Paris is one of our favorite cities. It’s a wonderful city with lots of culture, amazing parks and great attractions for the entire family, and (surprise surprise!) also a great place to visit with kids. We have been fortunate to visit Paris more than a handful of times, on our own, as a couple, and also with our children. On every visit, we’ve discovered new parts of the city and have been happy to find many off-the-beaten track things to do in Paris with kids.
During our most recent visit to The City of Lights we’ve checked out new and fun places that are often overlooked by tourists, or are simply not in the travel guides for the city. We have good friends who are from Paris and who have always showed us a good time when we’ve visited them. It’s been such a treat to see more of the city while being guided by locals, so we wanted to share some of the places they’ve taken us to, or recommended to us. These are true hidden gems (from tourists!) and well worth visiting, especially with kids!
Here are our favorite off-the-beaten track things to do in Paris with kids:
Jardin d’Acclimatation
This is definitely a MUST do in Paris when traveling with kids. The Jardin is a 19-hecatare amusement park located in the north-western part of the city, inside the Bois de Boulogne.
Inside the Jardin, the options for fun are endless! There are many amusement-park-style rides for all ages. We visited when our kids were one-and-a-half and four-and-a-half and there were plenty of options for both. There are cafes serving good food as well as coffee and drinks, and there are plenty of places to go for a stroll, including the Louis Vuitton Foundation next door. There are also some free play areas like the little farm, and even a cool water feature/splash pad for those hot Parisian summer days.
You can reach the Jardin using public transit. When we visited, we wanted to take the Metro to “Les Sablons” station, take exit 2, then walk down rue d’Orléans. The entrance to the Jardin d’Acclimatation is 150m away. You can also hop on the Jardin’s Small Train. Unfortunately, the train was not operating due to renovations, but we will certainly ride it the next time we are in Paris and want to visit the Jardin.
Grande Galerie de l’Evolution
We visited this museum when our son was 2 years old and he loved it! The Gallery of Evolution is sure to wow any little visitors with its caravan of animals of all sizes, especially the large mammals like the giraffe, the elephant, and the hippopotamus.
The Galerie de l’Evolution is only one of the twelve sites that make up the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Museum of Natural History) in Paris, so you can easily spend an entire day (if not several days) exploring the different sites.
La Villete
Located in the 19th arrondissement, the Parc de la Villete is Paris’s third largest park and it offers the largest concentration of cultural venues in the city. If you haven’t visited here, you might want to add it to your list.
Once again, we only ended up visiting this area because our friends wanted to take us there. So thankful for friends who are great tour guides! We’ve come to this part of the city on two different occasions and we have barely scratched the surface on this amazing area of Paris. Last time we visited, we did a boat ride on the Canal Saint Martin, which was a lovely way to get a better idea of what this area has to offer, all of it with a very local feel. We also visited a Team Lab Exhibit at the Grande Halle de la Villete and it was super unique and fun thing to do!
The Villete in itself is a great area for kids as there are plenty of open spaces for kids to run around and parents to relax. There are also family-friendly attractions that are worth checking out such as the Cité des Sciences (Science Museum), the children’s fair rides, and the giant slide at the Dragon Garden. We even found an area where kids could build and display Legos!
Like Paris generally, food and drinks are readily available in the area, making it a great place to come spend the day.
#104Paris
We would have never found this place if it weren’t for our friends and we are so glad they took us there! As described in is website, this place is “an artistic and cultural factory of a new genre.” The main hall offers lots of open space for people to perform, dance, or simply gather to create. We saw all kinds of spontaneous performances and Hugo loved every minute of it! Surrounding the performance hall are several stores, including a secondhand store where we scored some very unique and vintage plastic animals we still have.
The Cent Quatre website specifically mentions that it is a place for everyone, including children.
The 104 is also located in the 19th arrondissement inside a large ehibition hall style building that took care of the city’s burial and funeral services for about 120 years. Repurposing of the building began in 2003 and the Cent Quatre opened in 2008 as a public instituion for cultural expresion and cooperation.
This has definitely been one of the biggest highlights of our visits to Paris because it felt like a totally local venue, and because it really showed us that artsy side of the city you don’t really see at crowded museums or the main attractions. This is a place where you can really engage in self expression and we thought it was precious to show our son such a place.
Check out their website for events and concerts. There is a restaurant and a café on site.
Centre Pompidou
If you are looking to visit a museum in Paris, we strongly recommend you head to the Centre Pompidou to quench your thirst for art and culture. We’ve visited the big museums like the Louvre and D’Orsay, but we really loved visiting the Centre Pompidou because we felt it checked all the boxes: relaxed atmosphere, activities specially designed for little ones, a gallery just for children, as well as amazing views of the city and a big open space outside the museum for kids to run around and burn that extra energy.
Off-the-beaten Track Parks
Bois de Vincennes
On our last trip to Paris, we stayed right outside of the ring road on the eastern part of the city. Because we were traveling long term, we were trying to stick to a strict budget and we found a great apartment in the suburb of Charenton-le-Pont that fit the bill.
Our Airbnb apartment happened to be located right by the Bois de Vincennes, Paris’ second biggest park after the Bois de Boulogne. Our kids had the best time exploring this park on their scooters. The park offers plenty of activities and places to relax and have a good time outside. A highlight of the park is the beautiful medieval Chateau de Vincennes. If you are looking for a break from Paris’s more touristy areas, this is a great place to go!
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
Located in the north-east of Paris, the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is one of Paris’s largest green areas. This is a hilly park and it offers great views of Montmartre. The park offers lots of fun for little ones, including caves, waterfalls, a suspended bridge, and lots of green space for little ones to run around.
This park is packed with activities for little travelers, from crossing the bridges and climbing to the belvedere to pony rides, playgrounds, puppet shows, and sandboxes… the possibilities are endless! There are lots of water fountains around the park, as well as a couple of restaurants and snack bars.
Our family really loves Paris and we like it more every time we visit, especially as we continue to look for more off-the-beaten track things to do in Paris with kids. In our experience, Parisians are welcoming and friendly to families and kids, making this city a great place to visit!
