Paris in 4 nights

Flying will save a great deal of time and you don't a lot of time to begin with. Also, a night cruise on the Seine is also something to consider. We've done a cruise with both Vedettes du Pont Neuf and Bateaux Mouches and think the Vedettes du Pont Neuf is much, much better particularly at night .

I would fly unless you have night train experience and know you will be able to sleep on a moving vehicle, especially with a younger child.

Paris has loads of attractions and recommendations would depend on your interests. Are you into art? History? Parks?

Air France has 2 direct flights from Verona to Paris, and if booked in advance is probably cheaper, and certainly faster. The kids would love a Seine Cruise, perhaps after dark to see the illuminated monuments. A 2 day Paris Museum Pass may be useful for the Thursday/Friday. I think, with thoughtful planning and careful selection, your 2 children will be able to enjoy the Paris museums. Some ideas to get you thinking ...

Wednesday
Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees
Seine River Cruise

Thursday
St Chapelle (amazing stained glass) ...opens 9.30am (summer)
Conciergerie (where Marie Antoinette imprisoned)
Luxembourg Gardens
Musee Rodin (famous bronzes in beautiful gardens)
Invalides (Napoleons tomb)
Musee d'Orsay (Impressionism) ...closes 9.45pm Thu

Friday
Tours de Notre Dame (walk up the towers to get up close and personal with the gargoyles) ...opens 10am
Musee Picasso (freshly renovated)
Pompidou Centre (modern art collection)
Tuileries Gardens
Orangerie (Monet's waterlillies)
Louvre ...closes 9.45pm Fri

Saturday
Eiffel Tower
Notre Dame
Sacre Coeur and Montmartre

Flying will be much faster and probably much cheaper. You can look up flight options using the website www.skyscanner.com. If you do plan to do a river cruise I agree with the earlier recommendation of doing it at night. The buildings you'll see look better and it frees up your whole day to explore Paris. If you plan to go up the Eiffel Tower make sure you make reservations and look into the Paris Museum Pass.

Thank you all for the information, recommendations and itineraries!!

I looked at flights from Verona to Paris and was shocked at the price.. minimum 800 euro to 1000 total for our family. That is almost 2x as much as I would be paying for our 4 night stay near the Tower. I was anticipating a discount flight for at least half that price but unfortunately have not found it. Even the train rides are estimated to be 600-700 euro at normal prices.

So it appears that I will have to delay my trip to Paris a bit longer. It was my Mother's Day request for next year. Maybe something a little closer to home and in driving distance.

Thanks again!

Just wondering if you checked other airports in your area - Venice, Milan, Bologna . . . Go to the wikipedia page for each Parisian airport. You'll find a list of all the airlines that fly there and from where.

As Chani says, check other airports that you can get to with relative ease.
I checked 11-15 May 2016 and got return fares of 75-80 euros with ...
-- Air France from Bologna
-- Vueling and easyjet from Venice
(Avoid Ryanair if you can)

We flew from Venice to Paris in May for $168 for my husband & myself. 2 hour flight, Air France. I thought it was a great deal.

Easyjet currently showing r/t fares Venice (VCE) 9:25>Paris Orly 11:05 1 Hr 40 min. 85,72 E

Return Orly 17:20>Vce 18:55 Flights are perfect for a long weekend.

The short hr train ride from Verona will not kill the budget.

Don't museum the kids out... pick 1 or 2 Grandaughter was enthralled with the Rodin garden,

Loved the river cruise, The Pompidou was also a hit. Outside only. Many areas have street mimes

that the kids all love.

The Orsey would be my pick for 1 museum, the Army museum is also fun for the kids.

Any of the Gardens, Luxeumbourg and the Tulleries are both in the center of Paris. A trip to the Trocodero

around 22:00 to watch the Eifel Tower light up. They may even like Le'Open tour hop on off bus.

Thank you everyone for the advice. :)

If we were just traveling from one destination to the next the airline prices would seem more reasonable to me. But since we would need to purchase return airfare as well the prices are more than I anticipated. We could easily drive to the Milan or Venice airport from our home if the cost savings was significant. It seems like the cheapeast prices are hitting around 80 euro, per person, per flight. I take that number and multiply it by 8 (4 persons, going and returning) the price point is around 640. Transfer that to dollars, add in airport fees, and luggage I am back up to around 800-1000 euro. My husband and I discussed it and because of the travels fees we think we will delay this trip for now. It just seems unreasonable to pay so much for a full 3 day tour of Paris.

We are considering tying Paris into a 2 week France vacation maybe summer of 2017. So, I will keep all these wonderful suggestions and maybe use them at a future point.

As for my Mother's Day gift...I think we will go to Florence instead. Short drive and more reasonably priced Mother's Day gift. Plus, moving from Rome to Verona I've passed Florence like 20x's but have yet to see it! Florence isn't too bad a second option behind Paris. ;-)

Ciao!

Sandy,

Just to clarify, the Easyjet ticket prices in my above answer were (R/T) round trip.

So not as expensive as you may have though.

You'll still have fun in Florence though it's Not Paris.