Visit Paris with kids — the easy way
Looking for the best Paris tours with kids or kid-friendly attractions? Well, you’re in luck! Paris is a great city to visit as a family with children—if you know where to go.
Read on to get a local’s guide to the best things to do on your family trip to Paris. We will have you planning your kid-friendly activities in no time to make your tour of the city unforgettable—for kids and parents alike.
Psst! Paris offers far more than its famous landmarks. While iconic attractions such as the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, Disneyland Paris, and the Eiffel Tower can absolutely be enjoyed as a family—especially with the right guide—we’re going to focus on experiences that are particularly easy, engaging, and fun for children. Think interactive attractions, green spaces, hidden gems, and of course a private Seine river cruise for families.
Ready to find out about all the fun things you can do in Paris? Let’s go!
What are the best family-friendly tours available in Paris?
Did you know Vikings attacked Paris in the 9th century? They rowed up the Seine and laid siege to the Île de la Cité, the ancient heart of Paris. Then they plundered whatever loot they could carry and burned the rest.
Ghastly, no? But kids love this kind of story. And now you and your family can follow in the Vikings’ footsteps—or in their wake, to be more precise. Simply choose one of our private family-friendly boat tours in Paris and discover Paris from the water, just as generations of travellers have done throughout history.
Advantages of a private boat tour with kids
A private Seine tour with kids is the perfect child-friendly experience to enjoy in Paris with your family. Obviously, your kids can’t set fire to Paris like the Vikings did. But you get a private boat all to yourselves so you don’t have some random person next to you scrolling on their phone or eavesdropping on your conversation. And you get to lounge on the water for a few hours, giving you a refreshing break from the heat if you plan to visit Paris in summer.
We also recommend a private river tour for families because it lets you take in all the big sights in 1 go without dragging tired, hungry kids left, right, and center. This can make it a fun and relaxing way for your family to treasure your experience in Paris. The view from our pontoon boats lets you take in famous sights like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the Rives de Seine park without the hassle of the metro or hours waiting in line. Plus our skippers act as a local guide, filling you in on the history and stories behind the city’s monuments while adapting the details of their commentary to keep the experience fun for your kids.
We can also arrange to have finger food and/or drinks brought on board to feed hungry mouths while you sit back with a glass of champagne and admire the view. And if you like, we can even organize a professional photographer to capture this moment so you come away with memories to treasure and photos you will love to share with family back home.
Unlike a group tour, your family sets the pace. Need a snack break, want to take photos, or have curious little explorers asking questions? Your skipper adapts the experience to your family.
Do you organize activities for kids during your private tours?
Our family package includes a goodie bag full of things to keep your kids entertained.
This goodie bag contains our Logbook for Freshwater Sailors, an activity book that helps them learn about the sights and history of Paris. Through activities like quizzes and connecting the name with the image, your kids learn to recognize the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre-Dame Cathedral, and other iconic sights they will see on their day out on the river.
The goodie bag also contains pencils for completing the activities as well as biscuits and fruit juice to keep little tummies happy. There’s also a small pair of binoculars your kids can use to get a better view of the monuments. And of course, they get to keep the activity book to remember their trip to Paris when they’re back home.
What other attractions in Paris cater specifically to kids?
Many families visiting Paris want to experience iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, the Palace of Versailles, the Orsay Museum, and Notre-Dame Cathedral. These attractions are world-famous for a reason.
The secret is finding the right balance between major landmarks and experiences designed specifically for children. Family-friendly private guides can transform museums and monuments into engaging adventures, while interactive attractions and outdoor spaces give children room to play, explore, and discover Paris in their own way.
Alongside these famous sights, here are a few attractions we regularly recommend to families visiting Paris.
3 attractions you will love to visit with kids
Alongside our boat tours, we recommend 3 attractions that fit perfectly into any Paris tour with kids. Your children will get to run wild, play, explore, and learn. And you rarely run into trouble with availability, as these 3 attractions are off the beaten track.
Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie
This is a large science museum with an entire section for children aged 2 to 12. It focuses on science and technology, making it perfect for Young Sheldons. There are also places to eat or have a coffee so you won’t have to drag a bunch of tired famished children back into the city center later.
Kids under 2 go free.
Jardin d’Acclimatation
This is basically one giant playground. It is Paris’s oldest, and only, amusement park. The Jardin d’Acclimatation was inaugurated in 1860. It has everything from rides and games to a pet farm and gardens. And the water park is always popular with kids. Entry to the park is free for toddlers.
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
This is a zoo and a history museum rolled into one, making it a must-see attraction for kids who love history and nature.
Your children will find gigantic dinosaur skeletons, ancient human skulls, massive crystals, jaguars, wolves, and strange plants from faraway places. The museum offers free entry for kids under the age of 3.
What about Disneyland and the Palace of Versailles?
Both Disneyland Paris and the Palace of Versailles are popular choices for families visiting Paris.
