Jardin des Sources

The Parc des Sources, sometimes called the Jardin des Sources, is the oldest and most characteristic green space of Vichy, the spa town on the Allier. The park sits in the middle of the old spa quarter beside the Hall des Sources and the Casino de Vichy. It was laid out around the springs, so that visitors who came to take the waters had a pleasant place to walk between their glasses.

Vichy's reputation rests on its mineral water, which comes from several springs with different temperatures and tastes, drunk for centuries as a cure. In the nineteenth century the town became one of the most fashionable spa resorts in Europe, and the park was shaped to serve that world: broad avenues of plane trees, shady corners, bandstands and covered promenades for rainy days. A long wrought-iron gallery with glass roofing, built at the end of the nineteenth century, still runs along the park and shelters the walkway between the springs and the town.

Walk through the park and you can see the layers of its history. Old trees give deep shade, and the pergolas and brick-edged paths belong to a later phase of redesign. The Hall des Sources, the spring pavilion at one end, is where visitors still taste the water from taps, and the buildings of the old baths and the Hôtel du Parc stand along the edges. The nearby Boulevard de la République and the Église Saint-Louis give a view of the town's rather grand architecture, which was built to host the visitors.

For a visitor today, the park is a free and easy place to relax, and it is open to walkers and often to dogs, though conditions may change. It works well at the start or end of a day in Vichy, combined with a look at the Casino de Vichy and the Opera building, and a stop in a cafe on the surrounding streets. In spring and summer, flowerbeds and shade give it a gentle, old-fashioned mood, and in the evening the lights give a different feeling.

It suits families, slow walkers and anyone interested in the history of spa culture. Because the water features have been under renovation in recent years, check what is open before you plan a long stay.