At the beginning of the summer, we took a dream trip to Paris with our two kids. It was a whirlwind of food, sightseeing, and travel, but oh my, was it so much fun. Travel is one of my greatest joys and doing it with my kids, albeit stressful at times no doubt, is magical.
Before our trip, I spent hours and hours putting together an itinerary that had us seeing all the sights while building in kid-friendly activities and necessary rest times. I’m sharing our very detailed itinerary in this post plus a few tips for traveling to Paris with kids. Know that this itinerary is intended for first time visitors with emphasis on the major tourist sites.
Where We Stayed
We booked an Airbnb in the Marais, and it was an ideal location for us. It’s outside the touristy areas but still within walking distance of many of the main attractions of the city. It’s also a shopping mecca; I could have spent a few days here just shopping. There were tons of places to eat and charming little stores to explore. While we loved the location of our rental (it was built in the 1700s!!), it had a few, shall we say, ‘quirks’ (like not being able to close the bathroom door without getting locked inside), so while I won’t be sharing the exact place we stayed, there are many options in this area. We also really loved the St. Germain de Pres area as well and would consider that for our next trip.
Getting Around Paris with Kids
To and from the airport, we used an Uber, but during our stay we walked and took the Metro. We found the Metro very easy to navigate as well as super clean. However on our last day, when traveling from Versailles to Paris, there were some issues taking the RER (the commuter line) due to a strike. We were able to eventually find our way back though. Stuff like that is bound to happen on any trip so we just accepted it and did our best to deal with the situation.
We used the Bonjour RAPT app to buy tickets for the Metro as needed, but you can also purchase daily and weekly passes. Children under 4 travel free and children 4 to 10 get a reduced fare. We bought tickets and added them to our Apple Wallet to be scanned at the turnstile.
Although we used the Metro a few times, we mostly walked from place to place (I built our itinerary as efficiently as I could.) Our kids are used to walking a lot since we live in a walkable city. If your kids aren’t used to it or they are under 5, you may need to rely more on public transit and a pass might be your best value.
General Tips for Traveling to Paris with Kids
- We always keep a similar routine for our trips with kids. Kids love routine! We typically leave the rental by 9 (sometimes earlier if needed), are out and about for the morning and early afternoon, back to the rental to rest and take a break, and then out for dinner and dessert. Our kids need a break in the day or else they turn into gremlins, lol.
- Try to mix kid-friendly activities with not-so-kid-friendly activities. As much as I want to see every museum in Paris that is just not possible when traveling with kids. We picked a couple and made sure to build in some free time before or after at a park so they can run around and be kids.
- Skip the fancy lunches and opt for picnics instead. We only did a sit down meal once a day, always for dinner. Asking my kids to sit and be well mannered in a Parisian restaurant twice a day was not happening. Plus there are tons of places to grab a quick sandwich or picnic supplies (cheese, bread, fruit) and sit down at a nearby park to enjoy lunch.
- Give them lots of treats. When we knew we would be walking for awhile, we planned a treat stop along the way. Don’t worry about the sugar; Parisian treats are much more rich than sweet. And bribes are perfectly acceptable on vacation.
- Book your reservations in advance. If you have your heart set on certain restaurants, you need to be booking your reservations at least a few weeks out (sometimes months depending on the place!) If you don’t, then show up super early right at opening and try to get a table (Parisians eat late!) Meals in Paris are already quite lengthy and adding wait time into the mix is setting you up for a restaurant meltdown.
- Download the Flash Invaders app. This was my son’s favorite activity, and he was very into it. An anonymous artist has installed ceramic mosaic ‘space invaders’ all over Paris. Encourage your kids to spot them as you’re walking from place to place. If you do, use the app to scan the art and get points. This kept my kids highly entertained during our long walks across Paris.
Our Paris Itinerary With Kids
Summary
Day One: Arrival to Paris & Get Settled
Day Two: Exploring the Marais & Seine Boat Cruise
Day Three: The Louvre & Jardin des Tuileries
Day Four: Jardin d’Acclimatation
Day Five: Central Paris Walking Tour, Notre Dame, and The Eiffel Tour
Day Six: Jardin du Luxembourg & the Latin Quarter
Day Seven: Chocolate & Pastry Tour & La Grande Épicerie
Day Eight: Château de Versailles
Day Nine: Travel Home
Day One: Arrival to Paris & Getting Settled
We took the overnight flight from Chicago to Paris (our kids barely slept but oh well) arriving in Paris in the early afternoon. Immigration took us longer than expected (which I hear is unusual). We paid for early check in at our Airbnb so we wouldn’t have to find a place to store our luggage, and we wanted to freshen up when we arrived.
