I'll be in Paris for five days with my 12-year old son this summer. Would love any tips or recommendations for fun things to do, restaurants to visit, experiences, etc. We will go to one or two museums for sure, but then I'm guessing his eyes will begin to glaze over...
Many thanks!
I took mine to the Monet Garden at Giverny. I didn't think he'd like it, but he did (as much as he liked anything else we did). We will be back there at Xmas time, so we will go to the Orangerie to see the water lilies. Also, I plan to take him to the catacombs. You can walk by Nicholas Flamel's house (or maybe shop, I don't remember). Take a look at Atlas Obscura. There are several places that would appeal to this age group.
Well, I'm not a tween boy but I had a great time trying to find a few things listed in Atlas Obscura in Paris. Some are not appropriate but some are fun!
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/paris-france/places
Is he a Harry Potter fan? He can see the house of Nicholas Flamel who was an actual person!
I enjoyed finding the statue of a lion chewing on a man's foot in the Jardin des Plantes ( https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lion-of-the-botanical-gardens ) and the cannonball embedded in the side of the Hotel de Sens ( https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cannonball-of-the-hotel-de-sens ) .
I took my then-19-year-old son (college student; study abroad break) and then-12-year-old daughter to Paris a few years ago. They both seemed to enjoy: a boat ride on the Seine from Pont Neuf; climbing up the Arc de Triomphe; a tour of the Paris Sewers (yes!); the Musee Carnavalet. EDIT re. the sewers: I just saw a photo on Tripadvisor of a sign that says: "The visit of the sewers is being renovated. We are temporarily closing our doors from July 2018 to the 1st semester 2020."
My tween boy loved going up in the Eiffel Tower, Invalides, the carnival rides near the Louvre, a day when we tried various different American style pizza places in Paris, Sacre Coeur (we still can't figure out why), Center Georges Pompidou (for the art a tiny bit but mainly for the building's design) and Tour Montparnasse. My tween boy is also really into American history and we once spent a day going around Paris to sights related to the role of the French in the American Revolution and the end of the day he said "best day in Paris ever." Back when he was younger we did a similar day with scenes from the movie Cars 2. It's really been about knowing what he likes and then working stops in the trip around that.
Grand Rapids, MI
10/18/18 05:20 PM
475 posts
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I took each of my kids to Paris when they became teenagers.
Here's what they liked:
Catacombs (almost no line JUST before closing time--you still get full time down there)
Sewer Tour (closed now for a year)
Climbing the Arc de Triomphe
Climbing the bell tower at Notre Dame
Walking up 1 or 2 levels of Eiffel Tower (no reservations needed!)
Street markets (different days and places, Google it, I like the one a few blocks North of Arc de Triomphe)
Chez Janou , a restaurant that serves "all you can eat choc. mousse". www.chezjanou.com They are off the tourist path, don't speak much English, so bring your Google translate app--but that's half the fun!
Definitely put Basilica St. Denis on the metro 13 on the list. He will love it.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/confronting-mortality-at-st-denis/
But most important put him in charge of his own happiness. He may surprise you with coming up with some things you haven't thought of. My kids did. I would never have gone to the John Soanes museum in London, the Aqueduct Park near Rome or Arts et Metiers in Paris without my son and I would not have gone to the British library in London, climbed the Tower of Notre Dame or visited the Cluny without my daughter. Give him an accessible guidebook or turn him loose on the internet and charge him with planning at least one of the days.
Another vote for the catacombs. My granddaughters (then 12 and 9) loved it and still talk about it.
Involving them in planning is essential in my opinion and I think you can make that a cooperative venture rather than leaving it up to them to come with ideas all on their own.
The Science Park at La Villette is great for adults and kids. Lots of interactive stuff. You can get there by metro or a boat on the Canal St. Martin from l'Arsenal.
When I had a tween and teen boy in tow, they wanted to see castle ruins and enjoyed crime and punishment museums.
Two things in Paris come to mind as something that may appeal to a tween. The catacombs and Bailica St. Denis. The catacombs has a lifetime supply of bones and skulls. St. Denis has a lifetime supply of coffins and buried French aristocrats. The castles that are close to Paris are more palaces than castles.
They also seemed to enjoy a boat ride and stairs up towers (so Notre Dame towers and Vedettes du Pont Neuf).
Look at Fat Tire bike tours or maybe even splurge on one of their Segway tours.
Third vote for the catacombs. We were in Paris last summer with our kids aged 12 and 9. They loved the catacombs, Eiffel Tower, We did one day at Disney which they loved. We also did Versailles which I would skip.
I think Les Invalides is a must-see for a kid of that age. When Peter the Great, Czar of all the Russias, was pretending to be a seaman in Paris, he visited the models of French cities and their fortifications. Those same models can be seen today on the 4th floor of Les Invalides.
You have some great suggestions here already...is he into science? If so then you should spend an hour or two in the Musee Arts et Metiers. They have science stuff that is very cool! From the original meter stick, the first calculator, many other examples of firsts. Even the first plane to fly - yep, the French did it first.
The museum is divided into themes...scientific instruments, communication, transportation, engineering, etc. They have Faucalt's original pendulum (the cable it was swinging from snapped and the orb was dented when it fell so now it's in a case) and you can see a replica swung in the church the museum is attached to. Of course you can go see the one at The Pantheon too but the crowds there can be ridiculous...but that's where he first demonstrated it to the public so that's where everyone goes.
Also...take him to Deyrolle - it's a very old taxidermy shop that is like something out of a movie! All the best stuff is upstairs and it's pretty incredible what they have.
