Jardin d'Acclimatation

Opened in 1860 by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, the Jardin d'Acclimatation is one of the oldest leisure parks in Europe. It began as a zoological and botanical garden for exotic animals and plants, set at the northern edge of the Bois de Boulogne in western Paris. Today it is chiefly a children's park, drawing nearly two million visitors a year.

Visitors find gardens, ponds and play areas alongside fairground rides, farm animals and other attractions aimed mainly at young families. Some of the park's older features recall its nineteenth-century origins, and the Fondation Louis Vuitton stands at its edge.

The site also has a darker past. From the late 1870s it staged ethnological exhibitions, often called human zoos, in which people brought from Africa, Asia and the Americas were displayed to the public. The park suits families with small children, and many make a half-day or full-day outing of it.