2 days in Paris: what to visit and how to entertain the children?

Taking advantage of my husband’s work seminar in the capital at the very end of August 2021, I spent two days exploring the heart of Paris with the kids. Verdict: we LOVED it!! It was the first time we had time to visit the city and not just see friends. So we switched to tourist mode, trainers on our feet and camera around our necks (yes, when I’m a tourist, I have no shame and I couldn’t care less about being spotted as one at first glance!). So here’s a little recap of our escapade. 2 days in Paris with kids: what to visit and how to entertain the children? Follow the guide.

This article might be for you if:

• you’re planning to visit the capital with your children;
• you live in Paris but life at 100 miles an hour never leaves you the chance to visit your beautiful city;
• as adults, you know Paris but you don’t know how to show it to your children;
• your children are reluctant about city visits (yes, yes, I’m betting I can win them over!);
• you don’t know where to start when putting together an itinerary for Paris.

If you don’t fit any of these categories, read it anyway and make up your own mind!!!

The must-sees

Our children already knew Paris without really having visited it. They had already seen the Eiffel Tower, once while having a snack at the Trocadéro and a second time on a picnic on the Champ de Mars. They also had a vague memory of the Arc de Triomphe and the Concorde, but not much more than that. In February 2021, on a flying visit, we had stopped for a snack in Montmartre, with a visit to the basilica and the crypt included. Despite these multiple visits, always too quick, I decided we were complete beginners and needed to go back to basics!

So here’s our itinerary for these 2 days in Paris with kids:

• A visit to the Louvre (don’t be scared, I’ll share my little tricks so that everyone enjoys it!)
• Discovering the two Louvre courtyards, the Carrousel and the Tuileries
• The Palais-Royal and Buren’s famous columns, then its garden
• Climbing the Eiffel Tower
• A Seine cruise on a bateau-mouche (when I said the basics, I wasn’t lying!)
• Notre-Dame and the Île de la Cité
• Place de la Concorde

These are the essentials I had selected for these 2 days in Paris with kids.

There are, in my view, plenty of other must-sees, but with only 2 days in Paris with kids we had to make choices! The weekend before this little mother-and-sons outing, we also visited the Basilica of Saint-Denis and La Villette (Cité des Sciences, etc.). I’ll tell you about it very soon because it was also really great!!

A few friendly tips for visiting a city with kids

When you put together an itinerary for a big city like Paris, it’s essential not to pick too many spots. You’ll walk a lot and your children’s little legs will tire faster than yours. So plan on taking your time, stopping on benches in the parks and walking more slowly than you would with adults. In short, don’t push it! And don’t forget a water bottle and some small snacks.

Right then, enough chatter. Shall we finally start on this itinerary of discoveries???

A dive into French history

The Louvre and its surroundings

One of the Milirue discovery routes takes us to the Louvre and Palais-Royal district. That works out very well, because ever since we finished watching all four seasons of The Mysterious Cities of Gold (a clever cartoon that takes children all around the world, so a cartoon we allow!), there had been a sort of urgency to go and see the Mona Lisa. If you don’t know this cartoon, my children recommend it to yours without hesitation!

The Louvre museum

So off we went to storm the Louvre, the biggest museum in the world. Put like that, it can sound scary, I admit. Especially if you aren’t a big museum fan yourself. In fact, the Louvre’s website warns you: “To keep it a pleasure, keep it short.” Indeed, the museum is so big that it’s impossible to see everything, so rather than trying to see as much as possible, try to see what will captivate your children most: ancient Egypt? Ancient Greece? Renaissance painters? To name just those…

A treasure hunt…

We had drawn up a little plan in advance. We started the visit with a treasure hunt in search of Joyeuse, the coronation sword of the kings of France, also called Charlemagne’s sword (even though it never belonged to Charlemagne!). This little treasure hunt took us to Napoleon III’s apartments, whose existence we had been completely unaware of! In this wing of the museum, you’ll be almost on your own, which is rather pleasant. Needless to say, the children were all in, moving from room to room and stopping in front of the few major works highlighted in the investigation. Fun and interesting for the whole family!

