Jardin des Plantes & Ménagerie

Established in 1626 as a royal medicinal herb garden, the Jardin des Plantes opened to the public in 1640 and has operated continuously ever since, expanding over the centuries into a full botanical garden, natural history museum complex and zoo — one of the oldest continuously operating scientific and educational institutions in Paris. Its formal alleys, greenhouses (including a historic 1930s Art Deco tropical hothouse) and rose garden make the grounds themselves worth a leisurely walk even without visiting the paid attractions.

The Ménagerie, opened in 1794 during the Revolution partly using animals confiscated from the royal menagerie at Versailles, ranks among the oldest zoos in the world still operating on its original site. It now houses roughly 180 species, a third of them endangered, in a deliberately smaller, more intimate footprint than modern safari-style zoos — closer to a historic city zoo experience, with orangutans, red pandas, snow leopards and Komodo dragons among the highlights, plus a new orangutan enclosure opened in 2026.