Hi, I%26#39;ve read many of the posts and wanted some advice on the following itinerary and whether its do-able with 2 kids.
Day 1 Sat
Visit Eiffel tower in the morning and queue up for tickets to the 2nd floor. Most people seem to think this is better than going to the top floor?
Take a 1 hour river cruise after that on the Seine. Break for lunch somewhere at the end of the cruise and any recommendations for a nice cafe which is reasonably priced which are kid friendly would be welcomed.
Shopping in the afternoon- would love to window shop at some of the high-end designer shops and then do some actual shopping in the afternoon. Where would I find the street with the best of the French %26#39;high street%26#39; brands?
Day 2
To go to one of the flea markets - is this recommended with children who are 10 and 5? Visit Notre Dame, the Sacre Coure and the Louvre (mainly just to see the Mona Lisa although I know there%26#39;s far more to the Louvre than just that and perhaps end the day at the Luxembourg or Tuilleries garden. Which would be more interesting for the kids? Also is that too much for a day?
Day 3
Taking the train to Disney and staying overnight there
Any recommendations for dinner would be great. Probably one nice mid-priced French restaurant, one Italian/Thai as my kids love that and an Indian as I know my husband will be missing his curry.
Appreciate any advice and thanks very much in advance.
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As someone who was once a 7yo tourist in Paris and who also took my 7yo to PAris, I think that itenerary does sound too much. You and hte kids will be exhausted which will mean they won%26#39;t appreciate it.
Day 1- After hte tower and the river cruise, leave the kids with DH at one of the parks like the Jardin De Luxembourg while you go shopping, you won%26#39;t enjoy shopping with them and they%26#39;ll love the gardens. He can grab a beer and watch them from the outside while they play in the playground!
Day 2- The louvre is MORe than enough for one day, I wouldn%26#39;t do Sacre Ceour AND flea markets too! And they are not all exactly close to each other either! At the Louvre I%26#39;m afraid unless your kids are VERY different to me or my son then the painting will eb a yawn, something like the egyptian exhibition with all the mummies and sphinxes is MUCH more fun for kids. You could probably fit Notre DAme in too, since it%26#39;s not too far from The Louvre.
I really think you are trying to fit in too much with such little kids, but then you know your kids better than I do but I wouldn%26#39;t even attempt it with only one, let alone two. And I remember what it was like to be dragged around and around and being epected to behave when you%26#39;re exhausted and BORED!LOL!
As for restaurants it depends where you are staying, I can make some reccomendations if you are near the LAtin Quarter that my son loved.
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Couple of things to keep in mind. Don%26#39;t try to do one more thing before feeding the kids. If they get hungry, they%26#39;ll get cranky. Don%26#39;t stand in a lot of lines. If you have to stand in a line (ie the Eiffel Tower)have one adult stand in the line while the other walks around with the kids. Take some kind of tour, maybe an open bus tour, so you can see all the monuments. You don%26#39;t have enough time to go to them all. Yes, parks in Paris are wonderful for kids. Skip the Louvre. Indulge the kids. Crepes? Yes! Ice cream? Yes! Pastry? Yes! If you take the metro, explain it to the kids and let them figure out how to navigate. It%26#39;s like a big puzzle and they love it. If you have to go to Disneyland, go. But if you can skip it, there is so much for your kids and you to love about Paris itself.
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Thanks for the feedback. We actually have a 4th day which I forgot to mention so I would probably keep that for the Sacre Couere and perhaps a general walkabout in Paris. So will stick to just 2 places on Day 2. If I had to choose between the Louvre and D%26#39;Orsay (that%26#39;s more for me) which would you suggest?
We are staying near the Champs Elysee at the Le Meridien. Would you have any feedback on this hotel and also any recommendations for cafes/mid-priced restaurants in this area would be great. Also on a good Indian restaurant.
We would be going to the Latin quarter so any suggestions for cafes/restaurants in this area would be good as well.
Thanks again everyone for the quick response.
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I took my two children, ages 5 %26amp; 11 to Paris two years ago for about the same amount of time, although I was without my husband. We had a fabulous time, although I was very realistic about time. We stayed at the L%26#39;Hotel de l%26#39;Abbaye in Saint Germain. I found that Notre Dame and then the Louvre was enough %26quot;museum/tourist%26quot; things to do in one day. In fact we went into the Louvre and saw a few things but did not stay too long. We spent time outside walking around the Louvre and the children learned that it had been a castle for one of France%26#39;s kings. We bought a book or two at the gift shop and then walked and shopped around the area. We ended up doing the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides one day as they are relatively near each other. We did not wait in line for the Eiffel Tower as we didn%26#39;t want to waste our time in line. We enjoyed some hot chocolate at a nearby cafe and my 5 year old daughter made friends with an adorable French girl her age so we sat for over an hour just enjoying being in Paris! As far as shopping, we did some, but I was always cognizant that that really is not as much fun for children. I%26#39;m heading back to Paris for a few days this summer with my now 7 year old daughter and can%26#39;t wait to revisit some sights and see some new ones!