One of our children (not naming names) did not sleep a wink on the flight and was a certified hot mess upon arrival. Even though, it is recommended to stay awake till evening so you can get on Paris time, we had to let him sleep for a bit.
After a quick rest, we went out to grab a quick bite and explore the Marais. We shared some paninis at Pezzopane, walked around the Marais to get ourselves acquainted with the area, and sat for a bit at Place des Vosges, a beautiful and historic square. We ended up having our morning croissants here a few times as well.
We booked an early dinner at a crepe restaurant called Breizh Cafe which was just okay in our opinion. We had better crepes at a little crepe stand in the Latin Quarter (see Day 6). We did see some people get chastised by the waiter for only ordering a dessert crepe during the dinner hour, FYI.
Day Two: Exploring the Marais & Boat Tour on the Seine
Our first stop of the day (and everyday thereafter) was at a boulangerie for breakfast and coffee, and there were plenty within walking distance of our rental. We are a family who adores pastries of all kinds so this was one of our favorite parts of the trip. Tip - a boulangerie is a shop that sells breakfast pastry like pain au chocolate and croissants. A patisserie is a shop that sells desserts like macarons, élcairs or tarts.
I will share all the boulangeries we stopped into but know that you can get a pretty good croissant at almost any bakery in the Marais. This day we stopped into Petite ile boulangerie which was excellent. That first croissant in Paris was something special.
We kept our afternoon light and wandered into the (free) Museé Carnavalet, a Paris history museum. Over several floors, it contains some historic objects, paintings, and furnishings that are significant in Parisian history. The kids found some parts interesting, others not so much, but it worked for an easy introduction to the city.
Afterwards, we walked around the Marais some more, popping into some food shops to grab picnic supplies - a little grocery store for some fruit (I believe it was a Monoprix), Thomas Artisan Fromager for cheese (we like Comté!), Le Pain Quotidien for a baguette de tradition, and Jadis et Gourmande for some chocolates.
We took our goodies to a spot along the Seine for a quick picnic before crossing the river for our boat tour. Many people recommended a Seine boat tour for our first day in Paris to better acquaint ourselves with the layout of the city and catch a first glimpse of some of the monuments.
We booked our tour through Vendettes du Pont Neuf which is a popular boat tour company in Paris. We really enjoyed our tour (besides some rowdy kids that were being a bit loud). You can also book a Sunset Tour, but when we visited in June, sunset wasn’t until 10pm and that’s a bit late for our kids.
Afterwards, we stopped at Pozzetto for some afternoon gelato (good but not great), rested for a bit at our rental, and grabbed a quick dinner at L’as Du Fallafel, a famous falafel shop in Paris. We didn’t realize it, but they do have some table seating as well. I think we would have enjoyed this more if we weren’t standing up eating our very giant and very messy pitas on the sidewalk.
Day Three: The Louvre & Jardin des Tuileries
We had tickets for the earliest entry time to the Louvre (9am) and needed to leave our rental around 8 to walk over. We stopped into Motors Coffee for coffee and breakfast which was on the way to the Louvre. The coffee was excellent, but the most memorable thing was their homemade cinnamon buns. Definitely grab a few if you’re there!
I know some people find The Louvre overwhelming, especially with kids, but I love history and didn’t want to skip it. Here’s my recommendations for going with kids:
Buy your tickets well in advance. They do sell out. I think we bought our tickets 2-3 months before our trip.
Book the first time slot for entry which is 9am. There is a line when you arrive for people who have that same entry time, but it moves very fast. It was definitely the least crowded at this time, and, in my opinion, most kids do better with these kinds of activities earlier in the day when they’re fresh.
When we bought our tickets, we also reserved audio guides for each of us. You can do this when you get there, but I booked these when we bought our tickets. This definitely depends on the age and temperament of the kid, but our kids stayed interested much longer with the audio guides. For reference, our kids were 8 and 10 at the time. It’s much more engaging to hear about the painting as you are viewing it.
If you want to see the Mona Lisa (we did!), head there straight away. There was still a small crowd, but we were able to make our way to the front for an unobstructed view, something that wasn’t possible at my last visit.
Plan what exhibits you want to see in advance and try to map it out. Besides some of the famous paintings and sculptures, we really enjoyed seeing the Medieval Louvre on the lower level and the Napoleon Apartments.
