Where we stayed, ate, shopped and explored over two nights and three days in Paris with three children.
Kids’ ages when we travelled: 12, 10 + 5
I did a decent amount of research before our trip. I read posts, asked friends for recommendations, checked reviews and guides etc., but actually there weren’t as many thorough, step-by-step guides as I’d imagined – none that fitted exactly what we wanted to do. So I thought I’d share our actual itinerary.
We didn’t do Disney. I’ll say that now. We wanted to just do Paris this time.
One thing that massively helped me was my best friend ChatGPT – with the itinerary and working out what made sense to do when geographically. The other was the fact that my husband speaks French, which is very handy when you want to ask something or buy Metro tickets.
DAY 1
10.31 – Eurostar to Paris
We deliberately booked a Eurostar that wasn’t too early, as we didn’t want to be exhausted before we’d even arrived. It got into Gare du Nord at 2pm French time, so we took a taxi straight to our Airbnb – they’d kindly allowed us to check in slightly earlier than the usual 3pm.
TIP: Book an Uber from Gare du Nord rather than queueing for a station taxi, which will probably be more expensive. We didn’t do this, but were later told we should have.
3pm – Airbnb
We loved our Airbnb. I had originally looked at hotels but couldn’t find anything lovely and within budget for our family of five. Plenty for four…
We only booked our trip a month or two beforehand, but there were still quite a few good Airbnb options. We booked THIS ONE purely because it looked great, had a central location and had so many good reviews.
I would happily return. Not only was it a great set-up, aesthetically pleasing and spotless, but it felt really safe — tucked away in a little courtyard off a main road, so it was quiet too.
They’d also stocked the fridge with water and Coca-Cola and it had everything we needed, so we didn’t have to buy any of those annoying little things like washing-up liquid.
The hosts were easy to contact and messaged to check we were enjoying it and ask if there was anything we needed. 10/10.
4pm – Galeries Lafayette + The Jellycat Patisserie
My children LOVE Jellycats. This was one of the things they really wanted to check out.
Galeries Lafayette, where you find the Jellycat Patisserie, was only a 10-minute walk from our Airbnb, so we made it our first stop – mainly so they’d stop asking about it. Unfortunately, the full experience was closed for renovation, but you could still buy all the coveted must-haves. We did know this in advance, so I’d pre-warned them.
Then we went up to the Galeries Lafayette roof terrace, where you get a great view across Paris and we had our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.
We then went for a walk because I’d seen that one of the oldest sweet shops in Paris, À la Mère de Famille, wasn’t too far away. They had the most aesthetically pleasing ice pops I’ve ever seen, but in hindsight we probably should have just headed back to the Airbnb. It added about another 30 minutes of walking that the five-year-old could have done without.
We had to have a boulangerie pitstop.
7pm – Dinner at La Fontaine de Mars
All the reviews and advice I’d read said: don’t book too much when doing a city break with young children and keep your expectations low.
But we wanted to have one lovely French dinner, so I’d booked La Fontaine de Mars for an early 7pm dinner on the first night.
It was such a beautiful place to eat, the food was delicious – even though the kids barely ate their petits steaks because they said they were pink, which I fully expected to happen – and the staff were brilliant with the children and with us as a family.
We lasted just over an hour and then headed home before our big exploring day…
DAY 2
10am – Trocadéro
We got the Metro to Trocadéro, which was made considerably easier by my French-speaking husband…
I’d been told you get some of the best views of the Eiffel Tower from Trocadéro, so we headed there first thing. It was a good shout. The light was beautiful.
We took all the usual tourist photographs, purchased keyrings, I ❤️ Paris T-shirts etc., then strolled down towards the tower.
We didn’t go up it. I kind of wish I’d pre-booked that too, although equally it was really hot and there were queues even if you had booked.
The other thing I’d almost booked for this morning was to see the Mona Lisa, but I didn’t realise that during the holidays you need to book well in advance, so that wasn’t an option.
We wandered through the gardens – this was actually the only part of the trip I hadn’t properly pre-planned – found a cute coffee shop (Constant), a few things to entertain the kids and then had pizza for lunch in a random place!
In all honesty we had too much time in this area – so probably could have squeezed in the Mona Lisa first at 10am if I had pre-booked it – or booked the Tuk Tuk for 1pm instead….
2-4pm – Tuk Tuk tour
I’d read Samantha Silver’s Paris guide (which is great and worth a read) and she highly recommended doing a Tuk Tuk tour. I wasn’t sure about it, then panic-booked one a few days before we left.
I’m so glad we did.
