We finally made it to Paris! After traveling across Italy and France on our 2 Week RV Trip, we made it to our final city of this EPIC journey! And with some flexibility and decisions to skip a few places in order to spend 2 days in Paris with kids, we were ready to hit the ground running. Here we go!
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What to do in Paris with kids for 2 days?
There is so much to do in Paris with kids for 2 days, so the issue becomes breaking them down to fit them in just two days. Because we had been to Paris before we had our daughter, we had already seen many of the famous attractions and didn’t need to revisit those that Mia wouldn’t be interested in. We mapped out our routes for the 2 days to cover as much territory as we could without overdoing it. From the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and the Louvre to the infamous Eiffel Tower, we did so much in Paris during our 2 days.
How many days in Paris is enough with kids?
Knowing how many days in Paris is enough for your family is a tricky one. It really depends on how much your kids can handle and what you want to see. For us, two days in Paris with kids was plenty. Keep in mind that there is A LOT of walking around the city when you want to experience a lot of it, so it can get exhausting for little legs.
Only have one day in Paris? Check out our Paris Layover Guide for our in-depth look at how we spent a day in Paris on a layover.
Free things to do in Paris with kids
There are so many free things to do in Paris with kids. There are tons of parks, gardens, attractions like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, cathedrals, etc. You don’t have to spend money to enjoy the special history and beauty of this city! Check out our itinerary below for all the free things we did in Paris with kids.
Paris with kids Itinerary
And now, let’s get to our Paris with kids itinerary. We spent two days in Paris and planned it out so we could see as much as we could without spending too much time walking. Our daughter was five years old, so her little legs needed frequent rests. So our Paris with kids itinerary takes that into account.
Day 1: Paris with kids Itinerary
Early morning: we arrived at our campground, checked in, got our site, and settled in. We got our bus tickets at the front office and immediately headed to the city. The bus ride was about 5 minutes to the metro where we got full day passes and took the metro to our first stop, Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
Our first stop of the day was at the Arc de Triomphe. While it might look intimidating to get to with all the traffic circling, it’s actually pretty easy. The underground tunnels take you to and from the center of the Arc. The tunnels also happen to be where you get off of the metro at the Arc de Triomphe stop.
Champs Elysees
After taking tons of family pictures at the Arc de Triomphe, we headed down Champs Elysees to get our shopping on. We stopped at a cute little cafe to get a mid-morning treat – my daughter loves those Parisian breads! We had the best view of the Arc, and then took our time walking down the gorgeous street. Some of our favorite stops were the Disney store, Ferrari store, and Starbucks. I’m sure you can figure out who likes which ones. We also stopped at some tourist stores so Mia could pick out something to buy with her 5 euros. And of course, she chose a mini Eiffel Tower.
Eiffel Tower
From the Champs Elysees, we walked along the Seine until we reached the Eiffel Tower. There are so many great viewpoints along the way to get pictures of the Tower in the background. There’s also a Love Locks bridge along the way. This is a great place to take pictures.
When you finally get to the Eiffel Tower, there are always a lot of people, so just be aware of your surroundings with kids. We made sure that Mia always held our hand. There are also tons of vendors trying to sell you cheap stuff, so keep that in mind, too. We did an impromptu photo shoot with Mia’s mini Eiffel Tower and then crossed the street to the Trocadero Gardens.
Trocadero Gardens
The Trocadero Gardens is one of our favorite places to rest around the Eiffel Tower area. The gardens and fountains are just gorgeous, and there’s a nice grassy area to rest.
At this point, Mia was tired, so we headed back to the campsite early, knowing that tomorrow we would be back for another full day in the city. So we grabbed the metro at the Eiffel Tower station and took it back to our campground bus station.
A wonderful start to our 2 days in Paris with kids!
Day 2: Paris with kids Itinerary
Day 2 was going to be a really long day in Paris, since we were moving to our next destination tomorrow. So we had a nice breakfast at our campground and made our way back to the city. For day 2, we took the metro to the Louvre and started exploring there.