We exited the Louvre through the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall entrance where we spotted a Ladurée, one of two famous French patisserie’s specializing in macarons. So (obviously) we had to grab some.
Next, we walked a bit to grab lunch from a sandwich shop. Our initial destination was Le Petit Vendôme, but the line was quite long so we walked down the street a bit and found Made in Italy which we really enjoyed. Danny and I got sandwiches, and the kids ordered pizza. We took our food back to the Jardin des Tuileries for a picnic and playtime.
We enjoyed our sandwiches and macarons, the kids rode the carousel (adorable!), and we walked around for a bit. You can rent sailboats here (as well as the Jardin de Luxembourg which we visited later in the week) to push around in the Grand Basin but the kiosk was not open at the time.There is also a nice, fenced playground for the kids.
We then took the Metro back to the Marais and stopped into Merci, a large store with everything from clothing to tableware. They are especially famous for their tote bags, and I couldn’t resist snagging one for myself.
After some rest time at the rental (always), we walked to dinner at Boullion République. I had made a reservation prior to our trip (I just found it based on Google reviews), but I think it might have been one of those viral Tiktok places because there was a long line of people waiting to get in. It was a fun dinner as we got to try some traditional French food like steak frites and escargot which even the kids sampled. Everything was also very reasonably priced so we felt fine ordering a bunch of plates.
Day Four: Jardin d’Acclimatation
Per our new Paris routine, we started the day with coffee and pastries. First stop was Fringe Coffee, a craft coffee shop in the Marais. If you’re not picky, any café in Paris will serve you coffee (espresso) but if you want good coffee, go to le coffee shop. For the record, a coffee in Paris will never be as big as a coffee you get in the states.
For breakfast, we walked over to Moon Croissant, which was my favorite bakery we visited on our trip to Paris. The staff was so kind and helped picked out a few pastries for our family of four to share. Everything was AMAZING, but I will never in my life forget that Kouign Amann.
We planned this particular day for the kids. We decided against doing Disneyland Paris and opted for the Jardin d’Acclimatation instead, a charming Parisian amusement park in the Bois de Boulogne, a big public park in the 16th arrondissement. I was worried it would be busy on the Saturday we planned to go, but amazingly, it wasn’t. The school summer holiday hadn’t begun yet so perhaps Parisian families were still busy.
The park was clean, well organized, and just thrilling enough for my young kids, although I think kids of any age would be entertained here. The park had plenty of rides including some small rollercoasters, and we spent about five hours here doing everything. The kids told us multiple times over the course of the day how much fun they were having, and, if you ask them, they will say this was their favorite day in Paris.
After taking the Metro back to the rental for a bit, we went to dinner at Petite Bao, a Chinese canteen style restaurant with good food and a beautiful interior based on 1970s Hong Kong. We made a reservation in advance! The vibe was casual, but the food was elevated. I’d definitely go back.
Day Five: Self-Guided Central Paris Walking Tour, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tour
Day five began with breakfast from Brigat (best pain au chocolate I’ve ever had - the line was out the door with locals) and coffee from Yellow Yucatan (adorable!) Note that if you order your coffee á emporter (to go), it’s proper etiquette to not sit down either inside or outside the shop. If I understand it correctly, there is an extra cost for ordering sur place (for here) and taking a seat.
After breakfast, we spotted a chocolate shop on our way to our destination and had to stop in. There are so many yummy foods around every corner in Paris. We ate so well!
Next, we ventured south into central Paris for a self-guided tour. I had been following The Petit Guide on Instagram for awhile and purchased one of her self-guided tours prior to our trip. She also does custom tours for families as well! Our tour led us through the oldest part of Paris with stops for treats along the way.
After we wrapped up our tour, we got in line to walk through the Notre Dame Cathedral. It’s free to visit, but we reserved a time in advance. Do this a couple days in advance. The line for reservations went a bit faster than the line without reservations.
For dinner, we booked reservations for Big Love, a vegetarian trattoria in the Marais. The service and food were lovely, and they were very welcoming to tourists.
After dinner, we took the Metro to the Eiffel Tour. We bought tickets in advance for the lift to the second floor. I have a terrible fear of heights, and that was all I could manage. We ended up being on top when the lights sparkled at the beginning of the hour. It was magical! This is a moment I think my kids will remember for the rest of their lives.
Day Six: Jardin du Luxembourg & The Latin Quarter
Day five was a very full day so I planned something more low key for the following day, although we did do a ton of walking.
