Paris with Teens

Without knowing what your kids are interested in, I suggest you give them a couple of good guidebooks and let them plan some of your activities and sightseeing. You will see kids this age all over Paris, dressed pretty much like in the US. If they have some basic city street smarts, they should be able to explore at least the area around your hotel on their own.

We took our teen and preteen granddaughters last summer. They had some specific things they wanted to see such as the iconic monuments. They had a specific museum and some art work they wanted to see, Musee D'Orsay as a former train station and the impressionist paintings. They loved renting bikes and riding along the Seine. They really liked fashion shopping in second hand stores. They had a blast.

Like the previous poster said, give them an assortment of visual guidebooks and some websites and let them help plan some leisure days and evenings.

Ok.. all my kids ( daughter was 11, both boys were 13 at time of trips) liked Invalids Army Museum.. ( swords, battleaxes, suits of armour.. no art.. lol ) .

My sons both considered the Catacombs.. look them up.. (get advance tickets or arrive there at least 1/2 hour before opening.. or wait for hours. .) highlights of their visits..

All my kids thought it was a blast to climb the stairs of the Eiffel Tower ( the views going up through the legs is pretty cool).. ( and you can take elevator down) ..

My daughter loved the Shoah ( Holocaust) Museum .. she had just finished reading a few books about the Holocaust , so it was moving for her ( and me). Not same as Shoah Memorial.. its a museum.

My daughter loved that we saw a special exhibit of Yves St Laurent fashions at the Musee Decortif Arts ( by Louvre) .. look up if any special exhibits are in town when you go.. she also liked seeing the Xian Warriors exhibit years ago.. so do check to see whats in town.

All kids loved climbing the towers of Notre Dame , if you do this.. arrive BEFORE they open.. their line moves very slowly so you want to be in line early.. they only let about 20 people up at once as stairs are so narrow and windy .

And finally.. look at doing a Fat Tire Bike Tour.. the night one includes a boat cruise.. I have done all the tours ( over many years not one visit ) and they are fun and safe.. and not strenuous.. ( trust me.. I am not sporty at all!!)

Thank you everyone. I'll get them to look at some guidebooks and see what they like. I know they are very excited for the bakeries. Teen boys do a lot of thinking with their stomachs.

Also consider the Science Museum at la Villette. Lots of interactive stuff and the younger visitors seemed to be having fun. You can get there by metro or by boat on the Canal St Martin.

Our 10 year old granddaughter made it her goal to go to the boulangerie every morning on our street to select breakfast pastries and the day's baguettes. We were in a local neighborhood in an apartment. She even worked up her courage to speak French to the clerk midway through the week we were there.

They also enjoyed looking for a street crepe vendor for a snack while out walking or bike riding.