Hotels near Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is the strangest park in Paris and the best one in autumn. Baron Haussmann had it built on a former gypsum quarry and rubbish dump, opening in 1867, and the engineers kept the vertical drama: a 30-metre cliff rising out of an artificial lake, topped by the Temple de la Sibylle, reached by a suspension bridge Gustave Eiffel is credited with. The slopes are planted with mature trees that turn across most of October.

It covers 25 hectares in the 19th arrondissement, well outside the tourist grid, so the crowd is local. The paths climb properly, which is unusual for Paris and worth knowing if you are pushing a buggy. Rosa Bonheur, the guinguette-style bar inside the park, is the standard stop. Entry is free and the park opens from 7am.

Pro Tip: Climb to the Temple de la Sibylle in the last hour before sunset. You get Sacre-Coeur on the skyline across the rooftops with the whole park in colour below, and the light comes from behind you rather than into the lens.