5 Days in Paris with School-Age Kids

1. Morning

   Nap / rest built in

   Arrive and settle. If you land in the morning, drop bags and get straight back outside — daylight is the fastest fix for eastbound jet lag, and a nap after 3pm will cost you the night.

2. Afternoon

   Walk to the Trocadéro terrace for the classic Eiffel Tower view. It's free, there's no queue, and it's the picture everyone wants. Down the hill, the Champ de Mars has room to run and a carousel at the far end.

3. Evening

   Early dinner at a brasserie — they serve continuously, so you're not waiting for a 7:30pm opening on the day everyone is most tired. Steak frites and a croque-monsieur cover most children.

1. Morning

   The Louvre, booked for opening, and out in ninety minutes. Pick three things before you go in — the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory on its staircase, and the Egyptian galleries is the combination that works best at this age — and treat everything else as a bonus. The mistake is trying to do the Louvre properly; nobody wins that.

2. Afternoon

   The Tuileries directly outside: pond, carousel, and trampolines in summer. Lunch here as the main meal of the day, at a garden kiosk or a café on the rue de Rivoli side.

3. Evening

   Back to the apartment, then something low-key. If everyone still has energy, the covered passages near the Palais-Royal are a good evening walk — and the striped Buren columns in the Palais-Royal courtyard are the most-jumped-on artwork in Paris.

1. Morning

   Cité des Enfants at the Cité des Sciences, in the 19th arrondissement. It's a hands-on science space with sessions split by age band and sold as timed slots that genuinely sell out — book before you fly. This is the day your children will still be describing in a month.

2. Afternoon

   Parc de la Villette outside: big lawns, large play structures, and enough space to burn whatever the morning didn't. It's far enough out that you shouldn't pair it with anything else.

3. Evening

   Eat near the apartment. A crêperie is the reliable choice — galette then a sweet crêpe, fast service, and it works for adults too.

1. Morning

   Jardin du Luxembourg. Rent a wooden sailboat at the pond — it costs a few euros, involves a stick, and reliably absorbs an hour from children who claim to be too old for it. The playground here is one of the largest in the centre.

2. Afternoon

   Seine boat from a nearby pier. After a walking morning it does the job of a sightseeing tour with everyone sitting down, and it covers Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower without a single argument about how much further it is.

3. Evening

   Ice cream on the Île Saint-Louis — Berthillon and the shops selling it along the main street are the traditional stop — then walk the riverbank as the light goes.

1. Morning

   The Eiffel Tower, booked online in advance, or the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution at the Jardin des Plantes if the queue or the weather says otherwise — a hall of taxidermy animals marching in procession, and free for under-18s. Both are strong endings.Book Family-Friendly Eiffel Tower Small-Group Tour on Viator

2. Afternoon

   Last lunch, then travel. Leave for Charles de Gaulle earlier than the airline's minimum; the queues there are the least predictable part of the trip.

3. Evening

   Fly home.

Book opens Viator; ages and cancellation terms are listed per tour.