… and our essentials

Then the Mona Lisa, the big paintings as I call them (The Raft of the Medusa, Liberty Leading the People, The Coronation of Napoleon, in which Josephine’s cloak is so well painted that it looks soft to the touch!), a little Greek and Roman sculpture (the Venus of Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace) and that’s all! The essentials as far as we were concerned, even though we’d have loved to go through the Egyptian section too… but after all that (nearly 2h30 of wandering), the children were starting to flag. And it was lunchtime!

The Louvre is open every day except Tuesday. Booking your tickets online in advance is recommended, and entry is free for under-18s. On the official website you’ll find 3 suggested 1h30 visit routes, tips for preparing your family visit and the programme of workshops offered for children. If you have time, before or after the visit, browse the pages of Petit Louvre, the website dedicated to the Louvre’s works and designed especially for children.

The Louvre courtyards and Pei’s pyramids

After this visit, we picnicked in the shade of a tree very close to the Carrousel du Louvre. Once we’d recharged a bit, we started the discovery route in our Milirue booklets. This route taught us the history of the Louvre building, a former fortress built by Philip Augustus in the Middle Ages. We looked at the façades of the Cour Carrée, the statues of the Illustrious Men in the Cour Napoléon, and played with perspectives and Pei’s Pyramids.

It was really great and far more interesting than simply walking past beautiful buildings that all seem to look alike.

For the rest of the afternoon, I had booked tickets for the Eiffel Tower, so we stopped our discovery route there and would pick it up again the next day.

The Eiffel Tower

A short bus ride, and off we go! All that’s left is to cross the Pont d’Iéna to climb the most famous tower in France. For the story, I gave myself a scare by arriving at 3.30pm when I had booked tickets for 2.30pm!! I was so sure of myself that I hadn’t rechecked the tickets just before… Phew! We still managed to skip past everyone who hadn’t bought their tickets online. I strongly recommend that you also book your tickets online ahead on the official website.

I had taken lift tickets to the 3rd floor from the start (the bravest can climb the stairs up to the 2nd floor). The 3rd floor can only be reached by lift.

We went straight to the top! We found the trip from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor incredibly long!! So much that my youngest son was starting to get a bit stressed and thinking it was much, much too high. I think he was a bit afraid there was no particular protection, because I’d had the bright idea of telling him that in bad weather, the 3rd floor could be closed.

Coming out of the lift, you can still climb a little via a small staircase. And everything is perfectly secure, don’t worry.

From up there, unsurprisingly, the view is breathtaking! It feels like Paris is tiny, that the Bois de Boulogne is really close, and that we could walk there!

On the 2nd and 1st floors, the view is great too and there are little information panels about the Eiffel Tower and Paris. Some are designed for children, with funny anecdotes. We walked around many times and came back down by the stairs, at our own pace.

A Seine cruise on the bateaux-mouches

I hadn’t booked tickets in advance, I’d told myself we’d see depending on the weather and how tired we were. A little boat trip is always fun for children and, on top of that, it’s restful. After coming out of the Eiffel Tower, we took time for a small snack on the lawns of the Champ de Mars and so decided on a boat trip. At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, it’s Bateaux Parisiens that operate.

The children loved this little hour spent on the Seine! It has to be said that from the Grenelle bridge (which has the Statue of Liberty) to the Île Saint-Louis, the scenery is quite magnificent.

Personally, the commentated cruise disappointed me. A commentated cruise means explanations of what you see while you sail. Well… over 1 hour of cruising, we must have had 20 to 25 minutes of commentary… A bit thin… And I found you needed to already know the buildings a bit to appreciate what was being said.

