Parc botanique de Launay

Orsay, France, France

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The Parc botanique de Launay, also known as Parc botanique d'Orsay or Parc de l'Université Paris XI, is a 90-hectare botanical garden and arboretum located on the Université Paris-Saclay (formerly Université Paris-Sud XI) campus at 3 rue Georges-Clemenceau in Orsay, Essonne, Île-de-France, France.

Created in 1965 when portions of the 240-hectare university campus along the Yvette River were designed as a botanical park, the garden contains approximately 15,000 plants representing about 2,500 to 3,000 taxons from around the world, including 333 genera and 99 families. The park features numerous woody plants and special collections including a rose garden with 150 cultivars of ancient roses, and it also houses about 550 square meters of research greenhouses on the campus.

Open daily with free admission, the garden is a member of the prestigious "Jardins botaniques de France et des pays francophones" and of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (with collection code ORSAY), and it offers free guided tours for visitors. The botanical garden is easily accessible just a short train ride from Orsay station, making it a perfect green getaway on the southern edge of Paris.