Great suggestions! OP here- Catacombes appear to be closed till further notice??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please show your kids some real history and culture rather than endless food tours, bike rides, escape rooms, cooking classes, and the other ridiculous activities that people try to pass off as “travel” these days. Dear God.

What do you qualify as real history and culture? My kids are not going to spend days looking at Renaissance art, nor are they interested in visiting church after church. We'll do some of each, but a bike ride one day sounds like a nice break from crowds.

With all due respect, then they are not ready for Europe. Y’all can ride bikes at home.

There is always a poster on threads asking about what kids enjoyed in X place in Europe who insists that you should not take kids to Europe unless they are willing to see every art museum and every religious site

My DD11 loved the Catacombs and going to the opera. She liked the exquisite beauty of Galleries Lafayette and just sitting by the Seine watching ducks and boats. She enjoyed Musée d’Orsay. I dragged her to the Louvre one evening even though she wasn’t enthusiastic and let her take the lead and she still talks about it.

She’s a great walker and we both like being flâneuses and people watching. We wander into churches or shops or cafés. She orders in French and charms the waiters. Paris is the best!

*didn't* plan well

Re: museums, one thing I would advise is to make a plan for which you want to visit and book your tickets for early time slots. I wanted to go to the d'Orsay but plan well in advance and ended up with afternoon tickets. God it was so crowded, and even with times entry it took a while to get in with security, etc.. My oldest was 9 at the time and actually likes museums but was overwhelmed almost immediately.

They really enjoyed the Eiffel Tower, Luxembourg Gardens, and eating in general- all the creperies and bakeries were a big hit. But we also spent a few days in Normandy and I think they liked that best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please show your kids some real history and culture rather than endless food tours, bike rides, escape rooms, cooking classes, and the other ridiculous activities that people try to pass off as “travel” these days. Dear God.

What do you qualify as real history and culture? My kids are not going to spend days looking at Renaissance art, nor are they interested in visiting church after church. We'll do some of each, but a bike ride one day sounds like a nice break from crowds.

With all due respect, then they are not ready for Europe. Y’all can ride bikes at home.

As an expat living in Europe (not France) I find this to be a really weird take. It's obviously country dependent but cycling in many areas is way more of a lifestyle here (e.g., my DH has a 30 min bike comute to work) and as a tourist it can be a great way to see more of an area than you could reasonably cover by walking in a shorter time. There is way more to Europe than moving from one museum/church to the next in the name of absorbing culture. If that's how you like to spend your time, great. But that's not how most European families with kids are spending their time on holiday, are they "not ready" for Europe either?

we are ex pats nearby (not based in Paris) and visited the LV foundation when they had the Hockney exhibit up last April- my kids loved it. Also the Musee D'orsay is really fun. we drove out to chateau Chantilly one day and the kids really enjoyed it, we stopped at a tiny village bistro on teh way back into Paris and it was so adorable. the French countryside little villages really are very cute- bike ride around versailles also sounds lovely.

the French are obsessed with cookies these days so eventhough its counter intuitive- id try a French style chocolate chip cookie, it was interesting to see how the taste differed and they are quite scrumptious. We also really enjoyed the catacombs so that is another good idea. The Louvre has a scavenger hunt that sounded fun- has anyone done it?? I personally like the Italian churches better plus kolm, rheims are closer for us so didn't visit ND with the kids but if your kids like gargoyles I'd include that. make sure to get reservations b/c the good bistros do fill up.
"europe" isn't really any different than anywhere else- its just everything is closer together. A cruise along the seine might be nice, remember that the weather is still rainy and chilly in April so bring rain gear. you can pop into bakeries on isle st. louis to get the ice cream and have a picnic so I wouldn't waste time in line at bertillionss if it is very long. The Japanese and Lebanese food is amazing as well if you get sick of the French food. with kids your ages, just skip the left bank entirely (its full of americans and tourist tat and Smith and sons is a much better book store than Shakespeare and co and if you dont want a play ground, no point in going to garden de Luxembourg) and head to the Marais, the falafel really is that good!! the green space at versailles is much more interesting. I actually low key kind of hate the left bank with older kids. make sure to visit the Rodin museum, the gardens will be amazing in spring.

We did a Context kids tour of the Louvre. It was expensive, but worth it. Skip the line, focused on the kids, tour guide could pivot mid tour to cater to our interests, etc.

They also loved just wandering around, grabbing a croissant or a macaron, wandering some more, etc.

They hated the bus tour.

Catacombs, Conciergerie (surprise hit), climbing the Eiffel Tower at night (we couldn't get tickets for the elevator but the kids preferred the stairs anyway), and the super-fun tiny Paris Police Museum.

^ Oh and I love the Musée de la Musique in the iffy 19th arrondissement. It looks dingy, but it's great for classical music lovers and those interested in music history.

I am originally from Paris. When I bring my dual citizen kids there, they dutifully do the museum tours and Notre-Dame and Versailles and Giverny, etc, but what really makes them happy is food. And food makes them happy wherever they travel around the world My son is into battlefields and war-related historically sites, my daughter is into zoos/aquariums/forests/natural history. We include those as well. In exchange, they accompany me to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which I love.

It's OK not to do all the highbrow stuff with kids. Love of travel is what you really want to instill. Make it fun and tailor your trips to their interests. When they're adults, they will then want to go out and explore on their own. Not everything needs to be crammed into their childhood.

Our kids are younger than yours, but they really enjoyed the playgrounds and sailboats at the Luxembourg Gardens. The George Pompidou Center is a really cool building, but I think it might be closed for extensive renovations. The bateau mouche also are fun for kids. We also did the traditional museums, but we mixed in activities that we thought the kids would enjoy and tried to avoid tiring them out by packing too much into a single day.

We took the train to Versailles. Did not do a bike ride or picnic there. But we still all enjoyed it.

And, gasp, we took the kids to Disneyland Paris…it was great!

My kids liked Catacombs and Eiffel Tower probably the best of all the things we did. And they liked going up in the Eiffel Tower, but they loved seeing the lights sparkle from the grounds at night.

The augmented reality show "Notre Dame Eternelle" was pretty interesting. There is only one location now about 30 minutes ride on the subway from the center city right at the Great Arch at La Defense.

"From January 1, 2026, the Notre-Dame Eternelle experience will be offered exclusively at the Cité de l'Histoire in La Défense. Eternelle Notre-Dame is an immersive, touring virtual reality experience that takes you to the heart of Notre-Dame's history, from its construction to its current restoration project."

https://www.eternellenotredame.com/en/pratical

We also liked a bakery tour we booked through getyourguide.com.

Anonymous wrote:If your kids happen to play tennis, the behind the scenes tour of Roland Garos is amazing. Both of my kids LOVED it.

The botanical gardens next to Roland Garos are spectacular.