Parc de Tessé & the Bords de Sarthe Greenway
Le Mans punches well above its weight for urban green space, and the combination of the formal Parc de Tessé in the city centre and the long riverside greenway along the Sarthe gives visitors a genuinely lovely half-day away from the race circuit and museum circuit.
Parc de Tessé
Laid out in the English landscape style in the 19th century, Parc de Tessé sits directly behind the Musée de Tessé (the city's fine arts museum, housed in a handsome former bishop's palace) and offers shaded lawns, a small ornamental lake and magnificent specimen trees including a 200-year-old cedar of Lebanon that dominates the skyline. It's the city's favourite lunchtime escape and genuinely beautiful in spring when the chestnuts flower.
The park is also the departure point for the Bords de Sarthe greenway — a flat, traffic-free path that runs along the river bank south from the city for around 12 km, past water meadows, fishing spots and small riverside villages.
The Sarthe Greenway
The greenway is shared between cyclists and walkers and is entirely flat, making it accessible for all ages. Hire a bike from the city's VéloCité bike-share scheme (docking stations near the train station and the park) and follow the river south towards Spay and Fillé-sur-Sarthe, where small guinguette-style riverside cafés open in summer.
In spring and early autumn the path is lined with wildflowers and the river is calm enough for kayaking — several outfitters near Spay offer half-day kayak rental for around €18 per person, paddling back upstream to Le Mans with the current.
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