We will be in Paris for 8 nights during mid-October. My husband and I have been before, but it will be the first time with our children who will be 5, 3 and 8 months.
We will be staying at Bridgestreet Montparnasse and are looking for recommendations for attractions, parks etc to see/do with young children.
So far on our itinerary we have Disneyland. One of DH%26#39;s colleagues mentioned a park (perhaps Espace Pierre Cardin) would have loads of leaves on the ground for the children to play in. Coming from Australia, this would be an attraction for the children.
Any other hints/tips would be great as well.
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You might find a couple of these links useful in planning activities for your children:
http://www.aquarium-portedoree.fr/
http://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/
http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/
http://www.cirque-diana-moreno.com/
http://www.grevin.com/
http://www.jardindacclimatation.fr/
http://www.museedelapoupeeparis.com/
leszoosdanslemonde.com/html/zoo_monde/europe…
http://www.playmobil.com/
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We spent 6 nights in Paris with our three children aged 7 ½, 5 and 13 months in May/June this year. A few of the places that the children enjoyed the most were:
- Luxembourg Gardens – in particular, sailing the little boats on the pond
- Disneyland – we spent a day at Disneyland and had a ball
- Musee de l’ Armee/Hotel des Invalides – my boys loved looking at all the swords, suits of armour etc
- Eiffel Tower and Champ de Mars – although we didn’t climb the Tower due to the length of queues, we had a picnic on the Champ de Mars and walked under the Tower. The children had a ride on one of the Carousels.
We did do one of the HOHO bus tours but found it to be a bit of a waste of money for us as it didn’t seem to hold the children’s attention for very long. We found it better to do lots of walking as there is so much going on in Paris and it is so different from Australia. Our older children were in awe of all the old buildings and monuments that we came across. It seemed that there were lots of playgrounds and parks as we went along that gave the kids (and us) a bit of a break!
Some links that I referred to when planning our stay in Paris were:
…news.com.au/story/…00.html
smh.com.au/travel/…
davidlebovitz.com/archives/…more
…parisinfo.com/shows-exhibitions-paris/…
http://www.familiscope.fr/
paris-hotels.it/web/en/parigi/bambini.html
Have a great holiday!
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We are going in September with our 3 yo and our 7 month old...so, I will report back afterwards and tell you what worked for those age ranges.
Personal opinion here (so feel free to ignore), but I would only attempt Disneyland if at least 2 of your kids can go without a nap. Also, plan it towards the end of the trip when you will be the least jetlagged (in my experience, even 5yo%26#39;s need to nap when jet lagged). A day at Disneyland is a LONG day...you know your kids best (if they can handle that without major meltdowns, etc)
We are not going as 3 is about the min that disneyland really has much entertainment (and my daugther still needs a nap and our son DEFINITELY needs some time in a bed vs a stroller/carrier)...plus, we do have 2 more accessible at home (understanding that you don%26#39;t have a disney AU...at least to my knowledge...so this may be more of a big deal for you). Plus, as my hubby%26#39;s family lives in Europe, we will have future opportunities to go when both of our kids are old enough to enjoy it.
Things I am looking into, but haven%26#39;t gotten too much info on yet are:
Luxembourg Gardens
Jardin Vincennes (I think there is a zoo plus other fun stuff here)
Jardin d%26#39;Acclimation (supposedly a tike-sized amusement park here...its in the Bois du Boulogne)
Musee Poupee (I may have spelled this wrong...its a doll museum)
Musee Magie (I also may have spelled this wrogn...its a magic museum)
Place des Vosges ( the Doll and magic museum and the Centre Pompidou are all fairly close to each other...all in the 3e or 4e)
Centre Pompidou (kids art museum and Modern Art museum)
Versailles (or another castle-like chateau out-of-town...I think there is one that focuses on fairy-tales...my daughter is majorly into princesses...so, this is a must for us)
Have a great trip!
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«Versailles (or another castle-like chateau out-of-town»
Versailles isn%26#39;t very %26quot;castle-like%26quot; so the word %26quot;castle%26quot; won%26#39;t be the first thing that comes to mind when you see it for the first time.
Since the bois de Vincennes is on the agenda, consider a walk to the Chateau de Vincennes for the kids. It%26#39;s at the eastern terminus of métro line-1. %26quot;The keep%26quot; of the chateau is in every way a %26quot;castle%26quot;.
http://vincennes.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/
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metromole, thanks for the heads up. We will pencil that in early in the trip and see if it satsifies her princess fancy (and my husband, as well!)
