris
About
Hidden behind a discreet archway just north of the Louvre, the Palais Royal gardens are one of Paris's most photogenic and least-crowded spaces. The long rectangular garden is enclosed by colonnaded arcades built in the 1780s, now home to art galleries, fine restaurants, antique toy shops and specialist boutiques.
The iconic striped columns in the main courtyard — Daniel Buren's Les Deux Plateaux installation from 1986 — provide one of Paris's most recognizable Instagram backdrops. Children climb on them; people sit reading; pigeons strut between them. The gardens themselves are formal and beautiful, lined with linden trees and centered on a fountain. Visit at dusk when the boutique lighting turns warm and the crowds thin.