Disneyland Paris is a dream destination for many children, with its rides, shows, and beloved characters. If your family loves Disney, it can easily become one of the highlights of your trip.
The Palace of Versailles offers a completely different experience. The palace, gardens, fountains, and rich history make it one of France’s most remarkable landmarks. Families interested in history and culture often enjoy spending a day exploring the estate, especially with a guide who knows how to bring the stories of Versailles to life for younger visitors.
Whether you choose Disneyland, Versailles, or both, they can be wonderful additions to a family trip to Paris.
For families looking for activities within Paris itself, there are also plenty of child-friendly experiences to enjoy closer to the city centre, from interactive museums and parks to private Seine cruises that offer a unique perspective on the capital.
What are some tips for navigating Paris with children?
Paris is a big city and can feel a long way from home for small kids. These top tips will help make your Paris trip with your family as fun and easy as possible.
Where to stay
Stay in a residential area. Somewhere away from the main tourist spots. You’ll find parks and squares for your children to blow off steam. It’s quiet at night. And there are plenty of laid-back bistros that are happy to cater to children, plus pastry shops and bakeries to spoil the kids or grab a sandwich on the go.
Stay near a metro station. When you arrive in Paris, you don’t want to drag your luggage through the streets as you traipse around looking for your accommodation. Staying near a metro station also makes it easy to get to tours and back without exhausting little legs. And if this is your first trip to Paris, the metro is easier to navigate than the buses and overland trains.
When to visit Paris
Be careful of the time of year you visit Paris. With heatwaves becoming more frequent and intense, the last thing you want is to spend your time cooped up in an apartment because it’s too hot to go outside.
Spring and autumn are beautiful in Paris, cooler, often quieter, and full of the color and magic of the changing seasons.
December is another great time to travel to Paris for those who don’t like the heat (and who remember Home Alone). The holiday season in Paris offers plenty of fun Christmas markets and activities to experience with kids. And the winter light of December should give you a trove of photos and memories of your Christmas escape to Paris.
Find a good park
Make sure you’ve a good park near where you will stay. A park is a great place for kids to run wild and have fun safe from the dangers of passing traffic. It can also be a refreshing haven in summer when the temperatures are high.
Paris is filled with green spaces, meaning that a park is usually never more than a walk or a short metro ride away.
Jardin des Tuileries is the former royal gardens located right beside the Louvre. Besides open green spaces, there are plenty of fun things for a child to explore in the park, including a play area, carousel, and trampolines. The park is free to enter every day, but check the opening hours as these vary with the seasons.
Monceau Park is another area that’s great for kids who need to let off some steam. The park is surrounded by mansions from the 18th and 19th centuries and dotted with statues, a pond with fish and ducks, a carousel, a snack bar for coffee and refreshments, and plenty of open spaces for fun and games. The lush vegetation of the park also makes it an ideal escape from the summer heat.
Top tips for dining out with kids in Paris
One reason families visit Paris is to sample France’s world-class cuisine. But we all know that eating out with kids in restaurants is not always a peaceful experience. With that in mind, here are a few things to watch out for when dining out in Paris:
- Before you book a place to stay, check that there are places to eat out nearby. This will cut down on long walks with hungry kids trailing behind you.
- Most great places to eat out include a kids menu. Look for “menu enfant” or “formule enfant” on the menu or ask the waiter.
- Beware of opening hours. In Paris, people tend to eat at different times to those of us from other countries. Restaurants tend to be quiet at 12:00 but packed by 12:30. Keep this in mind if you’re looking for lunch. If you like to eat your evening meal at 6:00 or 6:30, check ahead of time that the restaurant you have in mind is open. Many great spots close after lunch and don’t re-open until 7:00.
These may seem like minor details, but if you’re on a family trip the last thing you want is to turn up at a restaurant to find it’s full or closed. Hunger tummies rarely make for patient souls.
Tips on booking a child-friendly river tour
If you book a Paris river tour with kids, go for shorter boat tours. As parents, you know how long your kids can last before their attention runs out. At My Paris River, the best option for families is our 1.5-hour boat tour. Long enough to see the main sights. Short enough to keep the kids interested. Much better than spending hours waiting in line to get into the famous attractions.
To find out about our opening hours and availability, fill in the form on our contact page. And for more about our family-friendly river tours, click the link below
Are there special discounts or packages for families?
The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie has a range of packages for families. The Jardin d’Acclimatation has a discount on family tickets for 4 people. While the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle has discounted family prices and under 3s go free.
You don’t need to worry about tickets for the parks. They are free to enter throughout the year. Just mind the opening and closing hours so you don’t get locked in.
At My Paris River, tickets for our private boat tours start at €390 for up to 6 passengers, depending on the itinerary, duration, number of passengers, and optional extras you wish for. We also offer discounts on family groups of 7 people or more. We can even organize custom Paris family tours on the Seine if you have particular needs. Contact our crew to check availability and get a custom quote for tickets on a kid-friendly river tour with My Paris River.