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Bonjour,
As you know jetlag coming from Australia is tough and children will be tired at wrong times/off hours.
Make sure hotel room is spacious and has a good tv/dvd player.
October in Paris can be good weather or rainy weather.
Merry go round in Montmartre (Abbesses), Tuileries, Trocadero.
Musee des Arts et Metiers.
Cite des Sciences.
Palais de la decouverte.
Passage des Princes at Grands Boulevards.
I think you should focus on what you want to see/do and children will follow. You can always leave if it does not work.
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Luxembourg Gardens has one of the most amazing play areas for kids that I%26#39;ve ever seen. Almost makes me want grandkids even more immediately!
All over Paris, we noticed lovely little play areas for children. People have the most amazing variety of strollers/carrying devices as well. Everything is very small and crowded, so a large stroller is hard to accomodate, but the variety of smaller strollers we saw (and backpack things or things that converted from one to the other) was quite interesting.
We had heard - and saw evidence of it - that people in Paris, when they find a lost object, put it up in a place (like a window sill or a bollard nearby) so people can find it. Similarly, people could leave their strollers outside businesses or restaurants and never worry about anyone taking anything. The shops for kids%26#39; toys and clothings were just delightful.
Many metro travelling parents used those front carriers or slings for babies up to walking age, but I thought the one stroller/backpack device that was very lightweight and folded down into almost nothing was really great for young families. I%26#39;ve never seen them here in California, though.
Oh - and don%26#39;t forget the hats, sunscreen and water bottles! There are water fountains all over Paris, but you have to keep refilling, it%26#39;s not as easy to get bottled water at convenience stores (we saw just one or two little markets) or markets (they aren%26#39;t very frequent) as it in some other places I%26#39;ve visited. We saw kids in the fountains at several places (including the courtyard at the Louvre) so it is allowed. Kids would enjoy the Medieval Louvre and the Marly Courtyard where the horse statues are.
My kids would have enjoyed the wax museum (I think it%26#39;s called Musée Grévin) at 8. The eight year old will appreciate almost everything more than the 3 year old and the baby, so as usual, your main problem will be the same as at home (finding activities all three can enjoy).
But, seriously, we thought taking kids around Paris just to visit all the little playgrounds would be a great idea. Parents can people watch and the kids will have a blast.
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IMHO you should bag Disneyland - the five year old will barely enjoy it and not remember it for long -- it will be nightmarish for the others as well as expensive -- wait till the oldest is 10 and the second is 8 -- been there done that -- it is more painful than fun for very small kids.
There are wonderful parks all over Paris that include delightful playgrounds for young kids
The little park behind Sacre Coeur has both a playground with toys for young kids and also a sort of waterfall where they enjoy putting balls over and retrieving them.
There is an elaborate park not far from there with a statue of St. Denis -- with sand table, climbing toys etc etc -- and in fact all over Paris there are small pocket parks with kid friendly toys.
Luxembourg Gardens is a particular treasure -- in addition to pony rides and ponds where you can rent a toy sailboat there are pay playgrounds, one for toddlers and one for older kids that are tons of fun.
The Tuilleries has the boats, ponies and pond -- and also lots of climbing toys and trampolines in the ground. They often have a small carnival with kiddy rides as well. All these parks have great places to sit and watch and picnic (mostly not on the grass though)
Butte Chaumont has manmade streams grottos and waterfalls that kids love playing in and you see lots of French families and their kids.
Paris is a city very friendly to children.
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Thanks for all you replies, some fantastic ideas there.
I didn%26#39;t mention that we will actually be flying into London from Australia and spending a week there, so no jetlag problems by the time we get to Paris!
We have an ergo carrier for the 8 month old and are planning on taking a maclaren stroller for the 3 yr old. Neither the 5 or 3 yr olds sleep during the day and the baby is content to sleep anywhere (like most third children).
We love all the park ideas, we would much rather have a happy, fun filled holiday than see ALL the sights.
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my kids were older, but this might be fun for even itty bitty ones like yours -- we would go by a patiserie or bakery every afternoon and let them choose a pastry or cookie and take that with us to a park (carry juice and water)
the goodies in French bakeries are just so visually appealing to kids and it is quite a thrill
they may be too big for one -- so perhaps have them take turns picking one to split or to split with a parent
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