< Introducing Paris
The Best of Paris
Interior of the Galerie d’Apollon, Louvre
Families are spoilt for choice in Paris. The city is bursting with history and culture, from ancient monuments to modern art, but is also full of fantastic cake shops and cafés, carousels and marionettes. “Paris in the Spring” is a time-honoured saying, but actually this is a city for all seasons as far as families are concerned, with events and activities to delight and entertain young and old at any time of the year.
Paris in a weekend
The best and easiest introduction to the sights on the first day is a tour on an open-top bus. Afterwards, take a stroll around
Notre-Dame and watch the street entertainers before an early dinner – you have a busy time ahead of you.
Start Saturday with a cruise along the Seine. Buy goodies for a picnic lunch on
Ile St-Louis, and eat in the garden of the
Square du Vert-Galant which juts out into the river.
Finally comes the highlight of the tour – a trip up the
Eiffel Tower. Saving it for last on the agenda means the kids will have great fun spotting all the places they have been.
View of the Arc de Triomphe from Avenue Marceau
Paris in a week
Get your bearings on arrival with a tour of the sights on an open-top bus. Another perfect way to get a feel of the city is on a cruise along the Seine, especially at twilight, perhaps at the end of your first day.
Allow a good half-day for exploring Ile de la Cité and its star attraction, Notre-Dame. At lunchtime you can graze your way along the main street of Ile St-Louis. Another district not to be missed is Montmartre, with its artists, its own vineyard and the stunning
Sacré-Coeur. You could easily spend an entire afternoon in the Louvre, the world’s biggest museum. Decide in advance what and where your “must-sees” are, and focus on them. Do not miss the Impressionist masterpieces of Musée d’Orsay; perhaps combined with some fresh air in the nearby Jardin du Luxembourg. Allow half a day for one of the world’s best military museums, including a visit to Napoleon’s tomb, in
Les Invalides, and take a day trip out to the splendid
Château de Versailles built by Louis XIV.
On a Sunday, stroll through the streets of the Marais, one of Paris’s most historic districts.
If you need a break from cultural sightseeing, visit the cutting-edge aquarium,
Cinéaqua, or the old-fashioned amusement park of
Jardin d’Acclimatation.
And no family trip to Paris should end without heading to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Paris season-by-season
Paris is lovely in the spring. Kids will adore the funfair in the
Bois de Vincennes and the shops are full of chocolate fish for April Fool’s Day and spectacular Easter eggs.
In summer, the Seine’s Right Bank turns into a beach, with sand, deckchairs and open-air events. On 14 July, there is a big military parade along the
Champs-Elysées, a fly-past and fabulous late-night fireworks.
It is usually still warm enough in autumn to eat lunch outside, and easier to tour the museums and art galleries as there are less tourists about.
At Christmas there are ice skating rinks and decorations. Many hotels have special events for families, where Père Noël might drop in.
Paris on a budget
There are plenty of ways to enjoy the city on a budget. Start by exploring the heart of ancient Paris, the Ile de la Cité and Ile St-Louis. Notre-Dame is free to visit and it is a quintessential Paris pleasure just to stroll along the quaysides soaking up the atmosphere.
If you only visit one museum in Paris, it should be the Louvre. Under 18s are admitted free, and, on the first Sunday of the month, there is no charge for adults. This is the case for most public museums. The Paris Museum Pass (see
Opening hours) cuts costs too, and can be used as many times as you wish, in more than 55 museums including the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay,
Centre Pompidou and parts of the Château de Versailles, without queuing. It is ideal for families as it makes short visits to museums cost-effective.
There are plenty of places where kids can let off steam, including the beautiful
Jardin des Tuileries, where the playground is free. They are also perfect places for a picnic. Paris is full of inexpensive bakeries and street markets that sell top-class food at reasonable prices, so eating well on a budget will never be a problem.
To keep accommodation costs down, consider renting an apartment, or opt for one of the family-friendly Accor Group Hotels such as
Hotel Baltimore.
