A route in a bike to discover street art in Grenoble

(S/E) Start from the park behind the Paul Éluard Media Library in Fontaine, in front of the artwork ‘La Tortue’ (by Veks van Hillik), situated on the south gable of the building. Leave the park via the western exit onto Rue Henri Barbusse, passing to the left of this artwork. Turn right heading north and, at the junction with Avenue du Vercors, turn right heading east.
After 60 metres, turn right towards the south and follow Avenue Jean Jaurès until you reach the tram line crossing. Then turn left and walk eastwards along the tram line for about a hundred metres.

(1) At the ‘Les Fontainades, le VOG’ tram stop, look up at the two façades on either side of the tram: you’ll see a monumental artwork depicting two children with their backs to each other, communicating (artist: Seth).
Continue eastwards and cross the river via the Drac Bridge. Once you reach the other side in Grenoble after the descent, you’ll see some older artworks on the shop fronts to your right. Turn right towards the south and pass through the pretty gate of the Bouchayer-Viallet site, a recently renovated industrial wasteland. Head south until you reach the long building directly in front of you (featuring several paintings measuring around one square metre) and, on your left, you’ll discover the magnificent lion’s head (by Srek Will and Greg).
Leave the Bouchayer site via the eastern exit onto Rue Georges Jacquet (with more artworks on your right), and head towards Rue Ampère. Turn left, heading north, then 300 metres further on, turn right and follow Cours Berriat.

(2) There are numerous remarkable artworks at numbers 153 and 129 (in the courtyard of the Raymond complex) and, in particular, those by Snek, Monkeybird and Etien.
Continue for about 200 metres and turn south onto Rue d’Alembert. Go round the block by heading west up Rue Marx Dormoy. At the junction with Rue Mozart, on a gable wall, there is a piece (by Jaba). Head back eastwards to Rue Henri le Chatelier, then head south to the middle of this street where three works of art are displayed on the walls of the Saint-Bruno nursery, opposite the swimming pool. Continue along the street until you reach Rue Nicolas Chorier and turn left.

(3) Walk eastwards along Rue Nicolas Chorier until you reach Cours Jean Jaurès. Once you have passed the tram tracks, turn left onto the side lane of the Cours and walk northwards to the junction of Cours Jean Jaurès and Cours Berriat.
Turn right towards the east and head up Cours Berriat until you reach the narrow Rue du Phalanstère, which runs south-east. Several artworks (a reimagined Snow White – by Goin – and Dragon, amongst others) can be seen on your right as soon as you enter this street and before the cinema.
Walk up Rue du Phalanstère and turn left at the third street (Rue Lakanal) heading north-east to see, on the corner of Rue Lakanal and Boulevard Gambetta, a sculpture (by Juin) dedicated to shopkeepers.
Turn back and head down Rue Lakanal towards the south-west.

(4) Turn right at the second junction: you’re now on Rue Génissieu, a mecca for street art. There are at least eight major works of art leading up to the piece by Animalitoland at numbers 34 and 36. Twenty metres further on, on your left, there’s a stencil of a young newspaper seller; I’ll leave you to read the headline of the article. Head back to the previous junction with Rue Thiers, take a look at the postbox on your left (a fine portrait of Nelson Mandela – by C215) and admire the shutters on the right, stencilled by the artist M4U.
Turn right onto Rue Thiers and head south.
On Rue Thiers, 30 metres on: a cat drawn on a rusty metal sheet on your left, 3 metres up. A few metres further on, turn right into the narrow Rue des Bergers; there is graffiti on the wall on the right (a portrait of Chabal), then on the gable wall opposite number 10 on the street, an allegorical work on Article 35 of the Declaration of Human Rights (artists: Srek, Greg and Will).

(5) Turn round and walk all the way up Rue des Bergers towards the south-east; you’ll see ‘La Murène’ (by Etien’), ‘Les Baleines’ (by Nevercrew) and painted garage doors (the ‘Phoenix’ and portraits). At the end, turn right towards the south-east
Head back down via Place Championnet, then opposite, take Rue de Turenne heading south-east: at the junction with Rue Pierre Arthaud, you’ll see a lovely shop front with three shutters down on your right.
100 metres further on, turn right towards the east and walk round Place Jacqueline Marval, where you’ll find numerous painted garage doors and a shop window featuring “The Snake”.
Head back along Rue de Turenne towards the south-east. Pass under the railway bridge. Turn left 60 metres further on; you’ll see a magnificent piece by Skrek, Greg and Will on the gable of No. 5 Rue “Lieutenant de Quinsonnas”.
Walk 200 metres north-west along Rue de Turenne.

(6) Turn east onto Rue Augereau; you’ll see a fully painted wall on your left, then at the next junction, walk 20 metres up Rue Marceau (artwork at No. 11). Continue up Rue Augereau and then Rue Berthe de Boissieux towards the east.

(7) Turn north, to the left, onto Rue “Doudart de Lagrée” to find “L’arme de la paix”, a major, world-renowned work by Snek.
Continue eastwards along Rue Berthe de Boissieux. At the junction with Boulevard Gambetta, on your left, you’ll find a skatepark adjacent to the municipal swimming pool: there are artworks on the swimming pool wall and on the wall of the community centre (by Nesta and Short).
Head north along Boulevard Gambetta for about 160 metres and turn right onto Rue François Raoult, heading east.

(8) Halfway along this street, there are monumental artworks on the gable wall of the car park building (at least two artworks; walk to the end of the gable to see ‘La fille du printemps’ by RNST) and on the gable opposite (a work by Anthony Lister).
Continue eastwards along Rue François Raoult; at the end, turn right onto Boulevard Agutte Sembat, then onto Boulevard Maréchal Lyautey.

(9) “The Fox” by Veks van Hillik is directly in front of you
On your way back, head north to Place Docteur Léon Martin.

(10) Turn left towards the west onto Cours la Fontaine, then walk the entire length of Cours Berriat. After crossing the bridge over the River Drac, turn right towards the north and walk up to Avenue du Vercors in Fontaine.

(11) Turn left towards the west to return to your starting point, the Paul Éluard media library (S/E).

A wide-angle camera is recommended. Mobile phones with cameras are well suited to this.
It’s best to go mid-morning on a Sunday, as the light is quite high and, above all, the painted shop shutters are still down. Furthermore, on Sunday mornings, there are no vehicles on the roads at these times.
Stops to admire each artwork and opportunities for refreshments make this route enjoyable and effortless. The route follows existing cycle paths and was designed to run in the correct direction on the day it was created. We are not responsible for any changes to the direction of traffic.
On the route map, the location of certain notable artworks is indicated by a triangular path forming an arrow connecting three points on the route, as there are not enough waypoints.
For details on the artworks, please check the Grenoble street art website in advance or the Spacejunk website in Grenoble.
Artworks that cannot be reached, as they are located in enclosed, private courtyards, remain clearly visible from the street (which is the whole point!).

There are other artworks and other routes, but they’re a little further away from this first one. After 2½ hours of cycling around the city, it’s time to take a breather. That’ll be for next time!