Visiting Paris and France with Kids
Type of food : French
39, rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile 75004 Paris
Type : Museums
17 Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre 75116
Type : Museums
57, rue Cuvier 75005 Paris
Type : Other
26, avenue Corentin Cariou 75019
Type : Theme Parc
30, avenue Corentin-Cariou - 75019
Type : Cultural
Palais de la decouverte, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt
Type : Museums
Louvre Museum, Paris
Type : Religious
6 Parvis de Notre Dame, 7504
Type : Typicals
Quai Branly, champs de Mars, 75007 Paris
Type : Theme Parc
Le Puy du Fou 85590 Les Epesses
Type : Town information
Type : Touristic Programs
Type : Taxis
Type : Safety
Type : Safety
0 review
You will find here the main ones.
You will find below a quick description of things that could be done with children, with links to my travel guide;
This is the old version of my guide, and the new one will be very soon online. To register, you need to follow this link:
www.friendschocies.com/joseph
Paris:
- The first day in Paris, you can take the double decker touristic bus, from which you can see all the monuments while listening to a Guide. In 3 hours, you have a great glance of Paris. You can also use this bus as a mean of transport for 48 hours, hopping from a monument to another. Every time a visit a city, I always take these buses to first days.
- Notre Dame de Paris: the first friday of each month, at 15h00, the Knights of Jerusalem expose the most important christian reliqua, which is Jesus Crown d'épines. So in your schedule, it will be on Friday 5th of August. For your info, on the Holy friday, it is exposed from 10h to 17h, and you can touch it.
- Bateau mouche: you can dine at a Bateau Mouche one night. It's a magical experience to see 90% of Paris monuments at night (totally different experience than in day light). The food usually is not fantastic, but it's a great experience to live once in a liftime.
- Trocadéro Aquarium: The day you will visit the Eiffel Tower, you can visit the newly renovated Paris Aquarium, which used to be for a long time the biggest in Europe. It's 10 minutes walking from the Eiffel Tower, just below the Trocadéro.
Outside of Paris: (times indicated are by car, with normal traffic conditions)
- Versailles: 30 minutes ouest of Paris
The most important insider tip to have is to avoid the queue for the Palace entrance (one hour or two in the high season). When you're in front of the Palace main entrance, you go to the wing on your right and find the entrance for "Visite Conférence". It will cost just a few euros more than the normal entrance, and you will avoid the queue. Usually you wait much less, inside enjoying AC and not being under the sun, and have the opportunity to visit with a guide the private Royal appartments (the only way to visit them). At the end of the visit (1h30 minutes), the guide will leave you inside the Palace to visit the Appartments d'Apparats.
Count a hole day: in the morning the Palace visit, and in the afternoon, wonder in the parc. You can rent a Golf car to visit the parc, and a canoe to wonder on the laque and go from the main palace to the Petit Trianon
- Fontaineblau: 1 hour south of Paris
Another great palace near Paris. What Versailles is for Louis the XIVth, Fontaineblau is for Napoleon. Worth the visit if you have time, but after Versailles. If you go there, you have lunch in Barbizon, a charming village nearby, famous for its painters.
- Parc de Thoiry: 55 minutes Ouest of Paris
A small palace with a huge parc which was transfromed into a Zoo and a Safari track. It's really a great thing to do for people who like wild animals. As soon as you arrive, check the hours of feeding for Lions and Tigers. You need to go there 30 minutes before and enjoy a great view of these animals from a glass tunnel inside their territory.
The Safari track is also very nice where you can approach all types of wilde animals.
- Vaux le Vicompte: 55 minutes south east of Paris
This is where it all began! It's a small but beautiful Palace which was the draft of Versailles. It used to be the Palace of Fouquet, the Minister of Finance of France and the richest man in France at that time (richer that the King). Fouquet was an art lover full of taste and he made the dream team to build his Palace: Le Vaux, Le Notre and Le Brun. The new King, Louis the XIV, shocked and jealous from the beauty of Vaux Le Vicompte, imprisonned Fouquet the day after the Palace inauguration, and asked from the dream team to transform Versailles from a small hunting Palace to what we know today.
Visit the Palace in the afternoon and stay until the night to enjoy the beautifully lit parc by thousands of candles.
- Le Puy du Fou (4 hours driving south ouest of Paris)
A 100% french theme parc in a beautiful forest, with great live shows. It's all about history and being able to see and touch how people used to live in France in different historic phases: Romans, 1000 AD, 1500, 1700, 1900.
You need 2 days to be able to see the 9 shows. The best is to book in one of the three hotels of the parc to be able also to enjoy the night shows. Also, book in the La Halle Renaissance restaurant for Diner and enjoy a tournament between the King of France and England, and at the Relais de la Poste for Lunch.
- Eurodisney (45 minutes east of Paris)
Well, no need to describe Eurodisney. If you sleep there, you can spare a few hours to go shopping in Val d'Europe, the Biggest Mall in the Parisian Region, which is located near by. In addition to the mall, you have a factory outlet for luxury brands in a nice village in which each house is a shop.
- Parc d'Astérix (50 minutes north of Paris)
French theme Parc, with the attractions for high sensations, among which one of the biggest crazy train in Europe.
- Futuroscope (4 hours) (2 hours drive from Le Puy du Fou)
It has been a few years I didn't visit the Futuroscope. It's a theme parc for audiovisual effects, 3DS,...
- France Miniature (40 minutes ouest of Paris)
They recreated the most important monuments of France in small scale. It's a nice way to enjoy the beauty of France by walking around a beaiful parc.
- Provins (1h 20 mn south east of Paris)
A medieval city which kept most of its fortifications intact. They organize during the summer medieval and bird shows. A sort of mini, tiny, but authentic Le puy du fou.