After stopping in a shopping mall in Les Halles to purchase a ball for my soccer obsessed son, we made our way to the Jardin du Luxembourg, a beautiful public park with gardens, a playground, and a big fountain where you can rent sailboats for the kids.
For a few euros, the kids rented a small wooden sailboat from the kiosk with a wooden stick to push the boat out into the water. My kids had fun following their boat around the fountain and pushing it out again. I definitely recommend this activity if you’re in Paris with children.
Afterwards, we walked to Rue Mouffetard, a charming pedestrian street in the Latin Quarter for lunch. We spotted a cute crepe stand with a long line which is usually a good sign in my book. The crepes were delicious, and we ordered a few savory and few sweet ones to share.
On the way back to the Marais, we got in line for Shakespeare and Company, a historic English language bookstore that has housed many famous writers. Don’t be afraid of the line, it moves fast.
After a rest at the rental, we headed out for dinner at Melt, a new barbecue restaurant in Paris with a few locations. We’re from Kansas City so when I saw this place, I had to check it out! They don’t take reservations for groups less than 6, but show up before opening and get in line. We waited a bit but not too long. Our meal was delicious, and they offered a kid’s menu, too.
Day Seven: Chocolate & Pastry Tour in St. Germain des Pres & La Grande Épicerie
The day started with coffee and pastries from The French Bastards - yum! They have a few locations around Paris.
We then took the Metro over to St. Germain des Pres for the day. This neighborhood is so cute and charming, exactly what you’d think of when you imagine old Paris.
We booked a Chocolate & Pastry Tour through Secrets Food Tours based on a recommendation from a follower. I wasn’t sure what to expect booking through a large company, but it was really well done.
Our guide grew up in the neighborhood and knew all the best spots. We tried all sorts of treats, including some flan I’m still thinking about. He also talked through some history of the area as well. They do a similar tour in Montmartre, too. This activity was great for kids because, although the history parts were a bit boring to them, the tour had plenty of treats to keep them excited.
I won’t list all the places we visited, but we did try macarons from Pierre Hermé which we thought was far superior to Ladurée.
Before we left St. Germain des Pres, we stopped into La Grande Épicerie for some French goodies to take home. This is a very bougie grocery store with tons of gourmet food products. We came home with some butter (they vacuum seal it for you - ask when checking out) which we put in our rental’s freezer, mustards, jams, chocolate, truffle chips, and a few other snacks.
For dinner, we walked to Brasserie Rosie. It was cute and the food was pretty good, but I think it was kind of a tourist hot spot. I wouldn’t go back.
Day Eight: Château du Versailles
We spent our entire last day exploring the Château de Versailles, a very large and very opulent palace that housed three King Louies as well as Marie Antoinette. We bought the Passport ticket for the 10am entry which gives you access to the entire estate.
I will say, first off, that this day was quite overwhelming as we were pretty tired at this point in our trip, the palace was incredibly crowded, and there was a strike impacting the RER, the commuter train that goes to Versailles, which had us wandering around the town looking for a way back into Paris.
If you’d like to see Versailles, maybe do it earlier in your trip. Also, if you have young kids, like 5 and under, I would be very tempted to skip it all together.
Your timed entry is the time you should get in line to enter the palace. There will be sign posts indicating where to stand based on your time. We also purchased audio guides for Versailles which again, I found very helpful.
We were in the palace for a couple hours before going outside to tour the gardens. We stopped into La Girandole to grab a quick lunch at the kiosk before wandering the gardens.
I had planned to rent bikes, but there was a storm rolling in and we didn’t want to get poured on. For all the crowds in the palace, the gardens were quite peaceful, and the kids enjoyed the freedom to run around a bit. You can also rent golf carts to drive to see the estate if you have younger kids.
There are fountain shows every so often as well, and if you spot the fresh orange juice stand, definitely don’t skip it - the freshest juice we’ve ever had.
After our interesting journey back to the rental (see strike above), we rested, and headed back out for some pizza. We didn’t have a reservation, but we used Google Maps to find a good spot. It wasn’t the best we’ve ever had, but pizza is always a hit with our kids.
Day Nine: Flight Home
On our last day, we took an Uber to the airport and flew home. Au revoir, Paris!
I hope this post is helpful if you’re planning a trip to Paris with kids. It was definitely a different trip than being with adults only, but it was wonderful to show our kids the magic in the City of Lights. I can’t wait to go back!
