Tips for a whistle stop tour of Paris with the kids

[glenthebattleostrich]

My friend and I have booked to go to eurocamp just outside Paris at the end of the month on a couple of inset days.

We are driving from Calais to the camp on Thursday, visiting Disneyland Paris on Friday and Paris itself on Saturday.

Any tips for a one day trip to Disney? We are only doing one park, no fastpasses.

What is the best way to do a day in Paris? The children want to see the main sites, is a bus tour best or should we do a river tour too?

The kids are 7 (almost 8) and 9.

Bus tour is a good idea if you're not confident with the metro. However Paris is really a very small city and you can do it in a day!

For highlights with kids I'd deffo do Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, walk down Champs Elysée, bus or Metro further down to the Tuilleries for a picnic, then the pyramid at the Louvre, Notre Dame. head to Montmartre at dusk for spectacular atmosphere and views of Paris sparkling.

There is a very good dorling kindersley book about visiting Paris with children. I found it invaluable as it tells you where there are little play parks, toilets etc near the sites and also has facts that kids like to hear about which makes it more enjoy
able for them but it's a good general guidebook too www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Guide-Paris-Eyewitness-Travel/dp/0241306558/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?hvlocphy=1006868&hvnetw=g&keywords=paris+kids+guide+book&hvadid=335548599749&qid=1560663914&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrpLoBRD_ARIsAJd0BIWYsT00-MIc_nSN2YhlhWla0z6wsd2Z0pA8UpTIsD7mNKmFBgFKWcgaAo6AEALw_wcB&s=gateway&hydadcr=20075_1779321&hvpos=1o1&hvdev=m&hvqmt=b&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=kwd-662681074713&adgrpid=66942592705&hvrand=11833226832855666759&sr=8-3

The river boat is good and stops at the Tour Eiffel and the Louvre.

Notre Dame is closed for obvious reasons.

I think on a Saturday in tourist season you might struggle to do all the things suggested by the PP in a single day.

Make sure you book for the Tour Eiffel and the Louvre to reduce queueing time.

The metro is easy to use (get the RATP app for route suggestions) and if you buy tickets in batches of 10 it costs under €1.50 per single journey.

Definitely get some sort of transport round Paris either a hop on hop off bus or a boat. We didn't and our kids were knackered and didn't enjoy it, especially after a long day at Disney the day before. Also the Eiffel Tower queues are epic, we gave up in the end and went for ic cream next to the tower instead.

We managed the arc de triomphe, Eiffel Tower, walk to the Louvre and then the kids had had enough.

I did a whistle stop tour yesterday. Admittedly not with kids but our itinerary was -
Arrive, go for lunch. Hop on the batobus which is like the Thames Clipper, for €17 you get a 24 hour hop on hop off ticket.
Takes you up the Seine and stops at points like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.
We got off at the Eiffel Tower, walked around as you can't walk under it any more, across the Seine for a better view then walked to the Champs-Elysee for macarons at Laduree, walked up to the Arc De Triomphe and back on the Metro back to Gare Du Nord.

We were with people who had never been before and their only request was to see the Eiffel Tower. I'd have probably gone up to Montmartre and taken a look in Sacre Coeur.

The boat is a great way to see the city, but it's a lot of time looking up, I probably would have preferred a hop on hop off bus if I'm honest just to be more at eye level. My favourite way to explore Paris though is on foot, which isn't always possible with kids.

Get to Paris early for a bus tour. Get a map and mark two or three things you see that you want to have a better look at. Have lunch somewhere then vist the one or two you (or the children) have picked.

If you are upto it you could then do an evening boat tour. Some incorporate dinner.

Have fun

Brilliant, thanks. I've ordered the book.

If you want to see characters at Disney book a meal at cafe Mikey, a short meal with lots of characters and no need to queue for ages.

The stand out highlight for my DC (6 and nearly 9) in half term was the catacombs.
They also enjoyed the Eiffel Tower. We had timed tickets and the queues at the bottom weren't too bad at all. But the crush at the top was awful. In fact when we got back down they had shut the very top level due to overcrowding.

Also, don't underestimate how tiring it all is. Depending on how much you try and cram in at Disney, and how late you stay (the park is open until 11pm) you'll likely all be pretty tired going into a day in Paris.