How to travel to Paris with kids

How to travel to Paris with kids

“The soul is healed by being with children.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Here is my guide on how to travel to Paris with kids. Children are fearless little creatures, always looking for new adventures.

• To make sure they have fun, my advice would be to let them take the leads. Just for fun, ask them to plan your trip and to make a list of everything they want to see and think would be enriching for the whole family. By giving them this responsibility, you are showing them that they are valuable elements for the good execution of the trip! And that you wouldn’t make it without them!
• I would also recommend renting an apartment instead of going to a hotel. It is more intimate and comfortable, and kids will feel at home. They will get used to their new house more easily. And it’s actually the best idea because you will have the chance to live in a Parisian apartment!
• Also, in Paris one walks a lot! So make sure to take the subway or the bus, so that kids don’t get tired too quickly! Bus rides are actually fun. You and your kids still get to see a lot of Paris!
• While walking in Paris, make sure to take some breaks. Take the kids for an ice-cream or a crepe (or even both!), for a Bateau Mouche ride on La Seine river, or for a nap in a park or a garden (if the weather allows it).

If you are traveling to Paris with kids, don’t worry because they won’t get bored! Paris with kids is actually very funny and entertaining, especially if you follow my suggestions of places to go to with them.

It is important to preserve our inner child. There is no better way to do so than to hang out with kids. Children are careless, creative, imaginative, free! Their world has no limits. We really should take their example. Wherever you go, always try to do some kid stuff! So, since you will be in Paris with kids, here are some places you can all enjoy together!

The place where dreams come true: Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris is obviously top of my list. In Marne-la-Vallée, there are two theme parks: Disneyland Paris and the Walt Disney Studios Park. As soon as you land your feet in there, believe me, you will feel like a kid again. There’s no better place in the world than Disneyland Paris! The atmosphere is incredibly playful and joyful. Happiness is all over the place! There’s laughter and smiles on every face.

The theme parks are beautifully made, the attractions are all so great and fun! Wonder and thrills are guaranteed! You and your kids will get to meet your favorite characters, take photos with them, and go back home with the greatest memories ever.

My advice would be for you to pack a picnic because food and drinks inside the park are kind of expensive. Also, try to get Fastpass passes as soon as you get in the park. This will allow you to avoid queues for an hour. You should pick up passes every two hours if you can. Furthermore, if you are coming with a baby, ask for a “Baby Switch” card at the entrance.

While one of the adults look after the baby, the other can queue to do the attraction. Once the ride is over, it’s the turn of the adult who looked after the baby to visit the attraction, without queueing! Adults will only have to switch places. Both will be able to enjoy the rides! Everything is planned and organized for everyone to enjoy the best of Disneyland Paris.

77777 Marne-la-Vallée | http://www.disneylandparis.fr

Take photos with the family’s favorite celebrities at Musée Grévin

Located on the Grands Boulevards, at the 10th Boulevard Montmartre, it is a wax museum containing characters from historical events to modern life, movie stars such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, and international figures such as Albert Einstein and Mahatma Gandhi. And children will get to meet Spiderman and Scrat from the Ice Age movies.

Storytelling tours for kids can be booked in advance. During an afternoon, children become duchesses, dukes, princesses, and knights time traveling as they enter each room. On each room, children will have to succeed the challenges proposed to them in order to enter the next room, which makes the storytelling tours much more interesting and awakening for kids! The kids will also understand the whole manufacturing process of the characters.

Also, inside the Musée Grévin, just before the beginning of your visit, you cross a room called “Le Palais des Mirages”. It was created by Eugène Hénard for the Exposition Universelle in 1900 (the same exhibition for which the Eiffel Tower was built). It was presented in Trocadéro. The Musée Grévin then bought the project and started using it in 1906. It is pretty amazing. Thanks to a gigantic and colorful optical illusion obtained by the use of mirrors and lights, the guest travels through different atmospheres, and it is gorgeous!

10 Boulevard Montmartre, 75009 Paris | http://www.grevin-paris.com/fr

Have a spooky afternoon at: Le Manoir de Paris

This haunted mansion opened its doors on the 6th of May in 2011. It is kind of recent, so they are constantly innovating and providing the guests with new entertainment. You are led through the different rooms of the mansion. In each room, you meet new characters that are as terrifying and as fascinating as the next! All the characters got their looks and histories inspired by the capital. You will be introduced to, for example, Quasimodo and the Phantom of the Opera. Plus, their acting skills are pretty impressive. You and your children will be plunged into a mysterious and scary universe. We know from time to time everyone enjoys a little fright…

Don’t forget it is a haunted mansion so get ready for some screams and cold sweat!

Note that the visit is highly inadvisable to children under the age of 10.

18 Rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris | http://www.lemanoirdeparis.fr

Understand nature at: Jardin des Plantes

Jardin des Plantes is the perfect place to raise awareness and teach kids to preserve our environment. It is important to let children know they have to respect nature and its inhabitants, to instill those values is essential for Earth welfare. It is the only botanical garden in Paris and you can admire a great selection of plants and flowers, how they evolve and in which family of plants they belong.

Apart from being the best and most peaceful garden to relax in Paris, you and your children will understand nature and its growing process better than ever! At Galerie des Enfants, you will discover what animal species live in the capital, such as the falcons living on top of Notre-Dame Church. From the eldest to the youngest, everyone learns while having fun thanks to educational activities, such as quizzes, puzzles, memory games. Then you can also go to the Ménagerie, the zoo of Jardin des Plantes. It is one of the oldest zoos in the world, keeping safe endangered species since 1794!

57 Rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris | http://www.jardindesplantes.net

Understand our world at Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie

La Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie awakens citizens interest on society, science and industry through exhibitions and activities. Children discover what are their roles in the world and how the world itself works. Thanks to games, experiences and discoveries, the kids will explore their abilities and emotions. At La Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, you can be an astronaut, you can dive into the future, you can build your own robot, and a lot more! We are put back into our world and society as human beings who learn to communicate with everything surrounding us and we explore all the aspects of our intelligence.

30 Avenue Corentin, 75019 Paris | http://www.cite-sciences.fr/fr/accueil

Teach kids how to appreciate Art at Musée d’Orsay

The Paris Landmarks tour ends near the Musée d’Orsay, so I highly recommend you to visit it after the tour. While you, “the grown-ups”, admire the greatest collection in the world of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism works, your little ones will be taken care of and will participate in very fun workshops. They first visit some parts of the museum, and then play and do some experiences to awaken their curiosity, creativity and imagination. They discover new forms of creation and the many ways Art has evolved.

1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris | http://www.musee-orsay.fr

Enjoy a boat ride in La Seine river at: Bateaux Mouches

Seeing Paris by boat is really amusing for both adults and kids! While you will be enjoying a different perspective of Paris down the Seine river, admiring all the Parisian historical monuments and museums from the outside: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Notre-Dame Church, the Conciergerie, the Musée d’Orsay, your kids will let their overflowing imagination take the lead. Everyone will enjoy the boat ride, but for the kids, it will be even more special. They can be pirates, fishermen, explorers! The Bâteau-Mouche ride will turn out to be a great adventure!

Port de la Conférence, 75008 Paris | http://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/en

It is so enriching to travel the world at a young age! Your children will be forever thankful for the experiences you provide! And Paris is such a good choice! You and your children will go on an adventure none of you will ever forget! Especially if you follow my advice on how to travel to Paris with kids!

Contact us for further information, we will make sure you spend the best time of your life in Paris! À bientôt les enfants!