Long circular loop around western Bordeaux through green spaces

Departure from Place des Quinconces (bike parking; Tram B, C, or D).

(S/E) With your back to Cours Tournon, facing the Monument des Girondins, take Cours du Maréchal Foch on the left. Take the first left, Cours de Gourgues (shaded), and continue to the Jardin Public, crossing the imposing Cours de Verdun.

(1) Enter the public garden and take the path on the right that runs along the left side of the lake (passing by the traditional Guérin puppet theatre, which has been there since 1853). Then turn left to reach and cross the Natural History Museum pavilion. Take the Place de Longchamps exit. Go up Rue Saint-Laurent on the left. Cross the main shopping street, Fondaudège, and continue along Rue du Docteur Albert Barraud. After 50 metres, on your left, you will see the ruins of the Palais Gallien.

(2) Continue for another 50 metres, then take the first right, Rue de Naujac, then the second right, Rue Paulin (there is a magnificent but inaccessible garden at No. 91, Bordeaux-Métropole Water Service). Turn right onto Rue Fondaudège and walk a few metres, cross the charming little Place Marie Brizard, then turn left onto Rue du Temps Passé. Continue along Rue de l'Arsenal, then after 150 metres, take^{the fourth} right onto Rue Camille Godard until you reach the entrance to Parc Rivière.

(3) Enter the park, go straight ahead, then turn left to take the small west exit. Follow Rue de Rivière to the right, then take the first left onto Rue de Moulis (nice mosaic on the façade of No. 6). Turn left onto Rue de Tivoli, then quickly right onto Rue Nicolas Beaujon. At the end, turn right onto Rue de la Croix de Seguey and cross a large boulevard at Barrière du Médoc. Follow the boulevard to the left for about 50 metres, then turn right onto Avenue d'Eysines. Take the first left, Avenue Félix Faure (lined with trees and pretty villas), then turn right onto Avenue Carnot. Continue to the monumental entrance to Parc Bordelais.

(4) Cross the park, going around the lake on the right. Head for the south-east exit.

(5) Cross Avenue du Général de Gaulle on the right and take the shaded path between two buildings called Allée Bordelaise. Turn left onto Rue Grand Lebrun, cross the small Place du XIV Juillet and follow Rue Jean Cocteau. Turn right onto Avenue Alsace-Lorraine, then take the second left onto Rue François Marceau. Continue along Rue Guilhou, passing Villa Primrose, Bordeaux's premier tennis venue. When you reach the Michel Louis Garros roundabout, continue straight ahead onto Avenue Bel-Air, passing the sports facilities and then the AGJA building.

(6) Turn left and enter Parc Lussy. Exit on the south side, cross Avenue de la République and take Rue Pierre Loti opposite. Follow Rue Bernard Adour to the left, then take the first right, Rue Genesta (a quiet, tree-lined street). Cross Avenue d'Arès (Square Jean Gauthier - 0.5 ha) and turn slightly left onto the long Rue Franz Schrader.

(7) After the École Flornoy and near the Église Saint-Augustin, turn left onto the small Rue de la Cité de l'Église Saint-Augustin, then turn right onto Rue Émile Gentil. At the small square, turn left onto Rue du Grand Maurian until you reach Place Amélie Raba-Léon and its provocative sculpture-house by the Kabakovs (worth seeing). Cross the square and the tram tracks and follow Avenue Vercingétorix (lined with trees) opposite until you reach Place Johnston, the sports area of Parc Lescure.

(8) Turn right onto Avenue du Parc de Lescure until you reach the roundabout, then turn left onto Rue Léo Saignat.

(9) Enter the Jardin de la Béchade on the right. Exit on the east side, Place de Campeyraut, and go down Rue Léo Saignat on the left, then turn right onto Rue Albert Thomas, walking alongside the Stade Chaban-Delmas. Turn left for 50 metres, then cross Boulevard du Maréchal Leclerc and continue straight ahead onto Rue Lecoq.
Turn left at the second street, Rue Mathieu, and continue to Place Gaviniès (a pretty, tree-lined square). Cross the large Rue du Général de Larminat and you will arrive in front of the large Chartreuse cemetery.

(10) Turn right onto Rue de la Devèze, then turn right in front of the Lycée Toulouse-Lautrec and walk alongside the school on Rue Joseph Abria, then turn left onto Rue Camille de Roquefeuil between the police station and the Chartreuse cemetery. Turn left between the cemetery and the tramway and head to the main entrance of the Chartreuse cemetery on Place du 11 Novembre.

(11) Continue straight on Rue Brizard, then cross the busy Rue Judaïque and continue on Rue Chevalier (small square). Turn right onto Square Georges Mandel and exit onto Rue Georges Mandel. Turn left and walk 30 metres, then turn right onto Rue de la Benatte. Take the first right, Rue Kieser, then Passage Kieser. Turn right and walk 20 metres, then turn left onto Rue Georges Mandel.

(12) Walk along the Basilique Saint-Seurin on your right, crossing Place des Martyrs de la Résistance (very tree-lined). Turn left onto Rue Rodrigues Péreire before quickly turning right onto Rue Thiac. Turn left onto Rue du Palais Gallien, then immediately right onto Rue Huguerie until you reach Place Tourny. Continue along Cours Tournon to return to your starting point at Place des Quinconces. (S/E)

(1) Jardin Public - 10 hectares - toilets - every day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or later. See two of Bordeaux's seven remarkable trees: a Mexican bald cypress, easy to spot on the large lawn, surrounded by a fence, and a huge pecan tree located almost opposite the entrance on Rue du Jardin Public. See the Botanical Garden and Natural History Museum.
(2) Ruins of the Palis Gallien. A 22,000-seat amphitheatre dating from the 2nd century, a rare reminder of Bordeaux's Roman past.
(3) Riverside park - 4 hectares - toilets - open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or later. On your right, you will see a bald cypress, one of Bordeaux's seven remarkable trees. Take a stroll through this park, which features a gardeners' house and shared gardens.
(4) Parc Bordelais - 28 hectares - toilets - open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or later. A veritable green lung in western Bordeaux, with a lake covering more than one hectare, a farm with animals from the south-west, a mini forest of hundred-year-old oak trees, a tourist train, a bar, and more. The suggested route runs along the lake, but you can also deliberately lose yourself in this large park.
(6) Parc Lussy - 2 hectares - toilets - water point - open daily from 7 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. or later.
(8) Lescure Park sports area next to the Chaban-Delmas Stadium, open every day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or later - pelota courts, sports fields, athletics track, etc.
(9) Jardin de la Béchade - 1.1 hectares - toilets - shared gardens. Just opposite, within the Charles Perrens Hospital, two of Bordeaux's seven remarkable trees, two Judas trees over 250 years old in a courtyard, Allée du Château.
(10) Chartreuse Cemetery - recommended alternative - open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or later. Pass through the Chartreuse Cemetery, stopping at the cenotaph of the painter Goya, who died in Bordeaux in 1828. Take the Allée Jean Burguet slightly to the right of the entrance and continue to the cenotaph, go around it and leave the cemetery via the Allée Saint-Bruno towards the east to exit at Place du 11 Novembre.