Is Paris a city to go with children? If this is a question you are asking yourself, the answer is yes. Despite being one of the most densely populated European cities, Paris is quite good to go with children.
There are parks and squares with games, many restaurants with children's menus, hotels that offer cots or interconnected rooms, and many museums and cultural spaces that have specific activities for children. Then today, What to see in Paris with children.
Parks in Paris
The best park in Paris is the Luxemburg Garden, a space of 23 hectares that Napoleon himself dedicated to children. It has a charming vintage design with an octagonal pond with 20's boats, rocking horses and a beautiful carousel. Even a puppet theater.
If your little ones like puppets, marionettes and others, Paris also offers shows of this style in Parc Montsouris, Parc Monceau, Parc du Champ de Mars, near the Eiffel Tower, and don't miss the most futuristic park and attractions in the Parc de la Villette.
Leaving the parks a bit, Paris also offers interesting forests. The city's botanical gardens are in the Jardin des Plantes, which in turn contains a charming little zoo, the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes. Towards the city limits there two forests, the Bois de Boulogne, to the west, and the Bois de Vencenneyes, to the east.
You can't miss the latter because it houses the Paris Floral Park, with many outdoor facilities and an open concert hall, in addition to the largest zoo in the capital french, the Zoological Park of Paris, and a medieval castle with a moat included, the Chateau de Vincennes.
Museums for children in Paris
Paris is a very cultural city, so it has these types of places designed for children. For example, there is the Musée de la Magie and the Musée en Herbe, the first dedicated to magic and the second dedicated to art. Both have permanent exhibitions and temporary exhibitions, activities, guided tours and workshops that children can do.
El Palais de Tokyo It also offers workshops where the little ones can get their hands on it. The municipal architecture museum, the City of Architecture and Heritage, and the well-known museum of modern art, the Pompidou Center They are also good destinations for children. The Pompidou has on its first floor a space dedicated to children between the ages of two and ten with a visual designed for their heights, and a multimedia and performing arts area for teenagers between the ages of 13 and 16.
And of course, if you don't want to stop taking them to the Louvre you can sign up and follow some of their themed tours, for example “the lion hunt”. If you're not that interested in art and your little ones are crazy about science, then Paris has a lot to offer too. For example, the Citè des Sciences, in the Parc de la Villette, with its beautiful planetarium, or the Galerie des Enfantas, within the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, a branch of the natural history museum.
El National Museum of Natural History, in the Jardin des Plantes, and the Palais de la Découverte, about to move to the Parc André Citroën, although it will be temporary as it is part of a renovation plan for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Also in the French capital is Europe's oldest science and technology museum, the Musée des Artes et Métiers, has a circuit designed for children, with an audio guide.
Theme parks in Paris
Obviously, we can also go for the classic: the Disneyland Resort Paris, which combines the classic Disneyland Park with the Walt Disney Studios Park. Here you have a little bit of everything, roller coasters, characters and playgrounds and things related to Disney characters and movies.
El Jardin d'Acclimatation It is very entertaining, it is in Bois de Boulogne, and it has 44 individual attractions that include rockets, rafting and the typical fair games. And the best thing is that you get here by taking a mini train from Porte Maillot.
If you have rented a car or don't mind moving around a bit, 35 kilometers to the north, there is the Parc Asterix, ideal to tour and enjoy when the weather is good. It has shows, attractions, games and everything is based on the most popular French comic of all: Asterix.
Cinemas in Paris
Going to the cinema is always an option, much more so when it's raining in Paris or it's very cold. For children the best is Cinéaqua, which always shows films related to the sea, in addition to having a aquarium with shark included.
En Le Grand Rex, an iconic cinema from the '30s, you can take a behind the scenes tour, stop behind the huge screen, see how it is filmed, see a recording studio or how the special effects work. Highly recommended!
And although it is not a cinema, from October to March you can enjoy a circus show in Paris with acrobats and trapezes in the Cirque d'Hiver Bouglione, founded in 1852.
Walk along the Seine
There are many offers for walks along the Seine: Bateaux-Mouches, Bateaux Parisiens, Batobus, Vedettes de Paris. The Batobus has a hop-on hop-off system, so you can get off where you want, hang out and take the next service. The same is the Vedettes de Paris, although this adds longer tours designed specifically for families with children.
You can also make a canal cruise on the Canauxrama, from the Bastille, even passing through an underground sector through dams and swing bridges of the Canal Saint-Martin on his way to the Parc de la Villette. It's great!
So far, some ideas about what to do in Paris with children. I think we have left many interesting things. Finally, Where should you stay when you travel with your family? While it is true that all Parisian neighborhoods are well connected, from 1 to 8, some are better than others for being with the family (thinking of suitcases, transfers and provisions). In this sense the 5th and the 6th (the Latin Quarter and the St-Germain), are great because they are close to the Jardin du Luxemburg, there are hotels, family restaurants and cute shops.
Having said that, How should you move in Paris with children? Using the public transport. Children under 10 years of age pay half the rates, on automatic lines, without engine man, you have great views of the route, although beware that there are stairs and many long passages that can be exhausting for the little ones. If you go with a baby stroller, the best is the bus, although not at peak times.