First trip to Paris

My husband and I are planning our first trip to Paris this summer. It will also be our first major vacation with our three year old daughter. Since this is our first trip to the beautiful city Paris, we are looking to visit the must-do attractions. I was wondering since we will be traveling with a three year old, would 7 days be sufficient? Any thoughts?

Have you booked your accommodation yet?

We found seven days about the right amount, and that included side trips to Versailles / Chartres Cathedral, Provins Mediaeval Town, and Château de Fontainebleau.

In Paris itself, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is outstanding, as is the walk up the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. But otherwise, any guidebook will describe the many sites that are possible.

And while considering the limitations imposed by your child, what are your main interests?

Thank you for your response. I read about the sites you have listed, were you able to do all of that in 7 days with a child?

Re accommodation, we are in the process of booking an apt as I think that would be best with a child. And that is also why I want to be sure that 7 days is what we should spend in Paris. I am doing my research via internet and guidebook too. Since this is our first big vacation with our child, I am not able to gauge how much we will be able to cover in a day.

As for interests, since we have never been to France, I want to cover the touristy points to get a sense and come back later to visit the hidden gems.

No, no other limitations.

Thank you for your response. I read about the sites you have listed, were you able to do all of that in 7 days with a child?

We enjoyed Paris for a week (including those three day trips out of town) - but certainly not with a child. There is a lot to do there ... if the week in Paris is part of a longer European trip, then it's fine, but if this trip is just to Paris, then a few more days would be well rewarded.

We stayed in an apartment in the 6th Arr, near Saint Suplice Metro Station (St Germain) - we really liked the area, but it is only one of many that are close to the city centre (to the extent that there is a "centre").

A week in Paris is part of a longer Europe trip. Its actually our first stop.

The apt we are looking at is in 5th Arr. Heard 4th, 5th or 6th are all good for first timers.

Not a Paris expert ... those should be up and about soon! But the 5th looks just as convenient as the 6th, and I think a week is sufficient for a first trip, yes.

I agree...a week is a good amount of time for a first trip.I'm sure it won't be the last......

AS for where to stay.....its not a great problem in Paris,as long as you are in the 20 and not too far from a metro station.Public transport is good.

The 4th,5th and 6th are all heavily touristed areas,with loads of places to stay.Not the cheapest,but if you have found something you like there...why not?

Spent a week in Paris a few years ago (no kids), but we observed plenty of families having a great time. We found a week to be an ideal length of time.

I were you, I'd do plenty research beforehand in terms of the potential attractions you want to visit, when they're open etc (make no assumptions, create a calendar). So you can go with the flow once there. There are heaps of kid-friendly attractions that don't require queuing to see/do eg the different Jardins, Promenade Plantee, carousel at the bottom of Sacre Coeur...what's your kid interested in? There's bound to be a museum for it! Places like Palace of Versailles, Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, I'd be researching how to minimise queue time (LP itself must have a 'travelling with kids' chapter on Paris with this advice).

At the very least, look into all the food markets...there's at least one on every day of the week, in different suburbs...and some of the metro stations are cool in their own right. So maybe your daily excursion is to a market for picnic food then to a local jardin...

Personally, I think a three year old is a bit young to have a holiday oriented around them ... there will be plenty of time when they are say 5-15 for them to demand the centre of attention. Really young kids just require regular food, and a bucket of sand or something to paddle in, from my experience.

That is as good amount of time and you should be able to see much of Paris with a couple day trips if you wish. I would also recommend an apartment over a hotel, will save you some money and be able to make your own breakfast and an occasional light meal. Apartment come in a wide range of prices from under 100 euro to skies the limit. Look here and airb&b.com: https://www.vrbo.com/

Thank you so much for your reply. We are now booked to stay in Paris for a week! Yes, we are staying in an AirBnB.

ha ha. So true.

Here's the Paris tourism site with lots of useful info; the link is for the Family Outing suggestions, resources.
http://en.parisinfo.com/what-to-do-in-paris/info/guides/family-outings-in-paris
Because young legs tire rapidly I'd suggest planning on as little walking as possible while making the journey still interesting. So...
Batobus:
http://www.batobus.com/en.html
The enjoyment of travel on the river without taking a fancy (and pricey) barge trip and since the places you can visit would be interspersed with the boat rides short attention spans wouldn't be as limiting.

Children have to eat and Mom and Dad want to try out French food in Paris, so here's a site which is well respected and it even has a 'kid-friendly' section:
http://parisbymouth.com/tag/kid-friendly/

If you're near the Canal St Martin area, go watch the canal boats go by. It's small enough that you'll have a good look at things and it's a nice area too.
And since no one else has mentioned it, do check out my favorite site for Paris:
http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/board/46
Photo essays about Paris but not the usual 'famous places' kind.
And if you're there the end of August (Sunday 28th) there is the Festival of Ganesh which Kerouac2 has documented several times...the most recent from 2015. If your daughter is interested in such things, here's more info:
http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/7528/ganesh-festivities-2015
(yes, it is something I wish I could see for myself)...

I hope this gives you some ideas for yourself and your daughter...
If you're at all close to Montmartre, there is a great 2 level merry-go-round near the foot of the funicular which goes up to Sacre Coeur and a fantastic view of Paris.
Hope it's a great time for the whole family.

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