In October we took a family trip to Paris and to be honest, it was quite magical. Paris with kids can even be fun! I recommend keeping your itinerary loose with high level ideas of what to do and prepare for up to two items each day, and include at least one playground or garden every day. If you follow this formula, it will be lovely!

Before kids, Dave and I used to go to Paris quite often. Often as in, approximately four times a year to be able to enjoy the city in each season 😉 . Then we moved back to the states, had our first son, and took him to Paris when he was 9 months old. This trip was an absolute dream, sharing our most favorite places with him. Fast forward a little bit and we had twins after that. It’s safe to say my dreams of frolicking around Paris were put on hold while we managed three small children!

This brings us to now. The twins are a few months shy of 2 years old and James a few months shy of 4 years. The twins can both walk and climb stairs confidently. When autumn rolled around, we had a ton of past memories enjoying Paris in October. We suddenly had a huge urge to enjoy Paris as a family of 5 in the fall, but I knew we could only do this with our amazing nanny by our side. In very spontaneous fashion, on Tuesday the week of, we asked our nanny if she’d be up for something really spontaneous.. like traveling to Paris with us on Friday 🙂 thankfully our nanny is the best ever and she was up for the occasion!

I want to make a small disclaimer before I jump into our trip that we definitely could not have done this without three adults for our age children 3, 1, and 1 (a few months shy of 4, 2, and 2). The Paris metro is stairs only, so we had to have two people lifting the double stroller up and down flights of stairs and the third adult holding our son’s hand. With that being said, here’s our keys to Paris with kids success!

Boats at the Tulleries

We took the metro to the Louvre and walked to the Tulleries garden next door. We expected rain but the sun poked out behind the clouds and it was glorious. Near the Louvre you’ll likely see a coffee stand, a guy selling hats on the street, and a lady making huge bubbles for kiddos. Once past that you enter the Tulleries, which was honestly stunning with views to the Eiffel tower, arc d’triumph, concorde, and the musee d’Orsay. You can rent a boat to drive around the pond for 6eur/30min and let the kids run around. It was an absolute perfect outing.

Jardin des Plantes

We love staying in the 5th arrondissement, near Rue Mouffetard and St Medard square. Close by is the Jardin des Plantes, which was a lovely morning with kids. We walked through the beautiful gardens to visit the kangaroos which was a hit. There’s also a playground right at the kangaroo area, and even a pop-up cafe right there that I was able to grab a cappuccino and madelines for the kids. It was an excellent way to spend some energy and relax for everyone.

Long Lunches Every Day… Yes it’s Possible!

Dave and I know Paris like the back of our hand from tons of previous trips over the years (see all my favorite spots here) so this trip ended up being spending time in our favorite places and introducing our kids to it. We spent every day eating 2 hour lunches, my happy place 🙂 and thankfully this was pretty easy to do with the French. Every place (we’ve ever been to across France) has children’s menus, which start with a drink of flavored syrup + water while the parents get glasses of wine, the main course (we usually get chicken nuggets and fries for them), and a scoop of ice cream for dessert. They are entertained with their food the entire time (ish ;)) and it truly was the most amazing thing. Plenty of time for mom and dad to enjoy wine, a main course, and dessert right alongside our kids.

Bonus, right next to Cafe St. Medard is the St Medard playground. After the long lunch, let your kids wear out their energy out at the playground next door. One parent can even finish their glass of wine while the other takes the kids over, if needed!

Sunday Dancing in Square St Medard

Speaking of our favorite St Medard square, the highlight of the trip for me was Sunday dancing in the square. I’ve mentioned it in the past, but this is our absolute favorite area in all of Paris. We stayed right on the square back in 2013 for a full week when David proposed to me, and have been coming back ever since. Every Sunday rain or shine, the locals host dancing in the square with an accordion and singing. Over the years we’ve danced as a couple, as a family of 3, and now as a family of 5. This was my #1 must-do of the trip and it did not disappoint. 🙂 Core memories for us!

Visiting the Eiffel, Walking Along the Seine, and the Visiting the Petit Palais

After lunch one day, we headed to Trocadero to get views of the Eiffel and walked down the park towards the tower before walking along the Seine to and the Petit Palais. The Petit Palais is one of our favorites, as it’s free to enter (you don’t need to wait in line if there is one, just walk right into the door towards the right to access the free portion of the museum). The interior museum is stunning, as is the outdoor courtyard and cafe area. It’s one of my secret treasures 🙂

Musee d’Orsay

The Louvre and Tulleries mentioned above is a very close walk to the Musee d’Orsay, and worth a quick visit even with the kiddos. They also have a cafe on site if one parent wants to hang there with kids while the other enjoys art and art nouveau furniture. We did a quick stop here one day and I’m so happy we did!

Date Evenings (possible traveling with our nanny)

We are incredibly fortunate to have an amazing nanny to take care of our little ones, who we trust and genuinely enjoy hanging out with. She thankfully loves to travel just as we do, and would watch the kids in the evenings. This allowed us to enjoy Paris as we used to… highly recommend if you can swing it. We took the metro to Galleries Lafayette where I picked up a few things, ate dinner at a few favorite places, enjoyed some rooftop moments and each other’s company.

Would you dare do Paris with kids? If you have, what are your favorite activities?

xx