Christmas Family Vacation in Paris!

Your girls are going to have the best time! What a gift. It's such a busy time, but La Maison Rose in Montmarte is such a popular restaurant with their demographic, so maybe you can get a reservation for lunch or tea time.

Be sure and get tickets to visit St Chapelle. And I highly suggest L'Orangerie museum for Monet's water lillies murals! Stunning.

And of course a Seine River cruise; perhaps timed to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle. Galleries Lafayette for shopping or if not into that, just to take in it's beauty.

I'd definitely skip Versailles. Your time is too limited.

This is a comment from HappyToBeHere from a previous post: I'll bet most teenagers would love Eternelle Notre Dame. It's a virtual reality experience that shows the building of ND, starting in medieval times and ending at the fire in 2019. It's just in front of Notre Dame, underneath the parvis. It takes about an hour. Make sure, if you buy tickets, you buy them for that location, as there's one at La Défense as well.

Congratulations on planning a December Paris trip! It looks like you have three full days in Paris. (Arrival day may entail jet lag, so don't plan anything too strenuous. You will probably have the afternoon and evening that day. Stroll around your neighborhood, find a cafe for dinner, maybe take a boat ride on the Seine (e.g. Vedettes de Pont Neuf, inexpensive, takes about an hour). Over the 28th, 29th and 30th, you can do most of what you have planned. IMO, I would drop the Champs Elysee...a looong walk past many tourist shops. One end is the Arc de Triomphe, the other is the Place de la Concorde. IMO it is a waste of time.

You will need to make reservations for the Louvre, going up the Eiffel Tower, Catacombs, Musee 'Orsay, and I think Notre Dame. Some things will use up a few hours, others maybe an hour. Montmartre is at the north side of Paris. It would perhaps be wise to narrow down your plans to allow for time to wander, have lunch, people watch. Check out a travel book from the library and check the city maps there. Try to cluster the sights together to save time and walking (or metro rides). And try to plan on how much time each sight will likely take. Lots of people who comment on this forum suggest planning one major thing each morning, and one (or two, if time) for the afternoon. Days will be short, so if you plan something for outdoors, watch your times for sunrise and sunset.

There should be various concerts in churches, etc. in the evening, so the early sunsets don't have to impact your enjoyment of all Paris has to offer. One thing I tell everyone not to miss is Ste. Chappelle. It is close to Notre Dame and is magnificent. If it is a sunny day the light coming through the windows is magical. If not sunny, still magical! Also, there are concerts there sometimes and those who have been to them really liked them. You might want to see about going. For all these places, just Google them to get their websites for info. If you are near the Opera Garnier, go in and see it. It is near the Galeries Lafayette dept. store. Worth a peek inside. When inside, look up! Nice view of Paris from its rooftop also.

Not sure about NYE activities in Paris. Use the search box here to get some ideas. Restaurants will almost surely want reservations for NYE dinner. Nail that down early as soon as you decide where you will go.

Best of luck and amusez-vous bien!
Versailles is a whole day and I would save that for another time.

OOps! I nsee you leave on the 31st. Forget my NYE suggestions.

I suggest you look close at opening hours. You basically have 3 days, one of which is a Sunday. Add to that many of the museums are closed Mondays. The walking around can be done, but the other stuff is going to have to be close planned.

Don't try to pack too much in. The girls may enjoy the window displays as well as the inside decorations at the department stores. One of them has a rooftop terrace. We tried to go up Xmas time but couldn't for some reason. The Xmas markets might still be running then. Easy to check on that. Strolling these areas could be a good first day activity if you are prone to jet lag. Fresh air and movement being the cures.
Instead of the boat trip (which could be quite cold), consider Bustronome. We did this on Xmas Eve in 2018 and LOVED it. It's a huge double-decker bus that drives you around the city, very slowly, while serving you dinner (or lunch, but it's better at night). Great way to see all the lights. It's expensive, but the food is very nice, and they serve wine. My lock screen photo remains the one of me and my son with the Eiffel Tower twinkling in the background. Route starts at Arc de Triomphe, so two birds, one stone there.
Speaking of the ET, consider going up the Montparnasse Tower instead. Reservations generally are not needed (especially in winter), and you're not packed like sardines. And as they say, your view will be better because it will not include the Montparnasse Tower itself.
Have a great trip, and in case the girls don't say it enough: Thank you, Mom!

Bonjour!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for all the wonderful tips!
I am in the process of planning our itinerary (with plenty of free time to be spontaneous and enjoy this magical time with the family!)
We've decided to make reservations for the Eiffel Tower (Day 2), a scenic boat tour at night to see all the beautiful, twinkling lights (Day 1) I've learned the boats are heated! Muse de Orsay, and Le Louvre (Day 2), and the Christmas concert at St Chapelle.
We plan to stroll the streets of the Latin Quarter (where we are staying) see the Pantheon, the Gardens, Shakespeare Bookstore (my girls will LOVE that), Luxemburg, enjoy the markets, and perhaps go ice skating at one of the FREE rinks!!
We will take the metro to Mont Marte as is a very special place!! I am soo excited to surprise my girls on Christmas Day!!! Any ideas of things I can wrap for them that will be useful for trip would be appreciated?

Merci! Merci!!

December is high season for Paris so no lodging bargains, but I'd definitely have an apartment and plan to do Christmas dinner 'at home' -- the shops are full of cool stuff at Christmas time. We have done this a couple of times. I remember roasting duck boned and stuffed with pate and trussed and a pork roast larded with dried fruit -- both prepared ready for the oven at local butcher shops. There are all sorts of Christmas desserts and entrees that can be bought in the markets.

Check out Musee des Arts Forains which sometimes is open to the public this time of year; it is a carnival museum. And a trip on the Grand Roule which is currently in the Tuilleries is fun of an evening (and there is a big Christmas market in the Tuilleries). In our experience the things to buy in the Christmas markets are Chinese trash BUT the atmosphere and mulled wine and lights and music are pleasant for an evening.

The kids will love Eternelle Notre Dame -- a 45 minutes virtual reality stroll through Paris in the 12th century as Notre Dame is being built. All people in a party have their names on their avatars, so as you walk around you can find each other. Avatars appear as outlines of people in the experience so you can avoid bumping into other people -- but with the name labels you can also find each other and stick together, which becomes very nice when you are suddenly hoisted high into the air on a platform into the bell tower. You KNOW you are on a level floor -- but the illusion is quite real. One site is at Notre Dame in the under ground. reserve on line -- very worth it.