Vincennes
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Bois de Vincennes

Beyond the 12^e arrondissement, across the boulevard périphérique, lies the Bois de Vincennes. Besides the Bois de Boulogne, this is the largest green space that the city has to offer, and hence a favourite family Sunday retreat. The best places to head for are the Parc Floral, the Château de Vincennes on the northern edge, the arboretum, the two lakes and the zoo. Note that sights are quite a long distance from each other, so to avoid a lot of footslogging you may want to just target one or two, or you could rent a bike from the outlet on the Esplanade St-Louis (weekends and holidays; €3 per hour), near the Château de Vincennes. The three main metro stops giving access to the park are M° Porte-Dorée, M° Porte-de-Charenton and M° Château-de-Vincennes, and it's also served by buses #46 and #86.

If you've only got a limited amount of time, you should make for the Parc Floral (daily: summer 9.30am–8pm; winter 9.30am–dusk; €1.50; www.parcfloraldeparis.com; M° Château de Vincennes, then bus #112 or a short walk), just behind the Fort de Vincennes. This is one of the best gardens in Paris – flowers are always in bloom in the Jardin des Quatres Saisons, you can picnic beneath pines, then wander through concentrations of camellias, rhododendrons, cacti, ferns, irises and bonsai trees. Between April and September, there are art and horticultural exhibitions in several pavilions, free jazz and classical music concerts, and numerous activities for children including a mini-golf of Parisian monuments. A brasserie, Les Magnolias, with pleasant outdoor seating, in the centre of the park, does a decent two-course set menu for €14.50.

To the east of the Parc Floral is the Cartoucherie de Vincennes, an old ammunitions factory, now home to four theatre companies, including the radical Théâtre du Soleil. On the northern edge of the bois, the Château de Vincennes (daily 10am–noon & 1.15–6pm) – erstwhile royal medieval residence, then state prison, porcelain factory, weapons dump and military training school – is still undergoing restoration work started by Napoléon III. guided tours on a choice of two different circuits are available (1hr 15min guided tours at 11am, 2.15pm, 3pm & 4.30pm, €5.50; 40min tours at 10.15am, 11.45am, 1.30pm & 5.15pm, €4). The fourteenth-century keep is currently closed for repairs but both circuits stop by another highlight – the Flamboyant-Gothic Chapelle Royale, completed in the mid-sixteenth century and decorated with superb Renaissance stained-glass windows.

If you're after a lazy afternoon in the park, you could go boating on the Lac Daumesnil, near the Porte Dorée entrance, or feed the ducks on the Lac des Minimes (bus #112 from Vincennes métro), on the other side of the wood. In the southeast corner off route de la Pyramide you can wander among 2000 trees of over 800 different species that have been cultivated in the Arboretum (Mon–Fri 9.30am–6.30pm; free).

North of the Lac Daumesnil, at 53 avenue de St-Maurice, is the city's largest zoo (April–Sept Mon–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 9am– 6.30pm; Oct–March closes one hour earlier; €8, children €5; M° Porte-Dorée or #46 bus), one of the first to replace cages with trenches and use landscaping to give the animals room to exercise. More information is given in "Kids' Paris".

The fenced enclave on the southern side of Lac Daumesnil harbours a Buddhist centre, with Tibetan temple, Vietnamese chapel and international pagoda; all occasionally visitable (information on 01.43.41.54.48). As far as real woods go, the bois comes into its own once you're east of avenue de St-Maurice. Boules competitions are popular – there's usually a collection of devotees between route de la Tourelle and avenue du Polygone.

Just outside the Bois de Vincennes, across the way from the Porte Dorée entrance, all is currently in a state of flux in the building that used to house the Musée des Arts Africains et Océaniens. The museum's rich collection of masks, jewellery, head-dresses and other artefacts was removed at the beginning of 2003 and is due to be transferred to the new Quai Branly museum. There is talk of transforming the site into a new museum of Decorative Arts, though this has yet to be confirmed. You can still visit the Art Deco building (daily except Tues 10am–5.30pm; €5.60; M° Porte-Dorée), constructed for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, though all you'll see at present is the occasional temporary exhibition and the museum's popular aquarium with its large collection of tropical fish and crocodile pit.