Paris with Kids: A Family Guide to the City of Light
Four days in the 11th, the parks the locals send their toddlers to, and the one museum that actually lets you breathe.
- Best season
- April to June, September to October
- Daily budget, family of four
- €180 to €250
- Recommended duration
- 4 to 5 days
- Getting around
- Metro plus walking, stroller-friendly
- Kid-friendliness
- ★ ★ ★ (Very kid-friendly)
I want to be honest. The first time we took the kids to Paris, I read every blog and packed every list and we still spent the first afternoon arguing about pastries on a kerb in the 4th. The second time was better. The third trip, this year, finally felt like a holiday. This is the guide I wish someone had handed me before that first chaotic afternoon.
Where to stay
Skip the 1st and the 8th. They're beautiful but they're tourist arteries, which means stroller traffic, queues, and very little to do after dinner that isn't a shop. Stay in the 11th instead. It's residential, the cafés are full of actual Parisians, and the playgrounds are quietly excellent. Square Maurice Gardette has a sandpit that has occupied my children for entire mornings.
Getting around
The Metro is faster than you think but harder than you remember. Strollers are workable on Lines 1, 14, and most of 9, brutal on the older lines. We walk far more than we plan to. Buy a Navigo Easy card on arrival, top it up at any station, and ignore the apps trying to sell you anything else.
Where to eat (with small humans)
Parisian restaurants are quietly very kind to children if you arrive at the right time. Aim for the 7pm seating and ask for a table by the window so they can people-watch when patience runs out. Du Pain et des Idées for breakfast pastries, Septime La Cave for an early dinner the parents will actually remember, and Pierre Sang on Oberkampf for a longer evening when the grandparents take a shift.
The museum question
The Louvre is a mistake with small children. The Orsay is closer to manageable. Our actual favourite is the Musée de l'Orangerie. It's small, it's full of Monet's water lilies, and you can walk the whole thing in forty-five minutes before anyone has a meltdown. Book the first slot of the day online, walk in, walk out, and reward yourself with hot chocolate at Angelina across the gardens.
