72 Hours in Paris with Kids: Our Top Things to Do

Most world-traveling families aspire to visit Paris with kids at least once during their 18 years of family vacations. There’s just something about the City of Lights that inspires parents to dream of going with their children. But there’s a risk that the reality involves multiple meltdowns instead of magical moments. The key to happiness and joie de vivre? Plan ahead. We offer our proven tips and favorite things to do in Paris with kids to ensure your trip is a success.

Essential Paris with Kids Planning Tips

This itinerary is based on a visit with school-age kids. If you are visiting Paris with kids who are older or younger, the following posts will also be helpful:

• Paris with Babies
• Paris with Toddlers
• Paris with Teens

Big splash on arrival: I wanted to give my kids a big splash Paris attraction on arrival so we headed straight for the Eiffel Tower. From the top of the tower we had a birds-eye overview of the entire city and this got them excited for the their visit. Kids will love the thrill of the elevator ride up!

Refine see and do list: There’s an endless number of things to see and do in Paris. Create a top ten list and know that you may only visit seven of the attractions, particularly over the busy summer months.

Incorporate variety in the daily schedule: I was careful to balance iconic sights, museums, and outdoor activities into each day instead of doing too much of any one thing. Use a map to plot what you want to see geographically. This is easier to do once you arrive and have a feel for the lay of the land and what the distances mean. We have a helpful guide on how to see the major attractions of the 8 central arrondissements of Paris with kids in an efficient way.

Take advantage of the Metro: We never took a cab in Paris except from the train station on the day of our arrival. I recommend getting a Metro map and multi-ticket books (adult and youth available) soon after arrival. We purchased the 10-pack book which saves money and allows you to avoid buying tickets each time you want to use the underground.

Buy Paris Museum Pass: The Paris Museum Pass is a no brainer for value and time savings, particularly if you expect to visit two or more attractions per day. At that point, you’ll at least break even and more importantly, you won’t have to stand in line at the majority of sights which is a huge benefit during busy tourist periods. Go to the Paris Museum Pass website to determine what is and is not covered.

I found that I was more forgiving about leaving attractions early when they were not engaging my kids with this kind of ticket (vs. digging my heels in when I just forked out money for individual entrance tickets). In addition, the pass allows you to revisit museums like the Louvre. This is huge! It takes the pressure off seeing everything at once and makes re-entrance seemless.

Eat a big breakfast at your hotel: We had an amazing all-inclusive breakfast each morning at our hotel, the Brighton Hotel. It’s much easier to have stamina for a busy tour schedule when everyone is well-fed. Our nutritional breakfast allowed us to feel good about a grab-and-go lunch and avoid multiple sit-down meals each day.

Paris is perfect for quick meals as street vendors and bakeries selling crepes and sandwiches are plentiful. Kids — even picky eaters — can find things they like. Sweet treats for breaks are easy to find too.

Don’t count on helpful front desk staff for tour advice: Unless you’re staying at a 5-star hotel with a dedicated concierge desk, don’t count on your hotel staff for insight.

Paris with Kids in Three-Day Itinerary

Day One (1/2 day)

We arrived in the early afternoon and had half day to get acquainted with the city. We kicked off our tour at the Jardins des Tuileries — a perfect spot for people watching and settling in. Then we headed out for the 45-minute walk to the Eiffel Tower from there.

A long walk across the city works well to get an idea of directions and distances in the city. We pre-booked our tickets at the Eiffel Tower which I highly recommend! There is a weather risk in this strategy, but we saved an hour of waiting in line. The reservation (no additional fee) allows you to head straight to the platform where you take a second elevator to get to the summit. At that point, you still need to wait in line to get to the top (45 minutes), but we still saved an hour of time. If, after visiting the tower, your kids have energy to burn off or you want to treat them to ice cream, make time to play in the Champ de Mars.

Finally, we ended our day with a stroll and dinner on the Champs–Elysées. We were lucky to find Bistro Romain that night with nice outdoor seating, a kids’ menu, and value-oriented pricing.

Day Two

We started our day at Notre Dame Cathedral. However, during reconstruction, we recommend visiting nearby Sainte-Chapelle as an alternative attraction. It has incredible stained glass windows that are sure to impress. Alternatively, a morning at the Jardin des Plantes either enjoying the grounds or visiting the kid-friendly museums there also works.

We walked back via the Conciergerie, a former royal palace and prison. It’s not a must-see attraction, but my kids enjoyed it, particularly Marie Antoinette’s cell.

We continued our day with a Louvre tour with Paris Muse. We all enjoyed this engaging tour; my recommendation for parents is that if there are specific things you want to see, be sure and reserve time to revisit the museum. The Paris Muse tour follows a specific agenda and your “list” may not match theirs. After multiple visits to the Louvre, we found that the afternoon is less crowded than the morning.

We concluded our day with an evening Bateaux-Mouches tour. This was a hit for all! We all appreciated not walking at that time of day and the seeing the sites in the evening is an entirely new perspective. You get a particularly great view of the Eiffel Tower — the lights on the tower start twinkling every hour on the hour in the evening.

Day Three

We spread out our iconic Paris monuments and on day three, the Arc de Triomphe got a close inspection. We walked right in with the Museum Pass and headed to the top. The view is slightly different than what you see from the Eiffel Tower; it’s not a must-do but if you have the ability to skip the line it’s worthwhile.

We did some Right Bank wandering and included stops at the Opera House and Madeleine. We proceeded to the Musée d’Orsay. One nice thing about this museum versus other art museums is that the kids recognize the Impressionist art. It’s a more intimate museum focused on painting versus antiquities; I’d recommend using an audio guide to keep kids engaged.

Day Four

As your trip to Paris winds down, a lesser known and quieter attraction, like the Musée de l’Orangerie featuring Claude Monet’s masterpieces, might be just what you need. The huge scale of the paintings at eye-level enables kids to see all the intricacies and get close to the action.

We wrapped up our time in Paris with a visit to Montmartre and the incredible Sacré-Cœur Basilica. In a 72 hour itinerary,  you’d be out of time. With an additional half day (which we had), we opted for another visit at the Louvre and wandering at the kid-friendly favorite, Luxembourg Gardens. If you have even more time, consider a day trip out to Monet’s Gardens, Versailles, or even Disneyland Paris.

A well-planned trip to such a dreamy destination is usually all it takes to guarantee the entire family loves Paris after a few days in the city.

Photo Credit: Danna Leahy

Relevant Links:

Ciao Bambino recommend family hotels in Paris

Ciao Bambino recommended kid-friendly hotels in France

Paris Muse Scavenger Hunt in the Louvre

Loire Valley highlights for kids and their parents

How not to visit Versailles with kids