Help! 4 days in paris with kids, what to do

The girls might find a donkey ride fun, and there is a doll museum (Musee des Poupees) that I would have loved as a kid. timeout.com/paris has a list of 50 things to do with your children and I am sure a Seine boat ride must be on the list. Also the Science Park at La Villette, which you can reach by Metro has lots of interactive things for kids as well as lots to interest adults.

We arrive Friday at 3:30 and plan to do the live that evening

Lindy, I assume you meant the Louvre? If you are just coming off a long international flight I would not suggest this. The museum is HUGE and you're all very possibly going to be jet lagged. It would be particularly hard on your youngsters. Many of us recommend sightseeing outside in the fresh air on arrival day to both stretch the legs and stay awake until a normal bedtime hour.

Then again, maybe you're not coming from North America or another far-away location so your flight isn't long?

We are actually coming from the Netherlands via train. We don't have too long of a train ride and no time change so our kids should be ready to go!

Pish. You'll have no trouble managing the Louvre then! :O)

I strongly recommend that you watch the PBS show "Traveling With Kids." There are two episodes on Paris. I have found some of there full episodes on YouTube, but could not locate the Paris eposides. I know iTunes have offered their shows in the past and sometimes I have see them on the PBS website.

Here is a link to some of their tips. I hope you can find the shows for free, but the do offer the DVDs for sale on the link.

http://www.travelwithkids.tv/destinations/paris/

I have also found a number of YouTube videos on traveling in Paris with kids by searching it on YouTube. Hope that helps!

Good suggestions above! I'd add to consider getting Museum Passes for the parents (I think the kids will be free). This will open lots of doors for you, and let you skip lines. The freedom that comes with that was invaluable for our kids when we toured Paris on two different trips. Some of the features with that pass were unexpected (not museums per se) - like the top of the Arc de Triomphe. That is a great view of the city, and you can see the Eiffel Tower from there, beautifully lit at night.

Another good thing about that pass is that it can be used to access cafes and restrooms if you are a ways away from your hotel and need a break. You also may find that you'd check out some lesser-known sites just because you're nearby and can go in and stay as little or as long as you'd like with the kids. We found that the pass gave us the freedom to explore on our own timetable with the kids, and not feel like we "had to get our money's worth" for the admission costs.

Some sights have evening hours - and the crowds tend to be smaller then. That made our night tour of the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay extra special. Some galleries we had to ourselves!

For museums, you might like to choose a few postcards in the gift shop before exploring, and play a treasure hunt game with the girls - helping them find their favorite pieces.

There was a carousel near Sacre Coeur years ago - probably still there. That would be a special experience for kids, I think. There are hints on this forum about approaching Montmartre in ways that you avoid the vendors and scammers near Sacre Coeur. I would plan that part of the trip carefully with children...I think people can have very different experiences in Montmartre - either being bothered by the vendors, or wandering around the quieter side streets around Sacre Coeur and getting a feel for the neighborhood. Just a heads up. :-)

I'm not sure what time of year you're traveling - but kids seem to love the push boats in Luxembourg Gardens, and enjoying a treat from a crepe stand or ice cream was always a hit with our whole family.

Enjoy!
Laurie

but kids seem to love the push boats in Luxembourg Gardens

Great fun to watch the kids and their boats! You rent them from a kiosk near the pond. They had ponies to ride there too, as I recall. Lovely park. Do have change in your pocket for the restrooms, though.

There are pony rides, a play ground, and a carousel at the Champ de Mars next to the Eiffel Tower.

As far as using the Museum Pass to go to the bathroom, this isn't really very practical. There are often long lines and bathrooms aren't always cleaned on a regular basis.

On the other hand, there are cafes all over the place in Paris and especially near museums.
There is usually never a line, most are cleaned regularly, and most of them will let you bring your child to the toilet without buying anything. If someone says "for clients only", the cheapest thing is to buy one espresso standing at the bar - about 1.20 EU.

When I was in Paris, I never found a line in any of the museums to use the bathroom. If fact, I found the Museum Pass to be be very useful in that regard.

I second museum pass. Your kids are free and it does give you freedom to check out as many of few museums.

Great idea on the bathrooms. I have always found them very clean at any museum in Paris I went to.

When my daughter was 10 we had a week in Paris & think we hit 17 places on the museum pass list.

She also liked to climb things. Lots of opportunity for that in Paris.

Enjoy your trip!

While in France for 2 weeks, we did 3.5 days in Paris with similar aged kids this summer (5, 9, 10, 11--two sets of cousins). Are you going there soon, when it will be cold? It was very hot when we were there (90s and humid) so we had to take more breaks than anticipated. We did the following:

Day 1: arrive (flight from US), settle in and rest, afternoon boat ride on Seine, dinner at outdoor brasserie

Day 2: Sacre Coeur, Sunday bird market, Notre Dame (just church--line was too long for tower, unfortunately), picnic lunch and playground in park behind Notre Dame, ice cream, Luxembourg Gardens and playground, break at home, dinner in Monmartre, Sacre Coeur at sunset.

Day 3: Eiffel Tower, Louvre, walk through Tuileries Gardens, ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde

Day 4: Musee d'Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees (we shopped for clothes at Zara, went in the Swarovski crystal store, went to a perfume store, and went to a couple of fancy car dealerships--Renault, Citroen, etc.--that have fun things for kids like a giant slide and virtual reality driving game)

These geographical groupings worked well for us. We were staying a bit out of center city in an apartment in the 11th, so we couldn't make unplanned stops at home. If we hadn't been so hot and tired we would also have gone to the Invalides military museum and the Galeries Lafayette department store, and maybe just walked around neighborhoods a bit more.

The kids' favorite things were probably the ice cream, the playgrounds, the Sacre Coeur, the Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, and the Champs-Elysees. They liked taking the metro and eating at cafes, too. They probably would have different favorites/memories in the winter, though!

Have a great time!

Along with the others listed are some more.
http://worldtoptop.com/top-fun-places-paris-kids/