Paris with kids

[loobymiss]

I am thinking about maybe doing a day trip to Paris next Thursday if we manage to see all of disney on mon-wed.

Can you tell me how much of Paris I can realistically see in one day?

My girls are 10 and 6, what do you think will appeal to that sort of age group. They are well behaved and don't tend to get bored easily.

Also is the paris visite card the best way of getting around?

Thank you.

 

[DebIreland]

Hiya

In February my boys and I took a day trip to Paris and it was great! They're older than your kids but I'm sure you could still get a lot done.

We left the Explorers Hotel at 10ish and did the following:

Got the train direct from DLRP to the Champs Elysee where we saw the Arc de Triomphe and climbed to the top - then we took a stroll along the Champs Elysee itself; we stopped for lunch and next went to The Eiffel Tower - went to the top there too but couldn't see anything as it was too overcast. Next we went to Notre Dame and spend quite a while inside; then we walked to the nearby Hotel de Ville just to see it and then, The Louvre, to see the highlights (will do a more indepth tour of it at another time). Afterwards we strolled through the Tuileries Gardens in front of The Louvre and finally, got the train back to DLRP. So we got quite a lot done. I'm sure you'll get to see a lot. Make a plan, especially for the Metro (or buses, whichever you're using) to save going back and forth.

The Paris Visite is expensive and would not be cost effective for an adult for just one day - 18 euro. The Mobilis 1 day pass is only 12.50. However, you can get a (one day) Paris Visite child's fare for just 9 euro whereas as far as I know there is no Mobilis child's fare so I think the wisest thing would be to buy one adult Mobilis 1 day (zones 1 to 5) ticket and two children's 1 day (zones 1 to 5) Paris Visite tickets for the kids!

 

[mummyal]

There's a child fare for the Mobilis ticket as we def paid less for my DD (she's 5) - except that I can't remember whether we paid half fare or 75% fare lol. Tried looking for the tickets but can't seem to find them at the moment.

The Visite ticket is good only if you plan on visiting the places listed on here as they offer discounts on entry fees etc - http://www.ratp.info/picts/touristes/photos/plan paris-touriste.pdf.

Otherwise, it's more expensive as the other poster had mentioned. Basically, you just need to sit down and price things up really, depending on what you want to do.

 

[loobymiss]

Thanks for the info. I thought the visite card was the best as it was in the Brits guide to DLP book.

So does the mobilis and visite card allow you to travel on much the same public transport or is there anything different I should know about?

You are right that I don't really need all those discounted entries as we will mostly be just sightseeing, although we do want to go up the eiffel tower.

 

[markpsych]

We weren't as organised as Debireland, but we also had a fantastic day in Paris one year. We went straight to the science museum, and the children spent hours in the 'children's cite' (sorry can't post link as post count isn't high enough) They really loved it! The went to the Eiffel Tower. Didn't go up because the queues were enormous (low season!), but it was fabulous to see all the same.

The RER is great, but watch out for the doors as they open and close VERY quickly!

Have a fantastic trip