greetings fellow travelers
in the past, we have found the RS travel consultants to be helpful. It looks like the service is temporarily suspended.
We are planning to visit Paris in early June 2025 for ~ 5 nights with our travel-ready 10-year-old granddaughter. We will not have a car and will likely stay in the city in a Bonvoy/Marriott property.
Can anyone suggest a kid friendly itinerary? We are thinking about taking a day trip train to Versailles.
Thanks,
Steve the Traveler
Versailles is a toss up for a kid that age -- make sure she is really interested in doing it.
If the Notre Dame Tower is open definitely take her up to the gargoyles. My daughter loved this at 12 ; unfortunately the first prevented my granddaughter from enjoying it at 12. Watch the Disney hunchback movie before you go; the gargoyles play a major role.
Chateau Vincennes is right in town on the metro and a good old fashioned castle -- easy visit and perfect for kids. I got my grandson a cardboard castle kit in the gift shop and he was really thrilled putting it together.
Get Eiffel Tower tickets ahead of time so your line time is as short as possible. My granddaughter loved buyin a bag of ET shaped candy in the gift shop for her friends back home.
The Bouillons are cheap and a great place for kids to try out exotic foods without a big investment; my granddaughter tried snails at Bouillon Chartier Montparnasse. The menu is huge, mediocre (but fine) and has kid friendly as well as more challenging foods. The one on Blvd Montparnasse is also a stunningly beautiful room.
Walking along the right bank of the Seine there are places along the way for kids to climb on the wall or play -- and it is just a pleasant walk -- plenty of places to get drinks or treats and of course you can carry your own goodies.
when in Paris with kids we made a ritual of letting them choose a fancy pastry from a bakery every afternoon -- we would either take them to a park for a snack or take them back to the apartment to have after dinner. Kids love the choices and getting to choose -- it is a seriously cheap way to let them feel luxurious. If you have an apartment take the kid with you to the bakery in the morning to help choose baked goods for breakfast.
thanks, Janet!
sounds like KISS and make daily rounds to the bakeries!
Steve
My son was 12 and not much for museums. I did take him to Giverny and then to the Orangerie, where we sat and looked at the water lilies and scrolled through our Giverny photos (which were taken a couple of months before). I think this made both experiences more meaningful for him. At that time, there was a joint ticket for entry to both places. Giverny is a day trip by train and bus that you can (and therefore should) book ahead.
Instead of going up the Eiffel Tower, we went up the Montparnasse Tower. People say the view is better because it doesn't include the Montparnasse Tower. It was thrilling to be up so high, and it wasn't crowded. Great views, of course. We went to the base of the Eiffel Tower.
We both enjoyed Bustronome, which is a double-decker tour bus that serves (quite nice) food while driving you around (very slowly) to see the sights. We did it on Xmas Eve for dinner, and it was magical. The lock screen photo on my phone is still the one of me and my son with the sparkling Eiffel Tower behind us. They do lunch and have a kids menu. On my recent visit to Dublin, we had tea on a vintage Routemaster bus that toured us around. I wonder if they have a similar thing in Paris. Anyway, food on a bus. Sounds silly, but it's fun.
Sounds like a great trip! I don't have a daughter (just a son now college age) but I have spent quite a bit of time in Paris. Agree with the pastries, and also have a crepe from one of the street stands. A cruise on the river would be nice. If she has any interest (or is beginning to) in fashion or shopping, a visit to one of the classic "grands magasins" department stores like Galeries Lafayette or Printemps. Agree that Versailles can be a bit overwhelming, but perhaps she's up for it -- learning the tragic story of Marie Antoinette (including, as age appropriate, why the commoners hated her so much) ahead of time could help make that resonate. Or, for another reasonable length day trip, there is Chartres with the most amazingly beautiful medieval stained glass anywhere in the world. If you don't want to go out there, St. Chapelle also has that. Ice cream (glaces) from Berthillon on Ile-St.-Louis. Tip, if the line there is very long (or it's closed, as it sometimes is) the neighboring cafes also have Berthillon ice cream.
Yes, take a taxi up to Montmarte / Sacre Coeur, take in the Paris view from the highest point in Paris. Take the funicular down and back up. And take the petite train around Montemarte as well. So much to explore. It's quite charming.
Versailles Palace is so packed, it's really hard to enjoy it. So many other things to see and do in Paris.
St Chapelle is quite impressive. If you don't want to overwhelm her with a huge museum experience, the Orangerie Museum is small and just a wonderful way to take in Monet's waterlily murals. Musee d'Orsay is so marvelous, but it's really big. I really like to take in the 5th floor.
And of course the boat down the Seine. Since others suggested parks, I wanted to mention that every bench in every park this past April was covered in bird droppings. We never had a place sit down down, so perhaps bring something that might work to help with that. Of course no droppings at the marvelous and small garden at the Rodin museum, but you pay for admission.
I would visit the Jardin de Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement. It is a lovely park that has puppet shows for kids and a “bassin” where kids float their little boats. Maybe pack a picnic lunch! I think the St. Chapelle is beautiful with its medieval stained glass windows. It is located on the grounds of the Conciergerie which looks like an old castle. Of course a ride on the bateau-louche on the Seine is always fun
I agree with many of the previous suggestions and will also say that my granddaughter and I really enjoyed the fashion show at Galeries Lafayette department store. Back in 2017, the show was held on Friday. We also liked going to Fragonard perfumeries, where they had a little museum showcasing many interesting perfume bottles. There was a brief history of perfume along with the displays of ancient bottles.
Edit to add a link:
https://musee-parfum-paris.fragonard.com/en/museum/
A book to get from your library: "Linnea in Monet's Garden" by Christina Bjork. Then if you visit the Orangerie (or perhaps the D'Orsay) she'll have some context.
definitely Luxembourg gardens or Tuilleries and sailing a little boat on the pond. This was a big hit with our kiddo. And it is pretty cheap -- it was 5 Euro for half an hour when we were there 2 years ago.
With the Eiffel Tower, for a kid this age, it is not about the view, it is about BEING at the TOP of the ET.
She might be too small for Eternelle NOtre Dame VR experience. I think the suggested lower age is 11 or so but that is based on the fact that you carry a fairly heavy backpack with the VR equipment on your back. If she is a bigger kid it might work. Another VR experience that my granddaughter enjoyed was the fly over Paris on the jet pack simulation -- no backpack and there are several VR experiences available. The fly over Paris was pretty neat.
When my grandson was still 10 in July of 20O5, he went with us to France and England. It was a fun and memorable family trip being in Paris and SW France, rode the TGV for 5 hours from Paris to get there. Yes, he went to museums as well as up the Eiffel Tower. (that first level) The Mrs , ie, his grandma took care of those details.
