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Paris tour and teen itinerary input

Hi; my family, including 16 year old, will be traveling to Amsterdam and Paris in April (I’m listing my full draft itinerary below). My son is very sporty, has a moderate interest in history but is not interested in art. My husband and I both have a high interest in history. A few questions:

  • Does anybody have either group tours or private tour guide recommendations- somebody who will be engaging for teens?
  • Is Eiffel Tower better at night or day? Better to book direct or through a 3rd party? Any restaurants near there with a view?
  • Are there any restaurants you recommend overall? My husband has food allergies so we need places willing to accommodate. We are staying in the 6th arrondissement.
  • Any other feedback on my draft itinerary (I will cross post in the Amsterdam forum too).

Thank you!

  • Day 1 - Arrive Amsterdam — Hop on / off bus or boat
  • Day 2 - canal tour; Anne Frank house; foodhallen; A’dam lookout (or, city tour?)
  • Day 3 - Keukenhoff
  • Day 4 - Ajax tour; resistance museum; tbd - Van Gogh museum
  • Day 5 - early lunch; 1pm train to Paris; night Seine ride
  • Day 6 - Big Bus hop on / hop off OR city tour; Eiffel Tower; walk around Le Marais
  • Day 7 - Catacombs and Le Musée de la Liberation de Paris; maybe Les Invalides Musee and walk around Latin quarter
Posted by
4273 posts

We will be in Paris in April and I was looking at ParisMuse.com for tours. They have quite a few that are geared towards teens and look very interesting and fun.
We are going to book the tower directly on their website but they only book 60 days out. I have a reminder on my calendar when to book.

Posted by
488 posts

I would not do HoHo bus. Paris is so great to walk around. Either following something like walking tour in RS guide or with an organized walking tour.

Their are also some cool Roman and Medieval sites to track down.

Posted by
2710 posts

Good idea to book directly with the Eiffel Tower, avoid 3rd parties. I will echo that the HOHO bus for Paris should be avoided.

Les Ombres has a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. You should book several weeks in advance. Monsieur Bleu at Palais de Tokyo also has excellent ET views.

The Catacombs and les Invalides together take most, if not all, of one day.

I do not like to make restaurant recommendations without knowing your expectations: budget window in euros, for what allergies specifically must a restaurant be accommodating, or what food you are trying to avoid?

Posted by
42 posts

Thank you so much! We will avoid the hop on bus so definitely tour guides are what I will look for. I will look at those links below. Any private guides you would recommend?

For restaurants, my husband can’t eat gluten or eggs (but I do!), we like high quality food (at home we don’t eat preservatives and despise restaurant chains), and eat most food types except for sushi / raw. We love good, fresh food but my son is not super adventurous. Probably looking at mostly moderate prices for dinner and lunch lower cost to moderate.

Thank you!

Posted by
3 posts

We went to France / Paris for Christmas and New YEars with our 16-year son for 12 days. The highlights for our teen were:

  • shopping and people watching on the Champs-Elysees
  • shopping and people watching everywhere else!
  • Musee Le L'armee
  • Mont St. Michel
  • Versaille
  • Dale Booth Beaches of Normandy Tour (but you won't have enough time with only 3 days in Paris)
  • Eiffel Tower (we had tickets for 7 PM - absolutely beautiful time to be there - booked direct for advance tickets - line up for those without advance tickets was posted as 2-hours+). Quite enjoyed the walk down.

I can't advise re: catacombs as it didn't make our Top 10 list. We did visit the Louvre, Latin Quarter, Orsay, Arc D'Triumph, etc.

With only three days, I recommend that you book all of your activities in advance; you don't want to waste any more time than necessary standing in lines.

Posted by
8570 posts

With so little time I would not waste it on HOHO buses or boats -- t hey suck time and you wait endlessly if you use the HOHO feature -- they are particularly awful in Paris. You are doing the canal boat in Amsterdam which is great -- why would you waste your other day on another boat HOHO? both cities are fabulous for walking. Figuring out what you want to see and wander.

My first visit to Amsterdam was in the spring of 61 and I still have vivid memories of strolling over canals and barges filled with flowers. Beautiful city. Wander a bit and enjoy it.

Posted by
14771 posts

"Day 7 - Catacombs and Le Musée de la Liberation de Paris; maybe Les Invalides Musee and walk around Latin quarter"

To me Day 7 is too much. If you are going to skip the HoHo bus on Day 6, I'd do the Les Invalides/Army Museum and the Eiffel Tower in the AM, then walk around the Marais in the afternoon. What day of the week is Day 6?

Any Harry Potter fans in the group? There was actually a Nicholas Flamel and you can see his house in the Marais at 51 Rue de Montmorency. (At least I think it's classified as still being in the Marais? If not... it's close)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Flamel

Posted by
2710 posts

Probably looking at mostly moderate prices for dinner and lunch lower cost to moderate.

Please, please put this in euros. Unfortunately, Paris is a big city where moderate prices mean vastly different things to different people. There is no point in recommending restaurants that will be of no interest to you.

Posted by
10241 posts

Eiffel Tower (we had tickets for 7 PM - absolutely beautiful time to be there -

Of course, I am sure you are aware, but just as a reminder: being at the Eiffel Tower at 7 pm in December is rather different from being at the Eiffel Tower at 7 pm in April...

Posted by
2161 posts

Hi, sounds like you are planning a nice trip! Paris is a great city for walking around and absorbing the atmosphere. Definitely book tickets for the ET on the official website in advance. Either day or evening is fine. Napoleon’s Tomb and the military museum are just a 15-20 minute walk from the ET so you could do both the same day. The catacombs are very cool, buy tickets in advance and get there early. Another suggestion is Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It’s a very interesting place to wander and take some great photos. There are tons of cafes and bistros that will fit your requirements for mid-priced meals. Menus with prices are posted outside. The weather should be nice in April. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Posted by
87 posts

I have a moderately sporty son, who will also be 16 by this summer when we travel to France--and one thing we're planning is a tour of PSG stadium. Not sure, but in April you may even be able to watch a game if he's into soccer (football).

We're finding that a number of tour guides (Paris Walks, Context Tours) advertise that they have some tour guides who are experienced with leading tours for children or teens--but those are private tours.

Posted by
11507 posts

When I took my very active 14 yr old son to Paris he enjoyed most :

Bike tour of Paris ( Fat Tires bike tours )
Climbing the STAIRS up Eiffel Tower ( my mission was always to tire him out lol ) - the views going up stairs are pretty wild .
The catacombs - I guess the weird factor appealed - especially since he was so sick of museums and churches by then ( we had a three week visit )

The one museum he did really enjoy was Invalids army museum -

French food isn’t as odd as many people fear - your son can always fall back on some common offerings of roast chicken , steaks ( well might be hard if he only likes them well done ) , and there are lots of Italian places he’d likely like .

Posted by
42 posts

Thank you all so much! So many good suggestions, I’m going to spend this weekend planning! I might look at PSG stadium, I wasn’t thinking that initially, since we are going to Ajax and Amsterdam, and have so little time in Paris, but I will check! As far as meals, we are somewhat flexible on price because we need places that can support the allergies and I am a foodie, if I had to pick a ballpark, target spend, I would say <60 euros (give or take) per person for dinners but we are ok spending more on a meal if it’s really worth it. Lunch we would like to spend less! Thanks again everybody!