Things To Do In Paris With Kids
I know a lot of people are intimidated when it comes to traveling with kids. I get tons of questions from how to survive a long haul flight, to how to get kids to eat new foods. But one of the most common questions I get is how to prevent kids from getting bored. Well, the short answer is, stop expecting kids to like museums! LOL. The long answer is to stop putting the same expectations on kids as you would adults. Kids need time and space to explore in their own way and take in a new place through their own eyes. So, when traveling to Paris with kids, here is a list of activities that are fun for everyone!
Before we dive into this exciting adventure on visiting Paris, let’s address the elephant in the room—affiliate links! Here’s the scoop: In this blog post, you might stumble upon some affiliate links. Don’t worry, clicking on them won’t cost you an extra penny, but it might earn me a tiny commission to keep my travel addiction in check. Now, I promise I would never recommend or endorse anything that I haven’t personally tried and loved. So rest assured that my travel tales remain untainted, and you’re in safe hands.
Walking Tour
Whenever I first get to a city I try to book a walking tour. Not only are they a great way to get your bearings, but they are super informative. I chose this free walking tour with Walkative, but there are plenty of walking tours in Paris to choose from. Some that are even more geared toward younger children and come complete with ice cream!
Our historic walking tour started in the city center and continued on through the Ile de La Cite. We were able to see the City Hall, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and several other important buildings to Paris. However, the most interesting part of the tour was learning about all the royalty, and the different parts of the city that they had built. Though our tour wasn’t geared specifically toward children, our guide told stories of love, war, and monarchy that are interesting for all age groups. Even though not all kids may be into walking tours, and you have to pick the one best for your kids, I still highly recommend them when visiting Paris with kids.
Travel Tip: I love free walking tours, they can be a great and economical way to get to know a city. But don’t forget to TIP YOUR GUIDE! A general rule of thumb is EUR 10 per person in Europe, and $20 per person in the states. If the guide was good and you believe you will remember the facts after tour, then double the tip.
The Catacombs
On the same day that we did the walking tour, we also visited the catacombs of Paris (see it’s a give and take with kids!). The catacombs were my kids second favorite thing that we did in Paris. We had an awesome small group tour, which though expensive ($120 per person), was well worth the price. The benefit of a small group tour is you get to get away from the crowds and explore special areas of the catacombs. Areas only open to official guides.
The catacombs are both creepy and historical. They exist because they used to be a limestone quarry. Once too much limestone was dug up, the streets of Paris started to collapse, and they needed something to reinforce the streets. So why not use the bones from the simultaneously flooded out cemeteries? Two birds, one stone, right? When visiting Paris with kids, I highly recommend this tour. Especially if your kids are into Halloween in any way. I mean there are the bones of 6 million people down there! What’s not to love?
Museums
Paris is full of museums. I actually think there are more than 50 museums in the city. But as I said in the beginning, when it comes to visiting with kids, you’re going to want to pick and choose which ones you visit. For me, this is easy because I’m also not a huge fan of museums. In fact, I only had the desire to visit one, the Louvre, and that was only because I felt that I “had to.”
Travel Tip: Tickets to the Louvre are timed and have to be booked in advance. If you want the early morning hours, they have to be booked way in advance!
Travel Tip: If you are unlike me, and a major museum lover, there is a Paris museum pass. It’s an unlimited amount of visits to most (if not all) museums in Paris for a certain amount of time. Pass prices start at EUR 55.
I found the Louvre to be both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. First of all, it’s gigantic. Easily one of the largest museums I have ever been in, and there is stuff everywhere! So, it’s easy to feel immediately overwhelmed on where to go and what to see. Even with an audio guide, you are walking past thousands of artifacts, with practically zero information. So, at the same time it’s underwhelming because you have no idea what you are looking at and why it’s an important piece of history.
