For the young, free and single or the hopeless romantics, Paris doesn’t need scripting. You can spend blissful days wandering the banks of the Seine, people-watching from café terraces and checking out the latest exhibitions. Unfortunately, kids don’t do idle strolling, relaxed coffees or queuing for that spontaneous must see exhibition. If you want to enjoy a trip to Paris with kids, it does require some advance legwork. Whether you go full-on military planning or mix up some planned activities with unstructured down-time, this post will help with how to plan the most memorable break in Paris.
As soon as possible
Secure a cheap travel deal
In my experience, you will get the cheapest flights and trains if you book as soon as your dates are released. Last minute cheap deals only really work for single travellers who can fill the odd spare seats or couples who can travel spontaneously. Accepting that you need to sit with your offspring and that you need time to organise your troops, getting in early is your key to success.
Airlines all have different seat release schedules. You need to check when tickets will go on sale with your chosen airline and diarise to book.
For those travelling from England, Eurostar releases tickets 120 days ahead of departure. Handily, Eurostar now allows you to change your tickets without a fee up to 7 days before departure. You just pay any difference in the ticket price.
Book your accommodation
If you are not sure whether to go hotel or self-catering, have a look at my article here on planning your trip.
With Paris, visitors get very hung up on which arrondisement (area) they want to stay in. Central Paris is not huge (compared to say London or New York) and generable walkable. The metro is frequent and easy to use, and pts all sights within around 30 minutes, regardless as to where you stay. It is generally safe, with less violent crime than many big cities. Personally, I would just pick an area with some non-touristy restaurants and cafes close by. Don’t get too hung up on which arrondisement it is.
Accommodation in central Paris is expensive and rooms are not huge (possibly an understatement). Staying a little bit out of the centre but still close to a Metro / RER line will give you a vastly cheaper stay with more space. We live to stay in Nogent-sur-Marne, a town in the suburbs on RER Line A. Just 4 stops from Gare de Lyon and 5 from Chatelet-les-Halles, you can still reach all the key sights on a short metro bus. As an added bonus, with a quick change at Vincennes, you can be at Disneyland Paris in 30 minutes from Nogent.
Buy and browse a guide book
You can do all your trip research online. However, if its your first trip, I still think reading through a guide book will give you the best idea of what you want to see and do. You can then browse online reviews to find out more about your choices.
Make a plan
Once you’ve got an idea of your must sees, start to put together a very rough itinerary of what you are going to do on each day. .
Make sure you check that each attraction is open on the day you plan to visit. For example, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays while other galleries including the Musee D’Orsay and The Rodin Museum shut on Mondays. Many restaurants still close on Mondays (certainly off the main tourist drag). Even the famous ice-creams from Berthillion can only be enjoyed from Wednesdays to Sundays…
Do think about prebooking timed entry tickets for the things you will be gutted if you miss. Having prebooked tickets will also cut down queueing. Be aware that the most popular attractions such as the Eiffel Tower do sell out rapidly once released. I suggest you set a reminder on your phone to book. It is not however the end of the world if you don’t manage to get tickets in advance. Many sites, including the Eiffel Tower, do keep some walk up slots. Others you will just have to queue for longer to get in.
Unfortunately, there is no standard ticket release period for the key Paris attractions but I’ve tried to include release dates below.
2 months before your trip
The Eiffel Tower
Tickets for the second floor and summit of the Eiffel Tower go on sale 2 months in advance on the official website. Online tickets sell out very quickly so you need to be on this. Generally, it is harder to get tickets to the summit. If these are showing as sold out for your chosen date, do check for second floor tickets.
If all else fails, you can sometimes get tickets through third party resellers such as Viator and Get your Guide, but you will pay more. The other option is to book lunch at Madame Brasserie on the first floor, or, if you are feeling flush, dinner at Jules Verne on the second. I don’t think the latter is particularly kid friendly.
Restaurant reservations
If there is somewhere you are desperate to eat, most restaurants take bookings from 2 months out. Personally, I tend to book a table for our first night. It’s then easy and quick if we arrive late. After that, we tend to just wander and look for somewhere that looks appealing. Particularly if you are eating early with kids (say 6-7pm), you should have no issues finding somewhere to eat.
90 days ahead
Although you are probably questioning the wisdom of dragging your small folks through the crowded caverns of the Louvre, if a glimpse view of the Mona Lisa is on anyone’s bucket list, timed entry can be booked 90 days in advance through their official website. Kids go free but still need timed ticket entry.
Just before
Tickets for Notre Dame release at midnight French time (just to be annoying). They are free but you can only book 2 days in advance. If you miss tickets, you can still queue for entry. Currently (Spring 2025), queues are moving quite quickly, particularly if you come early or late. However, this might change as we move into peak season.
For something a bit more macabre, you can get tickets to the Catacombs 7 days in advance. You would need to get there very early in the day for walk-up tickets.
Versailles only guarantees entry with prebooked timed tickets, which can be done on their official website. From my experience, it is quite easy to get a decent timeslot even just a few days in advance. That said, if you only have one day available to visit Versailles, I would suggest booking sooner.