Culture vultures
Nearly all museums in Paris have children’s workshops and activity programmes. The city’s museums and galleries are all on the “school trip circuit” and so are used to accommodating kids as young as three years old. There are even museums especially for children, such as the
Musée en Herbe which introduces kids to the art world, and the Cité des Enfants, part of the cutting-edge science museum Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie at
Parc de La Villette. For art lovers, the big draw is the Impressionist paintings in the Musée d’Orsay, but the city is also full of smaller galleries. Some studios where now-famous artists lived and worked are open as museums and great to visit with kids.
History buffs will be in paradise. Paris has some excellent Roman remains and the Louvre has one of the best Egyptology collections in the world. Visiting the places where the key events in the French Revolution happened brings history to life, and marching determinedly like Napoleon through Les Invalides must be a boy’s idea of heaven.
For mini ballerinas a trip to
Opéra Garnier is a must, at least for a twirl down the staircase, but, if the budget allows, do see a show as well. There is plenty, too, for musical and theatrical kids, with concerts and opera, puppet shows and children’s theatre.
The great outdoors
Paris is a wonderful city for walking and is full of great parks. The way to feel like a real Parisian is to watch the kids sailing a wooden boat in the Jardin des Tuileries or Jardin du Luxembourg, or riding on the city’s merry-go-rounds.
For adults, there is nothing to beat strolling around the Ile de la Cité and Ile St-Louis in the moonlight, or as the sun sets on a summer evening, and it little more romantic than picnicking on the
Pont des Arts.
For children, there is more fun to be had on a boat cruise along the Seine. Or, in high summer, splashing, building sandcastles and playing
boules at
Paris-Plages, cycling in the
Bois de Boulogne or meeting farm animals in the Bois de Vincennes.
A day trip to the Château de Versailles need not be all about sumptuous interiors and great historical events – the gardens are magnificent. Pack a picnic and escape from the city, Marie-Antoinette-style.
A wilder alternative lies just to the south of Paris, where the vast forest of
Fontainebleau is a rock-climber’s paradise and surrounded by lovely countryside.
Paris from on high
Nothing beats gazing down on what is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The most obvious place from which to do this is the Eiffel Tower. The view is at its best in the early morning, on a clear day, when you will see not just the stunning Parisian skyline but up to 72 km (45 miles) around. Closer to the ground, but no less of an adventure, is the tethered hot-air balloon in the
Parc André Citroën.
Children will enjoy climbing up the towers of Notre-Dame and pretending to be Quasimodo, as well as the funicular ride up to Montmartre’s Sacré-Coeur, the highest point in Paris.
The best place from which to watch the sun set is
Tour Montparnasse, the tallest building in the city. You can see the planes taking off at Orly airport and then the lights of Paris start to twinkle like magic. But a sunset view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe has a magic all of its own.
Gourmet treats
Paris’s colourful street markets are an appetizing education for all the family. Among the best are classy Rue Cler and bohemian Rue Mouffetard. Sunday mornings are a good time to visit. Everything is in perfect condition, from pâtisserie and patés to speciality cheeses. Choose whatever takes your fancy, grab a baguette, and head for the city's picnic spots.
Paris is perfect if you have a sweet tooth (and what kid doesn’t?). Indulge in multicoloured macaroons at
Ladurée or try a mouthwatering Victor-Hugo at
Béchu.
Aki Boulangerie, in the Little Japan district of Paris, serves scrumptious snacks with a Japanese twist. But above all else, treat the kids to an ice cream from the legendary
Berthillon on Ile St-Louis.
Place de la Madeleine is a foodie mecca, with
Fauchon and
Hédiard, two gourmet grocers, and specialist shops for mustard, caviar and truffles – both the chocolate kind and the real thing.
The city’s luxury hotels are keen to welcome young gourmets. The former French President Nicolas Sarkozy dines with his teenage son at
114 Faubourg at
Le Bristol just up the road from the
Palais de l’Elysée.
The Shangri-La has two Michelin-starred restaurants – one French and the other Chinese – either of which are a treat. The brunch at the
Trianon Palace is packed with local families as well, and the fabulous spread of food is something to be seen. The
Plaza Athénée has a fairytale restaurant, run by Alain Ducasse. It is great for a special-occasion tea, with its gorgeous range of children’s cakes.
Terrace of Fauchon, one of the grand food shops in Place de la Madeleine