As we were walking around looking for some of the most famous pieces, I realized that I had made a grave error in not booking a guide. Guided tours of the Louvre for families visiting Paris with kids, start at about $70 per person. Yet another expensive tour, but better than just walking around looking at old stuff. I also realized that we would have been better off just seeing the Louvre from the outside, and visiting the Museum D’Orsay instead. In fact, after the Louvre we hung out in the Tuileries Gardens, with macaroons, snacks, and drinks. We enjoyed this little picnic in the sun much more than trying to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa.
Travel Tip: The Richelieu area is a calm area of the Louvre, even on busy days, filled with all this beautiful marble and sculptures. It was my favorite area of the Louvre. If you need a break from the crowds, head there.
Travel Tip: There is an entrance in the gardens by the carrousel that is MUCH faster than the main pyramid entrance. Use that one.
Seine River Cruise
Our third favorite activity was taking a cruise on the Seine River. Not only is it relatively affordable (about $17 per person), but it’s super fun. But the fun part is not the audio guide that tells you everything that you are floating by. The fun part is the locals! Local Parisians gather all along the Seine after their day with impromptu picnics with wine, to socialize and relax. And… also to wave at tourists going by on boats! We tourists would yell and wave and the locals would wave back. It was such a great and interesting way to get new perspective on the city, and have this little moment of connection with the locals. If you have time while you are visiting Paris with kids, try to be both on the boat and on the bank. That way you get a taste of each.
Travel Tip: The ticket you buy for this cruise is good for any of the sailings on that day. So you have the possibility to time it perfectly to leave the dock at sunset, and get back in time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We did this and it was magical. We even did a “New Years Eve Countdown” to the sparkle and everything. Keep in mind that a lot of people will be trying to do this, so in order to get the best seat (top left side) you will have to get to the dock at least an hour early, maybe 1.5 – 2 hours in summer.
Take Family Photos
Okay, so this might be more for parents than it is for kids. In fact, your kids may complain because they have to get up super early to capture the sun and avoid the crowds. Or, if you’re like me and turn into a absolute dictator when coordinating outfits, giving no one a choice in what they wear. LOL. However, I still highly recommend splurging on family photos when traveling to Paris (or anywhere!) with kids. I mean first of all, professional photos are so much better than regular photos. And with Paris as your backdrop, all your photos turn out absolutely dreamy.
We booked our family photos with CheyAnne from L’amour de Paris, who I have followed for years on Instagram. She and her husband Doug were so great, especially at getting the kids to pose and not look cold! I’m so thankful to them, and sincerely hope I can go back and take more pictures some day! Professional photos can definitely be on the more expensive side, but I decided a long time ago that it was worth building into the budget. They are almost always the only pictures we get of the 4 of us together that are not selfies. If you would like photos done, but want something a little more affordable, then Flytographer is also a great option. We used them in New York City and loved it!
Versailles
If you didn’t know, I actually have a whole separate blog post on why seeing Versailles (and the best way to do it!) is an absolute must when visiting Paris with kids. I really could go on and on about how much we loved Versailles. It was our favorite thing we did in Paris. I will spare you the details on this post, but head on over to the other post to check it out.
What You Can Skip
In my opinion, and I know I am going to catch heat for this one, you can skip the Montmartre area of Paris. The area is super touristy, with people and vendors crawling everywhere. It was also the only place in all of Paris where I was scared we might get pickpocketed. Now, I will give it to you that the basilica of the Sacre Coeur is beautiful, but unless you’re there at 6AM, you’re going to be seeing it with about 1,000 other people. We did walk around, take pictures of the Maison Rose, and have lunch. But if I had the choice to visit it again, it would be a hard pass.
So there you go! Just a few of the amazing and family friendly things you can do in Paris with kids. Of course, there is tons more to do, you can download the Google Map below for reference, but I hope you enjoyed this guide!
Have you ever been to Paris with your children? If so, do you agree with this post? Let me know in the comments! Please follow along on Pinterest and Instagram @theglobetrottingaccountant.
