You Can Swim the Seine for the First Time in 100 Years

If you follow anyone in Paris on social media, you’ve probably noticed that most of their recent stories involve swimming.

That’s because, on July 5, the Seine officially opened for public swimming—for the first time since 1923.

Attention is once again back on the city’s iconic river, which, a year ago, was the unconventional stage for the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The games were, in fact, the first step in making the Seine swimmable again, with officials pumping more than $1.4 billion into its cleanup to host the open-water swimming and triathlon events.

“It’s a childhood dream to have people swimming in the Seine,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who was instrumental in the cleanup, said during an event commemorating the day.

From now until Aug. 31, people will be able to take the plunge into the Seine for free at one of three swimming sites: Bercy, opposite the François Mitterrand Library; Bras-Marie, at the foot of Pont de Sully facing the Île Saint-Louis; and Grenelle, near the Eiffel Tower.

“Being able to swim with a view of the Eiffel Tower is amazing,” Parisian local Fabrice Atallah told Travel + Leisure. Atallah, who lives just outside the center of Paris, dived in at Grenelle a week after the official opening. He also caught a synchronized swimming show that took place in the river.

“I stayed for an hour doing laps,” he said. “The water temperature is nice and fresh. It’s not too hot and not too cold. I enjoyed it.”

Access to the river operates on a first-come, first-served basis, with no prebooking available. The sites are supervised by lifeguards and are set up with outdoor furniture to relax on, space to lay out your towels, and lockers and changing rooms.

The biggest site, Bercy, can accommodate up to 300 people in two swimming areas, while Bras-Marie and Grenelle both have a capacity of 150 people in the water at any one time.

Age and height limits are in place at each site, a necessary precaution given the depth of the river in some places. At Bercy, swimmers must be at least 10 years of age and be taller than 1.2m (that’s about 4 feet tall). At Bras Marie and Grenelle, the minimum age is 14, with a minimum height requirement of 1.4m (approximately 4 feet, 6 inches). Grenelle also has a dedicated children’s pool. All swimmers are required to wear a yellow floating device.

Other urban swim sites in the city include the Canal Saint-Martin bathing area and the Pools of Bassin de la Villette.

The water quality and bacteria levels of the river are monitored daily, and all three sites had to close the day after opening due to rainfall. An official map shows real-time updates about which spots are open for swimming.

The news has generated an exciting buzz in the French capital, which famously empties at the height of summer as residents flee to the countryside and the coast to escape the heat. Now, those who stay, as well as visitors on vacation in the city, will have a place to cool down.

“It wasn’t a normal day in the water, everybody felt it was special,” Atallah said. “We’ve taken back our river after a hundred years!”