So you’ve booked your flight and accommodation, the next step in planning an amazing family trip to Paris is finding the right activities to please the whole family. With literary thousands of options out there, we totally understand that this is no easy task! Which museums are best for kids? How do you get from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower? Which sites will interest younger kids AND teens? You can save yourself a lot of grief and help make your trip a rewarding and fun experience for the kids by booking some tours. Not all guided tours are a great fit for children, which is why we’ve created this list of top Paris kid-friendly tours, from creative museum tours to cool ways to visit Versailles and Montmartre.
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(WA = Wheelchair Accessible)
Visit all the main sites of Paris in one day with an expert guide
If you’d like to get the best overview of Paris in a day, then join one of these comprehensive tours that are popular with families. The full-day bonanza includes all the top attractions in Paris including Ile-de-la-Cité, Notre-Dame, Montmartre, a short tour inside the Louvre, a Seine river cruise, and the unmissable Eiffel Tower. It truly is the best of Paris in a day, plus your local guide will give you all kinds of other tips and information which will come in handy during the rest of your trip.
Great for: any age
Book a Paris in a Day Tour with Louvre, City Walk, Eiffel Tower and River Cruise | Various Arrondissements
Seek out the highlights of Paris yourself on a self-guided scavenger hunt tour
If you’re not sure if your kids can manage a full day of sightseeing, then this scavenger hunt is an interactive and entertaining way to explore the city at your own pace. The self-guided adventure accessed via your smartphone starts at the Eiffel Tower and lasts about 2.5 hours, although you don’t have to do it all in one go. The game involves solving location-based riddles at 10 of Paris’s top sites, where you’ll learn fascinating facts about their history and other cool information about the city. It’s also a great way to get the kids working together.
Great for: any age
Book a Paris: Highlights Self-Guided Scavenger Hunt and Tour | Various Arrondissements
Enliven your children’s interest in art on a family tour of the Louvre
This family tour of the Louvre is one of the top Paris kid-friendly tours. Designed as a treasure hunt through the museum, kid-friendly art historian guides help your children uncover some of the mysteries surrounding the Louvre’s top masterpieces. You’ll crack the code of Egyptian hieroglyphs, discover why the Venus de Milos doesn’t have arms, and find out the secret behind Mona Lisa’s smile. By the end of the tour, your kids will have a better appreciation of art and its evolution over the centuries. If you have teens, you may prefer to book the regular Louvre Tour which we recommend in this article.
Great for: 6 to 12 years old
Reserve a Louvre Museum Tour for Kids with Skip-the-Line Tickets | 1st Arrondissement | WA
Image Courtesy of Context Travel
Get introduced to French food by visiting an authentic Paris market with a food guide
Visiting a Parisian food market is a fun way to teach children about French food and this tour specifically designed for kids offers the perfect introduction. Led by a kid-friendly food expert, you’ll tour the very local Marché d’Aligre, which has an abundance of colorful stalls outdoors and additional food purveyors within a beautiful covered market hall. Your children will be tasked with picking out picnic supplies around the market, including freshly baked treats, seasonal fruits and vegetables, (not too pungent) cheeses, and other delicacies. Supplies acquired, you’ll then enjoy your finds in a neighboring park. Maybe you’ll discover that your kids have a more adventurous palate than you previously thought.
Great for: Any age
Book a Paris Market Tour for Kids | 12th Arrondissement | WA
Image Courtesy of Take Walks
Head underground and uncover the mysteries of the Paris Catacombs
If your children enjoy spooky stories and places, then you should book this tour which shows them another side of Paris – what’s beneath its streets. Among the best Paris tours for families with older children, the Paris Catacombs is a unique site and one of the largest catacombs in Europe. Meeting your guide outside, you’ll be whisked past the venue’s super long line thanks to skip-the-line tickets. Descending its 131 steps, you’ll enter the ‘Empire of the Dead,’ the Catacombs’s vast maze of tunnels displaying bones organized in elaborate patterns. Your guide will expertly lead you through the tunnels, explaining how they are created and also taking you to some secret spots.
Great for: 10 years old and above
Join a Skip-the-Line Paris Catacombs Tour with Special Access | 14th Arrondissement
Understand the genius of the Impressionists on an interactive tour of the Musée d’Orsay
We couldn’t leave the Orsay off our list of the top Paris kid-friendly tours. Located in a former train station, due to its much smaller size, the Musée d’Orsay can feel more manageable than the Louvre. What’s more, its art collections, spanning from the mid-19th to early-20th centuries, can be more accessible to younger visitors. Exploring the works of artists like Renoir, Degas, and Monet, this interactive tour uses engaging activities aimed at bringing out your children’s imaginations and creativity. They’ll have a deeper understanding of art, which they can put into practice in their own art or on future museum visits.
Great for: 5 to 12 years old
Book an Orsay Museum Private Tour for Kids with Skip-the-Line Tickets | 7th Arrondissement | WA
Image Courtesy of Context Travel
Walk in the footsteps of famous artists on a kid-friendly tour of Montmartre
Visiting the artsy district of Montmartre is one of the top things to do in Paris for families, and you’ll get to see the area’s top sites, while also learning about its artistic heritage, on this family tour of the area. In the company of a kid-friendly guide, you’ll see where artists like Van Gogh, Renoir, and Picasso lived, painted, and spent time with their fellow artist friends. The tour includes activities like sketching to spark children’s creativity while touring this family-friendly neighborhood. If you’re traveling with teens, you may like to book a regular Montmartre Tour (see our recommendation in this article) or a Montmartre Scavenger Hunt (which we mention in our Cool Things To Do With Kids In Paris article).
Great for: 6 to 12 years old
Book a Montmartre Tour for Kids with Sacré-Coeur | 18th Arrondissement
Image Courtesy of Fat Tire Tours
Tour Versailles and its famous gardens by bike with a picnic lunch
A trip out to the Palace of Versailles, located in the Parisian suburbs, can be a great activity for kids, especially if you take this cool bike touris among the top Paris kid-friendly tours, especially if you take this great bike tour. It’s a fun and less overwhelming way to visit this massive palace complex and learn about the French royals who built or lived in it. Meeting your guide in Paris, you’ll take the train to Versailles where you’ll pick up your bikes across from the station. You’ll then stop by the local food market for picnic supplies before cruising through the palace’s huge garden complex. After your picnic lunch in the spectacular gardens, you’ll bike to the further Trianon complex, where you’ll visit the Marie-Antoinette hamlet, one of the site’s top highlights for kids. Cycling back to the main palace, you’ll tour its glitzy interiors, just like you’re entering a fairytale. Families can join group tours, however, you may prefer to book a private tour so you can go at your own pace.
Great for: Any age
Book a Versailles Full-Day Bike Tour with Picnic | Versailles (Southwest of Paris)
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