PARIS TRAVEL GUIDE: WHERE TO GO WITH KIDS

Paris was exactly how I imagined it would be. It looked just like the movies and photos you see. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that we were strolling the streets of Paris, eating sweets by the Eiffel Tower or high up in the sky on the ferris wheel at the Place de la Concorde.

We started our 2 week trip in London but I loved Paris so much I figured I'd write about it first. Who needs order of events anyways!

Lets first talk about how to get to Paris!

For us, the best and cheapest way to get to Paris was to fly into London where we stayed for 5 days (I'll have a travel guide post on that later) and then we took the train into Paris. I did research prior and there were flights that were far cheaper (like $20/person!) than the train BUT the airport is further away and outside of the city center, thus making an Uber a hefty price compared to where the train station is. The train station is right in the city and I think it took our driver 5 min to drop us off, it was awesome! The train was a very cool ride in filled with beautiful scenery and comfortable seats; we even got a table for the four of us. Also, you literally go under the ocean floor and did I mention, they serve champagne on the train so like THERE'S THAT!

I won't lie when it comes to transportation though. I was so stressed out taking the underground with the double stroller in London that I told Jerek no thanks when we got to Paris. SO! We walked miles and miles every day which was fine by me really. If we had a location further away, we would take an Uber there and then have a plan of places to stop the whole way back home. If we were without the kids or if the kids weren't of stroller age, I probably would have done public transit a little more but Uber's are just too easy and it's in English on your phone so there's no "reading wrong train signs" happening there!

Have you seen our travel vlog from Paris? Watch below if you haven't.

I looked at SO many different hotels and Airbnb's that people recommended but when it came down to it, I just didn't want to foot the bill when I knew we wouldn't be staying inside it very much. I asked anyone that I knew that lived in Paris or had been there for the best and safest places to stay.

A former intern and friend from work was back living in Paris and he gave me this run down:

"For the best places, everything can be done by walking. Every major building, cultural place are in the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/7th/10th arrondissement.

If you want an AirBNB cheeper, you can go to 14th/15th/13th and 12th. You will have 20 min sub to get to main places. The 16th will be I think the most expensive."

Below he drew out a red path. He mentioned that in the middle the big main one can be done in one or two days of walking. Then the 3 other places can be reached by subway or bus.

We ended up picking a beautiful quaint AirBNB steps away from the Arc de Triomphe. You can check it out here.

(The door to our airbnb building)

(Street in front of our Airbnb a block from the Arc de Triomphe)

• The Eiffel Tower: http://www.toureiffel.paris/en.html

• The Louvre Museum: http://www.louvre.fr/en • Arc De Triompe: http://www.arcdetriompheparis.com • Citi Pharma (I didn't vlog here, there were SO.MANY.PEOPLE!!! BEST place for beauty products- I did a haul on everything I got there. You can watch it HERE ) https://pharmacie-citypharma.fr/
• Luxembourg Gardens (beautiful garden on the left bank to walk around plus AMAZING kids playground, ALL gated in! (small fee but 110% worth it with kids!) • Tuileries Garden (garden/playground on the right bank)

There were many other places and restaurants we went to but they were small little places and I didn't keep track of all the names and locations. Every corner you turn there is a great cafe, park or store you really can't go wrong just wandering the streets of Paris with no plans!

(The Louvre)

(Luxembourg Gardens)

( Fontaines de la Concorde)

(Place de la Concorde)

Below are some notes from other friends that I received before we left on things to do and places to visit. I'm compiling them all here as you can't simply do everything in one trip so we picked and choose what was important to us and what would be good for our family.

• Stop at one of the vendors on the street that sells waffles covered in Nutella
• The 17th arrondissement: La Fabrique Cookies are AMAZING & the surrounding area is cute to walk
• Centre Pompidou (worlds largest modern art museum) ($13/person-free w/paris pass)
• Palace of Versailles ($18/person-free w/paris pass) (40 min away)
• Seine River Cruise-Take a scenic cruise down the river
• Montmartre: The area is super cute (Sacre Coure church is there) Montmartre cemetery is nearby and its free. It's referred to as the cemetery of artist and is the most famous in Paris

LOCATION: St. Germain de Pres area:

• Entire street of just creperies.  The best is Creperie De Josselin
• Café les Deux Magots (iconic)
• La Grande Epicerie – this is an amazing gourmet food and kitchen store.They sell the the Savon de Marseille hand liquid soaps that are Uh-Mazing (make sure you get the fig!)
• Le Bon Marche: Expensive dept. store, but has a really cool layout – connected to La Grande Epicierie
• Citi Pharma (for all your skincare and beauty needs!)
• Monoprix – they’re everywhere! It’s like their version of Target but so much better

LOCATION: Marais

• BHV – Macy’s/Nordstrom on crack
• Check out the falafel places (las du falafel is the bomb) 

LOCATION: lle de Cite

• Notre Dame: Go inside the church and also climb to the top
• Berthillion: amazing gelato!

GOOD RESTAURANTS KIDS WILL LOVE:

Breakfast in America (breakfast all day)

Breizh Cafe (the best crepes in the Marais)

Le Coupole (historic brasserie in Montparnasse)

All Aboard Le Train Bleu (belle epoque style that’s still kid-friendly)

Le Relais de l’Entrecote (steak, fries, and scrumptious desserts at 3 locations)

Gourmet at Glou (kid-friendly wine bar in the Marais)

BEST AREA FOR FAMILIES:

Saint Germain (central, loads of shops and restaurants)

Rue Cler in the 7th Arrondissement (quieter, slower paced, village-like feel, but still close to many attractions and the Eiffel Tower)

Marais (less touristy, hip and trendy but still family-friendly).

Here is a family that travels all over the world together and has SO many great resources and recommendations! Be sure to check their blog for Paris travel tips but also everywhere else they've been! BLOG: http://mylittlenomads.com/paris-for-kids

Okay now that this is a million pages long I hope you gathered some places to go and have the best time ever! I need to be back in Paris, it was by far my favorite spot on our trip! If you have any other recommendations that I didn't mention, feel free to leave them in the comments below!

As always, thanks for reading and following along! If you want to follow our travels check out YouTube for all of our trips and daily life videos!