Paris with kids

We've found Paris a very 'kid friendly' city. You know what they say, 'Happy kids, happy life!
There are many parks with good quality, imaginative play equipment, clean and in good condition. Many of these are close to major attractions which makes 'letting off steam' easy. All of these were free except for the park in Jardin du Luxembourg which costs about 10 euro for a family of 4 for an 'all day' ticket.

Many of the attractions are free for kids, including the major museums. We visited Paris in August which is peak season so there were a lot of tourists around. We basically avoided some places/ activities that were renown for being very busy with long queues, eg: the Louvre, Versailles, going up the Eiffel Tower. Despite the hoards of people with a little imagination and research it was very easy to escape the hoards. We used 'Trip advisor', 'DK Family Guide to France' and a Guardian travel guide 'Paris with kids.'

We camped at Beau Village Camping, Paris which is about 20km south east of the centre. We drove into the city each day and parked in underground parking close to our destination. This was relatively straight forward with a GPS and quicker (on average taking 45min) and cheaper (average 20 euro) than public transport. The train takes 45 min into the centre of Pari then we would have had to take the metro, public transport for us all would have been in excess of 30 euros per day. Driving had the advantage of conserving the kids' energy as they can sit and chill in the back of the car meaning we could see more of the city, the younger two often fell asleep on the way home. The other great thing is the car parks have complimentary bikes which we took advantage of and had lovely time cycling through Paris.

We went to Paris Disneyland as it had been high on Alex and Charlie's list of 'must do's'. VERY expensive 260 euros for us, and VERY VERY busy. Queues for rides were 30-60 mins. It was Roger's and my idea of hell but the kids loved it. Charlie particularly loved all the Disney characters and the parade at the end of the day.

City Centre Parking (saves time, energy and money)

Spot the tower!

Complimentary bike from the parking