A beautiful walk on the island of Saint Germain
Saint Germain Island: A Dog-Friendly Place?
Saint Germain Island is a wonderful place if you're looking for a walk with your dog. Easily accessible, the island and its park are dog-friendly.
The park even has two dog parks where your dog can socialize!
In search of nature, beautiful gardens, contemporary architecture: you will be amazed and your dog will have fun too!
Summary
How to get there?
Saint Germain Island Park
Urban side
Seine banks side
How to get there?
Saint-Germain Island is an island located on the Seine River . It is formed at the base of two separate islands, Billancourt and Longueignon , which were connected by the Billancourt bridges . It is part of the commune of Issy-les-Moulineaux , in the Hauts-de-Seine department. The island is accessible by several bridges.
Île Saint Germain is very easily accessible from central Paris. We left from Gare d'Austerlitz and took the RER C to Issy Val de Seine station. We returned via Tramway 2 and the metro.
Saint Germain Island Park
The park covers 21.5 hectares, a good portion of the island. It is very well laid out and will delight everyone: adults, children, and dogs, of course!
You can admire works of art such as the Fig Tower and remains of the 1867 World's Fair, such as the magnificent hall. It is possible to have lunch in the restaurant.
There is a pony club, play areas for children, a puppet theatre, ping pong tables and picnic areas.
It is also divided into several gardens: lavender gardens, discovery gardens, enclosed gardens, etc. Some areas are prohibited to dogs to preserve biodiversity.
The cherry on top: there are also two dog parks in the park where dogs can play and run free off-leash. The second park is a very good size and has water fountains and bowls available. There are also several shaded benches. Vaika met many friends there: bulldogs, huskeys, Labradors, and more.
A yellow marked path allows you to go around it.
You could really spend half a day, or even a whole day! The atmosphere of this park is particularly pleasant. The people we met there were charming and seemed to be locals. We even met two women who volunteer for greyhound rescue organizations. The park wasn't crowded on this Sunday: a mix of dogs, walkers, joggers, and families.
Urban side
The urban side of the island consists of offices and housing, mainly artist and architect-designed houses and bungalows. It's very pleasant to admire the beautiful houses, each with its own distinctive and rather contemporary architecture: a veritable laboratory. There are very few cars on the streets, so visiting with a dog is easy.
The streets are very clean: no glass lying around, lots of greenery. The neighborhood is clearly "privileged" and some of the houses are rather impressive in volume: don't forget that we are at the gates of Paris! The island also has a stadium: there was a soccer match on when we visited and Vaika seemed very interested in the game. There are also allotments at the tip of the island managed by a users' association.
Good plan: between the park and the urban side, there is a brasserie that seems to do good Sunday brunches with a terrace.
Seine banks side
The third pleasant aspect of the walk is the Seine side. The atmosphere there is very peaceful and surrounded by nature.
You can walk along a pretty path along the Seine to observe and admire the beautiful, large barges. A few ducks caught Vaika's attention.