And another practical detail: the commentary isn’t played through loudspeakers. On the deck of the boat, it’s on your smartphone, and inside the boat you have to put a handset to your ear. That means the children have to sit nicely, which isn’t a given…

In short, I don’t recommend Bateaux Parisiens, but a cruise on the Seine, yes! So for the experience to be fun for the whole family, I can recommend the Compagnie des Bateaux-Mouches (already tested and approved in the past) or Les Vedettes de Paris, which offer a guided cruise designed especially for families!

Place de la Concorde and the Tuileries

We started our second day of sightseeing at Place de la Concorde. On one side the Champs-Élysées, on the other the Tuileries Garden and opposite the Assemblée Nationale (the Parliament). All of it gives you a pretext to explain a few things to the children and to feast your eyes!

In the Tuileries Garden, we got out the Milirue exploration booklets again to finish the walk we’d started the day before. It led us to the Palais-Royal, where the children had fun making little courses among Buren’s columns. In the Palais-Royal garden, we found the little bronze cannon that used to let people set their watches when it went off at noon sharp! The little cannon, whose original was stolen, no longer sounds noon, but just as precisely, the children’s stomachs began to make themselves heard!!

On the way to the Île de la Cité, where our 2nd discovery route started, we stopped at a brasserie. So Parisian!

The Île de la Cité

Notre-Dame

When we visited Paris that time, in 2021, the forecourt of Notre-Dame was a little smaller because of the fire of April 2019, but it was still accessible. The cathedral has since reopened (in December 2024), so don’t hesitate to visit it. Entry is free, and booking a free time slot on the official website is recommended to avoid a long wait on the forecourt. We went back in 2025 and really enjoyed the rehabilitation of the cathedral. Is was just stunning!

The other wonders of the Île de la Cité

On the Île de la Cité and around it, there are plenty of places to look at:

• Around the church of Saint-Séverin, you stroll through an old district dating from medieval times. No Haussmann-style buildings in sight, the scenery changes completely and it’s very pleasant to walk these pedestrian streets.
• On Place Saint-Michel, we watched the fountain of the same name for a long time
• The Palais de la Cité, which was the palace of the kings of France in the Middle Ages and is now the Law Courts
• The Conciergerie, which was a prison, notably during the Revolution. Entry is free for under-18s.
• The Sainte-Chapelle and its completely crazy stained-glass windows! The visit is really worth the detour. Entry is free for under-18s (under 25 if EEA resident). A combined Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie ticket exists, saving €10 per adult!
• The Clock Tower. Wait, what? as my son would say! That clock is incredible!!
• The Pont Neuf, which, despite its name (it means “New Bridge”), is the oldest bridge in Paris
• And for a bit more greenery and fewer old stones, the flower market, Place Dauphine and the bouquinistes’ stalls along the quays round off the walk perfectly!

We already knew the area a little, and we rediscovered it thanks to the Milirue exploration booklets. With the children, we had fun while learning lots of things! It was another great day!

A bonus playground

After all these discoveries, we still had a bit of time to enjoy the end of the day. Without thinking, I asked the children: “Do you want me to try to find a playground?” Of course they said yes!!!

I searched a bit at random on my phone and saw that the nearest playground was the Jardin Nelson Mandela. Without promising the children anything, we headed towards this park, 15 minutes’ walk away. I had no idea what we’d find… On the way, we passed the Centre Pompidou, which is also on my list of museums to do with kids, but that will be for later because it’s under renovation until 2030.

But it turned out to be a great idea!!! The Jardin Nelson Mandela is actually the former Jardin des Halles. This district was completely renovated recently. In the middle of the esplanade, if you can call it that, you’ll find a playground for children aged 3 to 7 and an adventure playground for children aged 7 to 11. It was perfect!

In the adventure playground, children are supervised by staff from Tuesday to Friday and you leave your child to play for 1 hour. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the park is open under parental supervision. I didn’t know any of this when we arrived, so when we passed, a staff member kindly agreed to let my eldest son in for the 10 minutes remaining before closing. It left him wanting more!!

