A stroll through Pantin along the Canal de l'Ourcq

From the Porte de la Villette to the outskirts of Lilas and Romainville, this itinerary follows the southern half of the city and reveals the many faces of Pantin: from the cosmopolitan Quatre-Chemins neighbourhood to the revitalised Canal de l'Ourcq, passing by the houses at the foot of the TDF tower and the craft and industrial areas.

Details

862011
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.03 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 85 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 85 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 129 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 43 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ District: Pantin (93500)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 48.903413° / E 2.392179°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2314OT
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

This circular route is accessible from the "Aubervilliers Pantin Quatre Chemins" metro station (line 7).
Other public transport options are available: tram stops T3b "Ella Fitzgerald" or "Delphine Seyrig"; metro stations "Hoche" or "Bobigny Raymond Queneau" (line 5); Pantin station on RER line E.

The starting point is located at the corner of Boulevard Jean Jaurès and Avenue Édouard Vaillant.

(S/E) Walk along Avenue Jean Jaurès towards Paris (in descending order of house numbers). Turn left onto Rue Magenta. Then turn right onto Rue Pasteur. At the end, turn left onto Rue du Chemin de Fer and follow this street to the roundabout with Avenue Édouard Vaillant. Follow the avenue to the right and take the bridge over the railway tracks.

(1) Turn immediately right onto Rue du Débarcadère until you reach the tram line. Turn left, follow the tracks and cross the Canal de l'Ourcq on the tram bridge. Continue parallel to the tracks until you reach Avenue du Général Leclerc.

(2) Follow the avenue to the left until you reach the traffic lights. Then turn right onto Rue Auger and follow this street to the end.

(3) Turn left onto Avenue Jean Lolive, then immediately right onto Rue Charles Nodier. Cross Rue des Sept Arpents, then turn left onto Rue Franklin. Cross Rue André Joineau and continue straight ahead on Rue Gutemberg until the end. Then first turn left then right onto Rue Méhul and go around the Pré Saint-Gervais cemetery on the left.

(4) At the crossroads, turn right onto Rue Jules Auffret and walk along the cemetery. Continue along this street and cross Rue des Pommiers on the left.

(5) After a few metres, go through the gate on the left of the red brick residence (Cité des Auteurs). Continue straight ahead to come out opposite the Pantin cemetery, Rue de la Candale Prolongée (which can also be reached via Rue des Pommiers if the gate is closed). Then turn right and, at the top of the first steps, turn left into Rue du Bel Air.

(6) After a right-hand bend, turn right onto Boulevard Eugène Decros. Cross Rue de Bellevue, then turn left onto Rue du Regard (Cité Saint-Germain on the map). At the end, first turn right then left onto Rue Bernard. Follow this street to Place Charles de Gaulle.

(7) Take the second left onto Rue du Garde Chasse. At the junction with Rue Paul Langevin, turn left down Sente du Groupe Manouchian. Join Rue Henri Barbusse and follow it downhill to the right until you reach Parc Henri Barbusse. Cross the park heading north-northeast. At the beginning of Rue des Buttes, turn right to reach the exit at the crossroads of Rue Jaslin, Avenue du Colonel Fabien and Avenue des Bretagnes.

(8) Then follow Avenue des Bretagnes. At the end, turn left onto Avenue Gaston Roussel.
Cross Carrefour des Limites and take Rue Raymond Queneau opposite. After two left-right turns, cross the canal and, at the end of the bridge, go down to the right to join the towpath.

(9) Follow the towpath towards Paris (west), keeping the canal on your left. Just before a road bridge, pass the Théâtre au Fil de l'eau theatre and go up to the right towards Rue Delizy.

(10) At the traffic lights, follow this street to the right. At the end, turn onto Avenue du Général Leclerc and pass under the railway bridge. At the exit, take Rue Cartier Bresson on the left. Cross Rue Denis Papin.