The kids loved it – although it’s actually more of a fancy big electric golf buggy than a Tuk Tuk – and our guide was so lovely and knowledgeable.
We saw all of the main sights while the five-year-old had a nap and the rest of us got to rest our legs. Such a great shout with kids.
Ours fitted up to six passengers and it was worth every penny.
We booked THIS ONE.
4pm – Le Marais
We were dropped off in Le Marais and got the viral ice creams from Amorino.
I’d have liked to look in a few shops – Le Marais is probably my favourite area of Paris – but the children very much did not want to do that.
So we headed to the one shop we’d all pre-agreed on: Merci.
It’s an independent concept store and essentially the coolest little department store, with fashion, home, lifestyle, books, a kids’ area and brilliant displays. I wanted everything in the place.
After this, we were done.
We booked an Uber back to base and then I took the older two to Sephora because they were desperate to visit, even though it’s exactly the same as the ones in London. But to just my eldest asking when we were going there every five minutes.
We popped to a supermarket and had an easy dinner before an early night.
I had initially planned on booking a river cruise for that evening too, but thought we’d see how everyone was doing and book it last minute instead.
So glad I didn’t pre-book it. We were all exhausted. Low expectations and all that.
DAY 3
9am — Bags to Gare du Nord
Checkout wasn’t until 11am, but we got an Uber to Gare du Nord early and left our suitcase there – €7.50 for the day and so useful – then got the Metro to Luxembourg.
10am – Breakfast
We ate breakfast at Le Rostand, opposite the Jardin du Luxembourg. Petits déjeuners all round. Lots of restaurants offer these: you get juice, a hot drink, bread, croissant and jam.
11am – Jardin du Luxembourg
We crossed the road to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which was one of my favourite places we visited.
They have the sweetest little wooden boats that you hire for around €8 for half an hour and sail across the pond with a stick. It’s so pretty to watch and the children loved it.
The rest of the park is beautiful too. The youngest had a pony ride and there was a brilliant playground.
There’s an Angelina just off the park – famous for its hot chocolate – so obviously we tried that.
There’s also a Ladurée nearby, so we stocked up on macarons.
1pm – Smallable
We then walked to Smallable, one of my favourite places to shop online for kidswear – and for myself now, too. They have the best brand edits, so I really wanted to visit the actual store.
It didn’t disappoint. And the children loved it almost as much as I did.
We bought more Jellycats, colouring pens for the journey home and they showed me some new-season pieces they liked.
Before getting an Uber back to the station for our 4pm train – we needed to be there at 2.40pm – we nipped into Le Bon Marché, which nearly tipped everyone over the edge with the extra walking.
I’d crazily thought I might be able to squeeze in a quick Sézane try-on. That was not to be.
Next time I’ll go back with a friend. Or solo. For a shopping trip.
WHAT I’D DO DIFFERENTLY
All in all, it was a hugely successful first city break for the five of us.
I’m really glad I made a plan and pre-booked a few things – but equally glad I didn’t book too much.
I do wish we’d seen the Mona Lisa, mainly because I haven’t seen it either. Next time…
Everything else I’d pretty much do exactly the same again. If we’d had one more day, I’d definitely have added a river cruise. I heard amazing things about some of the private ones, although they are a bit spenny…
FAMILY RESTAURANTS I ALSO HAD ON MY LIST
We loved La Fontaine de Mars, but I almost didn’t manage to get a table – ours was a cancellation.
These were some of the other restaurants I researched and would have booked if they’d been available / we’d had longer:
Chez Janou: Home of the famous chocolate mousse. This was fully booked otherwise would have been my first choice.
Bouillon Chartier: This was recommended and sounds fun. Good food, authentic and affordable. This was where we’d planned to eat before the cancellation came up for La Fontaine de Mars.
Le Procope: One of the oldest cafe’s in Paris. I wasn’t sure if they had a children’s menu but apparently they are family friendly.
Pink Mamma: Great but Italian and I really wanted our one proper dinner out to be French.
ALSO ON MY PARIS LIST FOR NEXT TIME…
A private boat cruise like THIS ONE.
The Mona Lisa, of course.
Le Jardin d’Acclimatation – a beautiful old-world-style amusement park in central Paris – apparently.
Museums. I really wanted to see the Fujiko Nakaya cloud exhibition but thought it would be too much and that we’d make the most of the good weather and spend time outdoors. But there are so many great museums in Paris that are apparently amazing for children so it would be great to explore them next time.
I hope this helps if you’re thinking about a city break in Paris with kids. Three days felt surprisingly doable – enough time to see a lot without trying to cram absolutely everything in.
My biggest takeaway: make a plan, but don’t book every minute of it.