The Louvre
Adding the Louvre to your 2 days in Paris with kids trip is a must! Even if you don’t go inside, it’s still fun to see the glass pyramids and walk around the square and area surrounding it. And we always love to get fun pics at famous structures wherever we go. We didn’t go inside to the museum because Mia just wasn’t at that age to care about famous paintings and art, but we will definitely go back at some point. Especially now that she’s starting to learn about the Masterpieces in her art class at school.
After spending some time in the square, we walked around the cafe area and again, grabbed coffees and croissants. When in Paris, right?!?
Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques
Up next, we head to Saint-Jacques Square. This little park area is so beautiful and just such a nice place to sit and enjoy the Parisian atmosphere. It was on the way to Notre Dame, so we gladly passed through here and enjoyed the flowers along the way.
Notre Dame Cathedral
We then crossed the Seine to Notre Dame. One of my favorite churches to go inside is Notre Dame. But because of the restoration project they are doing due to the fire, we could not go inside. So we took some pictures outside the church and listened to some street musicians who played there.
Luxembourg Garden
We were now getting hungry, so we grabbed some lunch before heading to Luxembourg Garden. By far, this is our FAVORITE garden in Paris. It dates back to the 17th-century and is filled with fountains, gardens, mazes, statues and more. It’s just seriously stunning! They set chairs and lounges all around for a nice relaxing visit. Make sure you put this on your Paris list!
Eiffel Tower at night
From Luxembourg Garden, we had quite a long trek to make it back to the Eiffel Tower. We really wanted to see it all lit up at night, so we began the walk through the middle of the city and past Hôtel des Invalides. It took us a good couple of hours with stops along the way to rest our feet. We did have little legs with us, after all.
We made it to the Eiffel Tower right at sunset, which was so beautiful to see!
Then we had dinner at Ricci’s – where we ate the BEST oven-forno pizza we’ve ever had. It gave us enough time to spare until we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. If you haven’t seen the Tower at night, I highly recommend it. It’s so beautiful!
TIP: The Eiffel Tower displays a twinkle light show at 10:00 pm and runs every hour on the hour until 1:00 am.
It was now pretty late for us. Mia usually goes to bed around 8 pm, so she was pretty tired. We grabbed the metro at the Eiffel Tower station and took it back to our campground. Another successful day in Paris!
Want to add a day at Disneyland Paris to your itinerary? Check out our A Day at Disneyland Paris guide.
Where to stay in Paris with kids
There are a plethora of options when it comes to where to stay in Paris with kids. If you are a large family, Airbnbs might be a great option. Or maybe you’re a family that loves hotels. Then you’ve come to the right place too. Hotels range from luxury to budget with cute boutique hotels sprinkled around the city. If you’re looking for lodging with a view of the Eiffel Tower, there are so many great ones too.
Since we were on our 2 Week RV trip from Rome to Paris, we already had lodging inside our Campervan. So for us, the question was where to camp. And there are also some great options for camping in the Paris area, including where we stayed: Camping de Paris.
Camping in Paris
One of the questions we receive the most about camping in Paris is where can you camp? We camped at Camping de Paris, a campground located just outside Paris on the west side of the city. They have accommodations for Campervans (RVs), tents, and even tent cabins for rent.
We stayed for two nights and enjoyed our time tremendously.
What’s great about the location is the proximity and ease to get to the city. There is a bus that picks you right up at the campground and takes you directly to the metro. From there, you can take the metro to whatever stop in Paris you’d like.
TIP: You can buy bus passes at the front office at the campground so you don’t have to deal with getting one on the bus.
METRO TIP: If you’re going to be traveling around the city, buy a day pass. It’s the best option, and then you can get on and off wherever you want. We did this for both days, and it worked out brilliantly.
Is Paris worth visiting with kids?
I’ll end my guide as I end most of them – Is Paris worth visiting with kids? Absolutely, Paris is worth visiting with kids! Our daughter was 5 years old when we visited Paris, and she will carry around the memories forever. And on top of our 2 days in the city, we spent an entire day at Disneyland Paris too! Plus, we took enough videos and pictures to keep the trip alive in case she does forget. LOL