(11) Then turn left onto Rue Honoré. Leave the street at the 90° right-hand bend and continue straight ahead on the footpath between the gymnasium and the car park. Join Avenue Édouard Vaillant and follow it to the right to reach the metro station (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 44 m - Aubervilliers Pantin 4 Chemins metro station
  2. 1 : km 1.16 - alt. 52 m - Gare de Pantin
  3. 2 : km 1.85 - alt. 54 m - Avenue du Général Leclerc
  4. 3 : km 2.35 - alt. 58 m - Avenue Jean Lolive
  5. 4 : km 3.31 - alt. 61 m - Pré Saint-Gervais Cemetery
  6. 5 : km 3.8 - alt. 81 m - Cité des Auteurs
  7. 6 : km 4.44 - alt. 106 m - Boulevard Eugène Decros
  8. 7 : km 4.96 - alt. 129 m - Place Charles de Gaulle
  9. 8 : km 6.22 - alt. 73 m - Avenue des Bretagnes
  10. 9 : km 7.03 - alt. 52 m - Towpath - Canal de l'Ourcq
  11. 10 : km 8.12 - alt. 55 m - Rue Delizy
  12. 11 : km 9.57 - alt. 44 m - Rue Honoré
  13. S/E : km 10.03 - alt. 44 m - Aubervilliers Pantin 4 Chemins metro station

Notes

At the corner of Rue Magenta, Rue Berthier and Rue Pasteur, the aptly named community café "Pas Si Loin" welcomes you from Tuesday to Saturday during the day.

Worth a visit

A few steps from the crossroads between Avenue du Général Leclerc and Rue Cartier Bresson is the Thaddaeus Ropac contemporary art gallery, open Tuesday to Saturday during the day, with its very welcoming café.

In the Cité des Auteurs (5), the trees are colonised by rose-ringed parakeets, an invasive species that is becoming increasingly abundant in the Île-de-France region, which feeds mainly on the fruit of the trees lining Rue des Pommiers.

Reviews and comments

4.4 / 5
Based on 7 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.9 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5
Route interest
3.7 / 5
jrig
jrig

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 12, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Well-described walk, for street art enthusiasts, take a stroll around block 27 on Rue Auger.

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fdhellemmes
fdhellemmes

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for this beautiful, well-described hike, Villa du Pré, Trou-Morin viewpoint, banks of the Ourq Canal – very nice. A few sections along slightly dirty streets, but overall a good hike. Note that the ASNEP association (asnep@free.fr) offers guided tours of the interior of the "regards" (manholes) by appointment for groups and on Heritage Days. It's superb—the medieval water network and underground architecture are magnificent! Thank you, Netra!

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Marieher
Marieher

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 11, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

One note: the passage between Rue Honoré and Rue Edouard Vaillant is closed, as confirmed by people I spoke to nearby.

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compositeur
compositeur

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 05, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A walk taken on a beautiful winter morning, drawing attention to places little known even to an old Parisian suburbanite, with lots of charm in Haut-Pantin and along the canal.
However, the end is a little disappointing. I would recommend crossing back over the canal at the "Au fil de l'eau" theatre and taking the underground at Eglise de Pantin, or even better, continuing along the canal to Porte de Pantin or Porte de la Villette, and for the more adventurous, to the Stalingrad rotunda.
Thank you for these discoveries.

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Mad82
Mad82

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 01, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

I didn't see the point of this hike.

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galalemardi
galalemardi
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 16, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

It's a great way to discover areas you don't know, even if they're not necessarily of architectural interest. The appeal lies in the diversity. We started from the Hoche metro station, so we can't comment on the beginning of the walk. Apart from the canal, the upper part is the best (climb to the heights of Pantin, view of Paris, and descent to the Ourcq Canal).

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Woniya
Woniya

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 08, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

The map was essential because sometimes the description was insufficient to find your way around and get your bearings.

For some places, I didn't see the point (architectural?) of going there, so some quick information would have been welcome.

Overall, it was a pleasant walk, although I felt slightly unsafe as a woman passing through the Cité des Auteurs (a narrow, dark passageway with lots of young men around), but nothing unpleasant happened.

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