Tips for sightseeing in Paris

For first time visitors, I often recommend they take one of the Seine river cruise boats (Bateaux Mouches). The cruise gives you a good sense of the "lay of the land" and helps you get your bearings. You will see many of the sights you describe from the boat. As for getting around Paris, nothing beats the metro. Buy a "carnet", which is a book of 10 tickets, which will get you a slightly better price per ticket. Good luck. Have fun!

I think you need a guide book or a map of Paris to help you visualize where Notre Dame is, for example, in relation to the Louvre, and so on. Without a visual aid you will never get a feel for the city and will be trailing 3 youngsters in and out of metro stations when perhaps a short walk would get you where you want to go.

While I like the Metro for fast trips from place to place I prefer the good old slow bus. You get a good feeling for the layout and you get to see the sights as you travel around. I have also walked miles in the city and prefer that most times.

I almost always start at Notre Dame. There can often be a big line but it moves quickly. Near Notre Dame on Ile de Cite is the Sacre Cour, a church which is missed by many because it is completely surrounded by the Ministry of Justice. It was built to house a supposed thorn from the crown of Christ and features the entire Bible in stained glass. It is like no other church in Europe. In both world wars the windows were removed and buried, I think. The line for tickets to the Eiffel Tower is always terrible. You can but tickets in advance and should do so or expect to wait possibly hours in line. They also have an app you can download to give yourself a guided tour. I think where you stay can impact how easily you see everything. My personal preference, in order: St. Germain/Latin Quarter; Opera District; Montparnase/Gobelins. I did not like staying in the Arc de Triumph area and would not like to be in the Eiffel Tower area either. Montmartre, once cheap has become trendy. I think it would be a great place to stay but not the best base for seeing the city. A good guidebook will give you a good touring strategy for one, two, three, or more days. You can skip the things you don't want to do. There are a number of large parks or "gardens" in Paris. Plan on visiting for a picnic or just a rest so the kids can rest and run around a bit.

Sacre Coeur is several miles from Notre Dame up on top of a big hill. St Chapelle isn't that far away, however.

Try taking a hop-on/hop-off bus your first day. That will help you get oriented plus provide you with transportation to most of the sites.

A good guidebook will help you with your planning. One thing I particularly like about the Rick Steves books are his tips for doing things to make touring easier, such as using a different entrance than the pyramid to enter the Louvre to avoid long lines. As mentioned, a good map will help you see the proximity of things to each other. There are many bridges on the river, so a lot of things you might want to see will be very walkable to each other. As for getting around, if you can't walk somewhere, instead of being underground on the metro, try using the batobus. It is a boat-bus with stops on both sides of the river. It essentially does the same route as the tourist boats, but rather than a non-stop trip with commentary it functions like a bus, letting you on and off. A multi day pass isn't a bad deal.

Ed is right. I meant St. Chappelle. But go ahead and go up the funicular and see the Sacre Cour while you're there!

You didn't ask about kid friendly things to do but thought I'd send you this thread from a couple weeks ago with some good ideas :)

I would get a good guide book. I hear Rick Steves' has a decent one.

I cant imagine visiting a City for a few days without a good map. Enables you to spot where things are and whats around them. And the Hop on, Hop Off bus tour helps me decide what spots to go back to, and what i can skip. However, as long as you do some grouping, the Metro system is an easy way to get to all the sights... that and walking

Try a Fat Tire Bike Tour. The night time tour is the great. They meet at the "sud" or South leg of the Eiffel Tower at I think 7pm all or most evenings. Short walk to the bike shop and away you go. You won't regret it.

I will also throw out a plug for the HoHo bus. The kids will like it because they get ear buds and can listen to a "tour" in various languages. I recommend getting on and riding for a run through the line so you can get a lay of the land and figure out what you want to do next. Also, if it's a hot summer day and the kids are tired, this is a good way to get them some rest.

I just commented on a Munich thread about how great Sandeman FREE tours are and they have tours in Paris as well. (No they don't pay me to advertise!) We've taken their Free walking tour in Paris several times (different guide provide a different experience) and we enjoy everytime. The tour is 4 hours and covers the "center" pretty well. Places we wouldn't have discovered otherwise. You just tip the guide whatever you're happy with at the end. Plenty of people walk away without tipping, which I think is rude, but no pressure to pay.