Itinerary Advice

A day trip to London with two small kids sounds crazy to me.

So you are also contemplating possible day trips that don't involve a plane to Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rhine Valley and/or Rome? I think you should pull out a map and get a sense of the distance of these places to Paris. Brussels, maybe, but again with small kids, seriously? The rest are definitely not day trips.

I wouldn't rule out anything because of a language barrier - you'll manage.

Personally, I would spend one week in Paris and one week in London.

Exactly what Emily said.

And don't think there aren't a million of us around that can fill a week in both London and Paris with kid stuff. Knowing ages would help.

Ticket to Disneyland from Paris on the RER E is 7.50 euro each way for adults, children under 4 are free, 4-10 are half price. Entry tickets are what they are, check the website. Also check out the Jardin D'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne, which has kids rides, and the Luxembourg Gardens. Day trips to London, etc are not recommended, as others have pointed out. The logistics and cost would make it very trying. If you want to visit other places, pull up stakes and move the family to that location for at least 2 days.

Thank you for the advice. My kids are 12 and 10 and are very good travelers, sorry, I probably should have said that before. We weren't going to do day trips until at least the end of the first week so they can get adjusted, but definitely the second week. So from the sounds of it, the only semi-realistic options are London and Brussels, and we are going to take travel time into consideration to see if we can even do this. Also, I was thinking that if commute to other countries is more difficult, how would it be to get to say, Provence, Nice, or Versailles?

Sean, if you stay in Paris for the two weeks there are many day trips you can make within France. There is a TGV now to Strasbourg, Dijon and Rouen are easily reachable by train as short journeys and of course, Versailles, as you mentioned. A stay of a few days in Provence or on the Riviera would be possible, too, but not as day trips.

Again, please consult a map. Versailles as a day trip, yes. Nice, about a six hour train ride each way. Not exactly a day trip. Provence - that is a large area and, again 6+hours each way. London as a day trip - still no.

Actually, your kids are old enough that you really could do a day trip to London if that is your heart's desire. Earliest Eurostar from Paris and a late one back would give you 6 or 8 hours to see what you could see and the kids would probably like the idea of the train. Book way ahead of time for most economical fares.

Chartres is only about an hour from Paris, small stained glass museum that might be interesting for kids.

Both Versailles and Disneyland are easy day trips from Paris. I suggest trying to arrive for opening time for both of those, if you want to beat the crowds a little. Disneyland in Paris has two parts to it, and you can get a pass that allows you into both parts. It isn't huge, like Walt Disney World in Florida, so you can see both parts in one day if you don't need to do every single thing there.

To be honest, for me, going to Disneyland was a waste of a day in Paris, but my daughters really wanted to go, because they had been to every other Disneyland (and Disney Sea (Tokyo)) in the world. (Sad, but true.) Anyway, we do speak some French, but I don't think Disneyland in Paris would be difficult for people who don't speak French.

For something in Paris that is perhaps not quite as well known, consider visiting the catacombs, unless your kids are really easily frightened. It was one of my favourite things to see in Paris. My kids, who were older than yours at the time (15, 18, and 21) didn't really want to go at first, because they thought it would be creepy and boring, but I insisted, and they loved it.

I agree with the others that London in a day is a bit much. We added 2 1/2 days in London to the end of our Paris trip, however, and we managed to do and see quite a bit there. I found London more expensive, more crowded, and I found the people to be ruder in general (i.e. on the subway and such) than Paris, but there is still a lot of fascinating stuff to see there, if you can fit it in. (Although Parisiens have a reputation for rudeness and arrogance, I did not find that to be true at all. In fact, a couple of people there went out of their way to be helpful to us on more than one occasion.)

Sean, a daytrip to London would be fairly simple and if you buy the Eurostar tickets well in advance it can be very reasonable.
The trip is 2 hours and 30 minutes,, and its city center to city center ( flying anywhere while cheap and fast at first glance,for instance Rome is only 1.5 hours, is not as fast as you have to arrive at airports 1.5 hours early and commute to and from airports, so stick to easy trips by train)
A daytrip it Versailles is super easy.. about 45 minutes max and cost is only 7 euros for a return ticket for an adult( not sure about kids but think both yours would be adult price ) . If you go to Versailles do go early before it opens, even with a ticket or pass in hand that allows you to skip the ticket line, you cannot skip the security line and it can be very long if you arrive even 1/2 hour after it opens.. aim to arrive before it opens. Make sure you get the girls out to see Marie Antionettes Hamlet.. they will likely prefer it to the very crowded palace..

I would not consider a daytrip to Brussels. boring.. but the girls ( and you ) will likely find Brugges far more charming.. I am having trouble recalling how long journey is.. think it was less then 2 hours though.

Dublin and Rome are out as daytrips .

Language not an issue.Have taken both my kids ( on seperate trips ,, one was 11 yr old girl , other was 13 yr son) and language was no problem at all. millions of tourists pour through there every year.. its Disney.. but frankly both my kids felt one day was more then enough , and my dd felt the the LA Disney was superior. ( so did I)

I think a week in both London and Paris is very doable.. although of course you could spend two weeks in Paris and not be the least bit bored so much to see and do there. If you decide to split trip do purchase open jaw tickets into one city and out of the other.

Ps consider getting a museum pass.. September is still busy ( which reminds me you should be booking very very soon.. like yesterday.. vacancy rates for September are low as its trade show and fashion week season.) Kids are free to most sites and museums,( notable exception is the ET) and they can skip the lines with you, plus Versailles is also included in pass.

Sean,
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Since 2007 (when our children were 4, 8, and 11) and now, we have taken six trips to Europe averaging 30 days each. We are teachers, so we have the luxury of time but have to keep things as inexpensive as possible, too. I point this out only to establish that we have done a lot of what you hope to do.
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Our children love to travel and love what we do while traveling. But we have never, ever, designed our trips to cater to "child-friendly" activities. About the closest we ever come is to rest for an hour at a city park with a playground rather than at a cafe sipping coffee. We took our children to Disneyworld in Orlando in 2006, but didn't even tell them there was one outside of Paris when we spent a week there in 2009. We would never have spent $700-$1000 (tickets+train+food+souvenirs) on a day-trip activity. If the money doesn't bother you, go for it. If it does, set that much aside, then later on double it, then take your children to Orlando next year for 5 days on a package deal and do Disney right.
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As for day trips; London is doable if your intention is to wiz by the top 3-4 sites and get some photo-ops. Makes no sense at all if you want to actually see London. Versailles is easy and I would consider it a must. There are also numerous other Paris day-trips that would involve an hour or less each way by train. I would not go farther. Read the Rick Steves chapter on Paris day trips. Or read any guide book. Or just Google "Paris day trips"...
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Having said that, I see no reason at all why you would spend TWO weeks in Paris AND get fixated on seeing so many other places. Paris is wonderful, but you can see an awful lot of it in ONE week, or even 4-5 days. It would be pretty easy, interesting, and a better cultural experience for everyone, to do something like Paris for a week and Provence (or Dordogne or Normandy/Loire, or heck, even LONDON) for a week for cultural contrast. Not that you asked, but if I was tasked with planning a 2-week trip involving Paris, I would land in Paris and immediately take the TGV to Strasbourg and then the local train to Colmar (three 1/2 hours total). Spend 2 nights there recovering from jet lag and strolling the cute town, then rent a car and drive to Provence, spend 5 nights there, driving around each day to the various villages and Roman ruins, then turn the car in and take the TGV to Paris for a full week. If it was me, I would spend my family time in Provence and Paris in apartments as well, but not everyone likes "playing house" while on vacation. I do.