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I have never found a good Indian restaurant in this city. For lunch after the boat cruise, I am guessing that you are cruising from the Eiffel Tower, so I%26#39;d suggest one of the cafes at Trocadero. Cafes are a great place to eat with kids. Rapid, easy meals that are typically French and good.
For shopping. Depends one what you mean my high street brands. Ave Montainge and Fbg St Honore have all the couturiers, but along the boul St Germain rue des Rennes you%26#39;ll find all of the more affordable brands, Les Kooples, Zara, H%26amp;M and some nice multi brand boutiques. This is near Luxembourg gardens, should you wish to take the above advice and drop off hubby with the kids at the park.
THe Clignancourt flea market with kids can be intense, I prefer the Porte de Vanves market when mine come along. Even sometimes, when they don%26#39;t come along. It is more laid back and I don%26#39;t have to stress about pickpockets and snotty vendors.
For kids at the museum, they invariable LOVE the Egyptian collection at the Louvre. Don%26#39;t know why this is so, but kids are really into mummies. Afterward the Tuileries have an area (behind the Jeu de Paume) where you can rent time on trampolines. They LOVE that, too.
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The Egyptian collection is one of my strongest and most fond childhood memories! Who knows why? My son loved it too, though maybe not as much as I had.
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Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think I will skip the flea markets as I would be too stressed watching my kids and being on the lookout for pickpockets rather than being able to enjoy the place. After the feedback, I will most certainly go to the Luxembourg as it sounds lovely and I%26#39;m quite certain my kids would love that. We saw the mummies in London which my kids enjoyed so I think you%26#39;re right that they would probably enjoy those at the Louvre as well. It now looks like our earlier hotel can%26#39;t accomodate us. If we had to choose between the Monparnasse or the D%26#39;Orsay area, which would you recommend? Appreciate any insights.
I%26#39;ve heard a lot about the French waiters and their seeming %26#39;rudeness%26#39; including from a friend who was with her French boyfriend in Paris at a cafe. My French is non-existent and while I%26#39;m quite happy to say Bonjour and Merci and to learn some basic phrases in French, I do hope that I can get by with English in most places.
Also Berthillion seems to be a %26#39;must do%26#39; in Paris. Is there one outside the Louvre and would going in to eat (as advised by some other Trip Advisors) be much more expensive than getting a takeway cone?
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I was in Paris for a week in April with my 6 yr old granddaughter and wrote a trip report on Fodors.com. To find it, put grandmere in the search box, if you%26#39;re interested.
Have a great time!
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We%26#39;re heading out for Paris with our 4 1/2 year old this weekend! This will be our 4th time in Paris but our first with a child. I agree with the other posters to lighten the plans a bit. We have the luxury of staying 2 weeks so we don%26#39;t really have an agenda per se. But my general plan is to pick one big thing to see a day and find some kid friendly things to do right around there before and after. The good example is the Louvre (only aiming for the egyptian area) with a visit to the Tuilleries and those wonderful trampolines afterwards. I think the kids would love to have the time to just sit back and experience the %26#39;french%26#39; way of life relaxing a bit. I wouldn%26#39;t even attempt Disneyland since you can get the same thing here in the states. Have a great trip!
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Just returned with a 14 year old and 12 year old
12 year old loved the jardin du luxembourg playground
We went up eiffel tower to second floor and had a surprisingly reasonably priced hot choc (kids rated it the best ever!) and crepe- something they both said they would remember for ever
boat trips well worth it
climbing up notre dame and seeing gargoyles good too
popped into Rodin garden (1 euro for adults) to see thinker etc-children might enjoy
both kids blown away by s%26#39;an Chappell stained glass windows-can%26#39;t remember the spelling. Read the blurb and see if you can spot statue holding keys/last supper scene etc
worth seeing if you can keep them up until 10pm to see eiffel tower sparkling and skateboarders/roller skaters doing tricks by trocadero!
remember from previous trip cafe in d%26#39;orsay fun as one of windows the clock face
have fun
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