Le Bassin de la Villette — Attraction in Paris

A nice quieter alternative to walking by the Seine River. The Bassin de la Villette is a key spot along the Canal Saint Martin. We happened to be walking along in late October 2025 and say local French kids at a local canoe club doing kayaking activities on the water. It was fun to watch for a while where the kids were racing each other in a relay race. There are some cafes along the canal. We walked during the afternoon, but I hear it gets livelier in the evening with bars and clubs where the locals come out for the night life. I did not personally experience the night life because I had walked for around 5 hours straight the entire length of the Canal Saint Martin and then back again to our starting position. My feet were sore that day, but it was a good walk. Gotta do it at least...

Visiting from Canada and staying at the Holiday Inn on the Bassin de la Villette (canal). Although the scenery and surrounding area is pretty interesting, the water is disgusting that is full of debris and garbage. Not sure if it’s the locals or the government that just do not care. It’s a hot day (33 degrees Celsius) and the smell is very off putting. The homelessness is extremely bad too. The aroma of urine and feces follows us wherever we go walking. If we had to hold our breath until the smell was gone we would pass out. I can see Paris used to be a great city, full of people who have hope and aspirations, pride but that probably was many, many years ago. Too bad. I wish we would’ve visited...

Giving two stars mainly for how the bassin is handled. We arrived last weekend a bit before 18 (it's open till 21). It was already full which is understandable with the nice weather. And I like they keep a maximum number of people to not get overcrowded or create unsafe situations. What I would have not expected, is that once it's full they close! They don't let people in, even when numerous families leaving. So at 19.30 it was basically empty, with another 90 minutes till "offical" closing time and they just keep it closed. I would love to understand the reasoning behind it because would that mean that if the Bassin is full at let's say, 10:30 - they would not open up for the...