Paris or Barcelona with 1 year old!!

[Scarlett175]

Hi knowledgeable mumsnetters,

We are looking to go away in June for long weekend (4 nights) to celebrate 10 year wedding anniversary, with our DD who will be 14 months by then.

Initially we were thinking Paris (we went there for honeymoon) but have read a lot of comments that its very baby un-friendly?? that would be our first choice, thinking either self catering or a special B&B (Alistair Sawday style) does anyone have any recommendations for such places not far from the Louvre etc

Or would it be wiser to try somewhere totally different in which case maybe Barcelona?? People seem to say its very baby/child friendly, is this really the case??

PS, no close family to leave DD with, we know its not everyones idea of romance but we are happy to take her along with us :)

We went to Barcelona with DD when she was 6 months old - it was absolutely fine, we took her to lots of cafes and restaurants and there was always no problem. And quite often the waiters / waitresses coo'd over her.

You probably already know this, but the Spanish tend to eat very late in the evening (eg 10pm!), compared to English people, and we chose to stay in a little apartment with a kitchen, so we could eat our main meal at lunchtime, and then have soup etc in the evenings after DD had gone to bed.

She also developed a rather high temperature when we were there, and we took her to the nearest pharmacy (at 9pm at night!) and they spoke enough English to reassure us and to tell us where the local hospital was if we got more worried during the course of the night. Our guide book said that pharmacists often give medical advice for that kind of thing. (she was fine by the way - just some kind of unexplained bug).

Also, Barcelona was lots of fun and lots to do. I think you could definitely fill up 4 nights!

Can't really recommend a romantic place to stay, we just googled "barcelona apartments"...

We took DD to Paris when she was 2 months, and have been back a number of times over the years (DCs are 4 and 6 now) and never had any problems! Cafes and restaurants all seem very friendly, with many doing kids meals, or a half portion of adults. The Eiffel Tower is impressive at any age!

We usually stay here - www.booking.com/hotel/fr/pierre-vacacnces-city-paris-tour-eiffel.en.html

Apartments a 10-15 walk from the Eiffel Tower.

Barcelona, the zoo is amazing, lovely parks, plenty to see on las ramblas