Paris in Feb 2016 for 4 days

I travelled in November 2014. I recommend purchasing the Eiffel Tower tickets ahead of time, BUT you have have poor weather. In November, we did have to stand in line, I cannot say how long, perhaps around an hour, but the people watching was great!

At the Louvre, we waited in line for a short time; I could not find the underground entry as recommended by Rick. We waited at the entry where the Pyramid is, so we were surrounded on 3 sides by the beautiful building, again, not a problem at all.

I love the open air markets. I suggest the work a day one of Grenelle, which is right under the elevated Metro; it begins at the Motte-Piquet Grenelle metro site. There is a great Monoprix there with a grocery in the basement. A finer market is the President Wilson, which is across the river from the Eiffel Tower on President Wilson Avenue. You will have to google the dates, they are twice weekly. There are other markets around but I know those 2 well.

Rue Mouffetard (? Spelling) is fabulous; it is a street of small food shops and cafes; there was dancing at the base of the street on Sunday morning. There is a smaller market at the Place Monge, Monge metro stop (twice weekly).

A fun thing about going to the market is picking up food for a picnic; in November we had some warm days and you might have that in February also.

I also love the Luxembourg Gardens; they were interesting in November. It is likely they will still be lovely in February.

Enjoy

It would be a shame to buy tickets in advance for the Eiffel Tower but have the day turn out foggy or rainy. You may want to wait. February is low season.

June and Bets both have good thoughts above. I doubt if you'll find much line-waiting at the Louvre or other museums. (And I don't think the Louvre sells advance tickets, at least I never heard of it.) You might at the Eiffel Tower, but you might also want to wait till you know more about the weather before going there. An Eiffel alternative could be the Tour Montparnasse, lacking its iconic status but providing an excellent bird's-eye view that includes the Eiffel and lets you stay inside in cold weather.

I believe there's a street market in the Rue Levis near Parc Monceau, as well as those Jill mentioned elsewhere in the city.

June, Bets and Dick,

Thank you SO much for your insightful tips!!!

It's been 20 years since I've been to Paris... can't wait to explore it all over again with kids in tow.

The lines at the Louvre are for the security checks. I believe that when there are large crowds, there is a separate security line at the Pyramid entrance for those with passes and tickets. That is most unlikely in February. It's best to enter through the Carousel entrance, and walk through the underground shopping mall to the Louvre entrance. Once you are inside, there are lots of ticket agents and machines.

While going up the Eiffel Tower is an experience, there are other places with great views - Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, and Tour Montparnasse come to mind immediately. A good place to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour is from the Trocadero.

Paris is always full of tourists, but I don't think of any places there as touristy, except the block of shops near Notre Dame. . . and avoid the "tourist" restaurants - the ones near the big tourist attractions with menus in 6 languages. Little family-run restaurants in side streets are everywhere.

Have you heard of the Paris Museum Pass? You can buy it for two, four, or six days and it gives access to many of the museums and attractions in Paris. Check at http://en.parismuseumpass.com/ to see if it will save you money and if the places you want to see are covered. Another advantage of getting one is that you can make multiple visits to the huge Louvre instead of trying to cram everything you might want to see into one visit.

As Chani said the really long queues (the ones that can be long enough to be seriously annoying are at the Louvre, Orsay, the Orangerie, and especially Versailles) are for security checks and buying tickets in advance won't get you through.

Chani and Philip,

Thanks for your wonderful suggestions, very helpful!!!

Tickets for the Louvre can be purchased ahead of time, for a specific 1/2 hour entrance time and day (your kids will be free). At least in the past, the tickets have to be picked up at the department store FNAC. We like not having to purchase tickets at the museum, though I will say on our last visit, we stopped by for a couple of hours in the afternoon (in October), and there was no ticket line. Musee d'Orsay, you can buy tickets online in advance for any time on a given day, also picking up at FNAC.

One thing that I would say is a must-see is a night-time ride on a boat down the Seine. Our favorite is Bateaux Vedettes du Pont Neuf, which leaves from the north end of (guess!) the Pont Neuf.

Other smaller museums that my family has liked is the Musee Andre-Jacquemart and the Musee Marmatton. Both are located in former mansions. These museums are not so crowded, and are each located in more-residential areas. I wouldn't call either of them "must-sees," but we enjoy them.

One thing I have done with our kids is to have a macaron tasting. As we pass patisserie, we stop in and buy a couple of macaron, share them and decide what we think. Then we buy a couple more at a different patisserie and compare them to the macarons we had at the other place.

Lexma,

Great suggestions, thank you. We will definitely try to check out Musee Andre-Jacquemart especially since it's very near to the flat we are renting. Thanks much!

Kate, if you are near the Musee Andre-Jacquemart you will also be near the Carnavalet Museum. It's the history of the city of Paris, and some bits will be interesting to everyone. . . and it's free.

Sorry Chani but those two museums are nowhere near each other. One is in the 8th, while the other is in the Marais. But agree that they are both worth a visit and probably interesting for the children, too.

Thanks Lexma -- I hadn't known you can buy advance Louvre tickets at FNAC stores. This will simplify our next visit!

I also agree about the Jacquemart-Andre Museum, which isn't far from Parc Monceau. It's an elegant house filled with fine art and furniture. I believe they have several Rembrandts and maybe a Hals. Your kids will enjoy the fancy rooms. It also has a very nice sit-down restaurant if you're there at lunch time.

The Carnavalet Museum is also an excellent place to visit, but as Bets said it's in the Marais, some distance off. But that's a wonderful area to explore with the kids.

Apologies, I was thinking of the Cognacq-Jay museum.

We had booked eiffel tickets 3 mths in advance for October only to find no ticket lines and the top of the tower fogged out. So in off season I don't think you need to do that.
For the Louvre we used the museum pass which helps a lot in other places but not in the Louvre as security checks take more time than buying a ticket.
We did the St Chapelle concert even though we know nothing of Classical music and it still was great fun. As is the opportunity to see the great church at night.

Thank you all for all your wonderful suggestions. It's greatly appreciated.

I know spending 4 days in Paris is not nearly enough but I am excited my kids can experience a bit of Parisian culture!

If you get to the Eiffel Tower – say a half-an-hour – before it opens, the line is usually short. Same for the D'Orsay and the Louvre. So visit the main attractions early and do your walking around later in the day.