Everything you need to know before your family trip to Paris, France. All the tips on things to do with kids in Paris including what to see, museums, parks, and more.
Our family visited Paris, France this past summer for a week. However, we only spent four days in the city, one day in Alsace, and one day at Disneyland Paris. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the city and found Parisians to be welcoming and kind. If you are looking for an itinerary for your Paris trip, you can find ours here.
I highly recommend sharing your excitement with your children before visiting the city by talking about the places you are going to visit, reading books set in Paris (like Madeline or Night of the New Magicians – Magic Tree House Series), or watching movies set in the city (like Leap, Ratatouille or The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
A couple of general tips for visiting Paris with kids are:
- Plan your days ahead of time and make sure to look up opening hours because many museums are closed one day a week.
- Make sure to group destinations by proximity because Paris is huge!
- Prepurchase tickets if available so that you do not have to wait in a long queue.
- Don’t book every minute of your days. Be sure to build in downtime or time to spend in parks.
Eiffel Tower
The most famous landmark in Paris! Seeing the Eiffel Tower is amazing and being able to climb up to the top is even better. If you want to go up the Eiffel Tower be sure you book your tickets in advance online using the Eiffel Tower’s official website. The view from the top is incredible!
Carousels
There is something so magical about carousels and carousels in Paris are even more magical. We spotted several double-decker carousels in the city including two near the Eiffel Tower and one near Sacre-Coeur. Several parks in the city also have carousels, so if you are looking for a carousel you shouldn’t have to look far.
Parks
There are so many parks in Paris and most of them offer space to relax, room to run, a playground, and so much. One of our favorites is Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg). The gardens are formally laid-out with trees planted in patterns (which makes for lots of small areas to explore) and statues on pedestals. Here you can also rent toy vintage sailboats to sail in the pond. Kids place the sailboats in the water and give it a push with their stick and then watch as the wind takes it across the pond.
Parisian Food
A great way to make your children happy when they started to get tired from all the walking is some gelato, a macaron, crepes, or pain au chocolat! Food in Paris is amazing and will not disappoint.
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris might be one of the smaller Disney resorts but it has a lot of fun for you to discover. It is a short (~40 minute) RER ride from Paris to the parks which makes it a great day trip. The two parks offer several unique rides and some classic favorites to enjoy. However, even the classics have some differences from the American counterparts. You can find more details about our trip to Disneyland Paris here.
There are so many other sites to visit in Paris that kids will enjoy too! My daughter loves art so taking her to an art museum in Paris was a must. While other famous landmarks like the Arc de Triomphe and Sacre-Couer did not land on my daughter’s favorite list, she still enjoyed them and had fun.
The key to visiting Paris with kids is a compromise – balance the sites you want to see with sites your children will enjoy and add in gelato. Because gelato makes everything better!
Have you visited Paris? What is your favorite thing to do or see in the city?
