5 Days in Paris with School-Age Kids
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Budget
€2,800–€5,400 for a family of 4
Mid-Range
Group estimate
Luxury
Varies by resort
Best Months
May, Jun, Sep
Ready to plan
Book the trip pieces
This is the practical next step: check family-room availability, reserve age-friendly activities, and pack the gear this itinerary assumes you have.
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Make it fit your family
Adjust this Paris, France itinerary
Slower pace
Treat each morning as the anchor and make the afternoon block optional.
Age-group lens
This plan is tuned for school age travelers, so keep the highest-energy activity early and preserve a low-stakes fallback.
Highlights
Day-by-Day Plan
Day 1: Arrival and Settle In
Morning
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.
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.
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.
Tip: From age 4 to under 10, children travel on 50% reduced-fare tickets, per Île-de-France Mobilités; from 10 they pay full fare. Buy tickets in bulk rather than singly.
Day 2: First Full Day
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.
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.
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.
Tip: Book the Louvre online and select the 'free admission' option for each child — the Louvre advises a timed slot even for free entry, and turning up without one means the long queue.
Day 3: Signature Activity Day
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.
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.
Evening
Eat near the apartment. A crêperie is the reliable choice — galette then a sweet crêpe, fast service, and it works for adults too.
Tip: Check which Cité des Enfants age band your children fall into (roughly 2–7 and 5–12) before booking. A six-year-old can go in either, and the older session is the better bet if they're confident.
Day 4: Flexible Family Day
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.
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.
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.
Tip: Ask at the boat pier whether the ticket is hop-on-hop-off or a single loop. Hop-on-hop-off costs more but turns the boat into transport for the rest of the day, which is worth it if you're staying near a pier.
Day 5: Final Morning and Departure
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.
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.
Evening
Fly home.
Tip: If the tower's lift queue is long, the stairs to the second floor are cheaper, usually much quicker, and most seven-year-olds treat them as the better attraction. The summit needs the lift regardless.
Packing List
- ✓ Comfortable broken-in walking shoes — Paris days run well past 15,000 steps
- ✓ A small backpack per child with their own water bottle
- ✓ Reduced-fare transit tickets for ages 4–9, or full fare from 10
- ✓ Light waterproof jacket in every month of the year
- ✓ Snacks for the 2pm–7:30pm gap between lunch and dinner service
- ✓ A cheap camera or a phone with the SIM removed for a child photographer
- ✓ Sunscreen and hats for May through September
- ✓ A paper Métro and bus map — children navigate better with paper than a phone
- ✓ Refillable bottles for the Wallace drinking fountains around the city
- ✓ Travel first-aid kit with children's paracetamol and blister plasters
Recommended Gear for This Trip
The travel-with-kids essentials we'd pack for a trip like this — with current prices and ratings.
Flypal Inflatable Foot Rest for Kids (Airplane Travel Bed)
Turns three economy seats into a flat toddler bed — the single biggest long-haul hack.
Melissa & Doug On the Go Water Wow! Reusable Water-Reveal Activity Pad - Animals
Best SellerMess-free, reusable activity pad that buys quiet time on planes and at restaurants.
ALASOU 3PC Suction Cup Spinner Travel Toy
Best SellerSticks to the tray table for fifteen minutes of in-flight quiet, then wipes clean.
Welly Human Repair First Aid Kit (70 Count)
Fever reducer, bandages, and a thermometer pre-packed — far from a pharmacy you'll want it.
Hatch Go Portable Sound Machine
Amazon's ChoiceMasks unfamiliar hotel noise and signals sleep in a new room, so naps actually happen.
Munchkin Snack Catcher Toddler Snack Cups, 2 Pack
Best SellerSpill-proof snacks for transit, lines, and the inevitable hangry meltdown.
Prices and ratings are approximate and may vary — check the latest on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Safety Notes
Pickpocketing is the realistic risk in Paris rather than violent crime, and it concentrates in exactly the places you'll be — Métro platforms and carriages, the Eiffel Tower approaches, and the steps of Sacré-Cœur. Teach children the rule that anyone who approaches with a clipboard, a petition or a friendship bracelet is a distraction, and keep phones out of back pockets. Traffic turns across pedestrian crossings while the green figure shows, so cross on sight rather than on signal. Agree a meeting point at every busy site before you go in, and photograph your children each morning so you have that day's clothes if you're ever separated. Pharmacies with a green cross handle minor problems without an appointment; 112 is the emergency number.
Full Destination Guide
Paris rewards families who plan around three specific frictions rather than fighting them: cobblestones that punish small stroller wheels, a Métro built without lifts, and kitchens that close between lunch and 7:30pm. Get those right and the city is unusually generous to children — every French national museum, the Louvre included, is free for under-18s of any nationality.
Read the Paris, France family guide →