Paris Itinerary in December

Lennon, How old are your kids? Do they have the energy for all the walking? Will you be walking slow enough to appreciate the the sights, people, various neighborhoods, etc.... I think it's probably a bit much. I would settle for exploring a few neighborhoods and save my energy for the next leg of the trip. By all means make sure to have some fun w/your family.

I agree that this is a lot of walking with kids and you have to keep in mind the weather conditions during the winter. I'd prioritize all the sites you want to visit and do as much as you can that is still relaxing for your family. There's little to enjoy if you're all exhausted and lose sight of the sites and scenery on your trip. I'll be going this Christmas as well with my husband and 9 mth old baby...we're going to take it easy and just stroll the streets in the neighborhoods we love there -- but we've been there many times before and plan on going in future. I can appreciate you'll want to do a lot if this is the last time in the near future you'll be in Paris with the family -- but that's even more a reason to have memories of a wonderful Paris, not of it being a tiring trip. Hope you have lots of fun!

I think your itinerary is great and very do-able. My son has been to Paris w/us every year since he was 11 yrs old and we've always done this much walking and much more in a day. The Jardin de Luxembourg is one of our absolute favorite places in all of Paris. They have a really great playground there which your kids might like. Walking all over Paris is our favorite thing to do there....Enjoy!

Yes, the ages of the children...and the weather ..will be factors...Paris in december pretty much like Portland or Seattle. I would skip the 2 "jardins"...in winter they're bare trees, gravel paths and empty metal chairs. My favorite thing to see/do with winter guests is arrive at Trocadero after dark to see the Eiffel Tower in full glitter.

Thank you all so much for your input. Our kids are 10 and 7 (two girls) and they went with us in the summer of 2005 on our trip to Amsterdam, Germany, Venice and Slovenia. They absolutely love Europe (Venice was their favorite) and really enjoy walking through cities and towns and love hiking as well so I don't think that all the walking will be too much for them.

We tried to coordinate our itenerary to concentrate the different walks in the same areas and are taking the metro between more distant locations, but of course if they get tired we will adjust our itenerary accordingly.

We had a pretty hectic schedule for our 3 night stay in Venice in 2005, and even with occasional rain showers we got most of it done without wearing ourselves out. Our kids have a lot of energy. My wife and I will probably wear out before the kids, but we have been to Paris about 6 times. This is the kids first time to Paris and they are very excited.

Thanks again for you thoughts everyone!

As for the rest of our trip, after Paris we are taking the train to Strasbourg for one night to see their legendary Christmas Market and Petit France.

Then we are taking the train to my Mom's house in Ansbach, Bavaria. We will be there for a week, driving to the Christmas Markets in Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuhl and Nurnberg (all within 30 miles of our home base at my Mom's house). Time to relax a bit and go at a more leisurely pace.

From there we are taking the train to Salzburg for 4 nights over Christmas. Then we fly home. 18 days total. Can't Wait!

Thanks again for all your input and suggestions!

I get exhausted just reading your day 3. Those are pretty long walks you're planning. I'd skip the Tuileries at that time of the year. I'd probably also skip walking up the Champs Elysees in favor of spending more time in a neighborhood.

As I read this, it seems your kids will be seeing "big city" Paris and not so much of neighborhood Paris. Are they going to enjoy the Place de la Concorde, for example?

Just a suggestion when traveling with kids: go online or to a book store and research things to do in Paris with children. That way, some of your adventures will be uniquely "kids". Especially fun for girls: there is a doll museum- as I remember, it was near the Pompidou center, and not as boring as its suggests! Going to the top of things for the view: Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Pompidou and of course the Eiffel Tower- using the stairs is always a challenge! If your girls are into scary things, the Catacombs is actually fascinating...also worth researching is where to go to catch the kids roller blading, etc. We found some near Notre Dame, on the bridge going over to St. Michel- they had set up cones and were doing speed skating, skating in and around the cones...anyway, something that kids would get a kick out of. Lots of times, these unexpected, fun, lets-sit-and-watch things just happen, so be sure to allow times to just stop and observe Paris in action! Have fun!

We plan to just walk by the Tuleries Garden rather than spending any time there, and we only want to show the kids the obelisque at Place de la Concorde. They are interested in Egyptian artifacts.
We will probably only walk up a portion of the Champs Elysses as well.

The kids love to walk and explore, and we will be making ample use of the metro to get from place to place as well. This itenerary is basically a guideline. We will adjust it as necessary when we are there.

If your kids love Egyptian artifacts, you might exchange time in the Louvre for time in the Orsay.

Hi Lennon,

I have two suggestions:

(1) Have a look at the walks in "PARISWALKS" by Alison and Sonia Landes (who are Paris residents).

(2) Check out the ten things in Paris one should not miss. Just click on this:...

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/08/10_insanely_del.html

bon voyage! P.

Thanks again everyone for all your advise.

This is a great place to go to get good information and to meet fellow travel junkies!