You will find other playground ideas in this article listing 20 children’s activities in Paris.

Practical information for your 2 days in Paris with kids

Where to stay?

For a short trip to Paris, I strongly recommend staying in Paris, near a metro station from which you can easily reach the spots you’ve chosen.

So, in order:

1. Draw up your itinerary roughly;
2. Identify the useful metro lines;
3. And choose where to stay accordingly.

There’s plenty of choice and you’ll find all the prices, so to find a good deal, don’t wait too long to book.

 

How to get around?

Forget your car and travel by public transport. Metro, bus, tram, RER, there’s everything you need! Don’t forget good shoes because you walk a lot in the city!

Like in many cities around the world, the RATP has switched to a rechargeable card. You buy a Navigo Easy card (€2, non-refundable) and then load your tickets onto it. A standard ticket costs €2.55. For children aged 4 to 10, remember to buy reduced-fare tickets!

Transfers between the metro and buses require two separate tickets. Buying a ticket on the bus costs €2. I therefore recommend buying your tickets in advance at a metro station! To buy the card, you must go to the ticket window; the machines do not sell them.

To learn everything you need to know about getting around Paris by public transport, we published a comprehensive yet concise guide to help you understand everything.

For provincials like us, even the metro ride is a visit in itself that the children love!! We were on line 14, which is automated and driverless, so in the first carriage, the children were the ones driving!

The little details that make all the difference

Stroller or baby carrier?

If you have a child who doesn’t walk yet, or hasn’t been walking for long, a baby carrier is obviously the royal solution for being free to move. A stroller can sometimes be bulky, even a pain on cobblestones or on metro stairs (a large number of stations have neither escalators nor lifts…). But a stroller has the advantage of carrying some of your things, or of letting a 3 to 4-year-old who is getting too heavy to carry have a rest. Depending on your family, weigh up the pros and cons of each option.

I’m thirsty!

You’ve obviously packed a water bottle in your backpack, but if the whole family drinks from the same one, you’ll quickly run short of water. Well, I was quite surprised, but it’s easy to find places to refill your bottle: in restaurants of course, but also in public toilets (and museum toilets…) or in the parks, where you’ll find fountains or drinking-water taps.

I need a wee!

Yes, of course, you’re going to hear that sentence and you’ll inevitably answer: “Can you hold it a bit?” Because it never comes at the right moment! And in a city, you’ll agree it’s hard to go and hide behind a tree.

Take advantage of your restaurant and café breaks to take the children to the toilet, even if they don’t feel like it! Same for the visits you make, museum or otherwise. There are always toilets in those places, even on the 3rd floor of the Eiffel Tower!! Shopping centres can also be a good option, even though sometimes in Paris you’ll have to pay a few cents. (But I admit that a €1.50 wee in the Carrousel du Louvre shopping centre can stick in your throat…)

And finally, there are also public toilets more or less everywhere, so keep your eyes open!

Big-city crowds

If you’re a bit put off by big cities and top tourist spots because of the crowds, know that Paris empties of its inhabitants during the summer holidays and as soon as a weekend is a bit sunny! On those weekends, though, don’t try to take the A13 towards Normandy…

Bookings

If you can, book your activities in advance as much as possible. It will save you a huge amount of time once you’re there by avoiding the queues. It’s already hard enough waiting around doing nothing as an adult, so if you also have to manage the children’s impatience… spare yourself that as much as you can!!

I hope you enjoyed this article and that you made it all the way to the end!! I was going to write a quick little article about our 2 days in Paris with kids, but I loved it so much that I wanted to tell you everything and I couldn’t stop!

As usual, I invite you to share your Paris visits with us in the comments!

♥♥♥ Flo & co ♥♥♥

If you enjoyed this article, you can pin it on Pinterest to find it easily.

▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