bquinons

We are having a family trip, and since we only have three days I would like to confirm with you if it´s doable.

Here is the planned itinerary for first days in may (that coul change according to degree of tiredness):

Day 1:
- Eiffel tower
- Arc de Triomphe
pm:
- 1 pm: 3-hour New Paris Walking Tour (Sandemans New Europe) - until my kids can bear the walking!

Day 2: Saturday
- Versailles (with the Musical Fountain Show .. "The fountains spout from 11 am to 12 noon and from 3:30 to 5:30 pm." ... would it be better to go after Notre Dame? would this trip take 4-6 hours?)
- Notre Dame: probably pm
- seine river cruise .. hopefully getting sunset and night to see eiffel tower at night

Day 3:
- Louvre: egyptians + base + 1-2 exhibitions, no more than that unless my kids are interested in more
- Champs Elysee
- Touilleries
Maybe a picnic for lunch at Touilleries garden? I heard there is a market around
Question: would you begin with the Louvre or end with Louvre?

Day 4
- Chateau de Chennonceau
- Chateau Blois or Amboise or Clos de Luce (two of them if possible, what do you think?)


At around 6 pm day 3, we pick-up a car and drive to Chenonceaux ...
We are thinking that it would be good to begin day 4 with the Chateau at Chennonceau (we read it may be the most appealing), and then go to Blois and Amboise, and visit one of those castle, and if time allows, Clos de Luce, to see Leonardo da Vinci´s inventions.
At around 5 pm we have to leave to the airport.
If time doesn´t allow, would you take kids to Clos de Luce or to Blois or Amboise chateau?
I showed my kids the chateaux's pictures, and they also wanted to go to the Villandry gardens.... would you trade it for any other in the plan? What I don't like is that it is 1 hour transportation to go and come back.


What do you think about the itinerary?
I'm not incluiding Disney since they already went to the one in the US, and we have time restrictions. I wanted to go to the Cite des Sciences, but I don´t see any time slot left.

Thanks for your help

StCirq

With such a short amount of time available, the first thing I'd do is skip the Champs Elysées. It's just a big street with loads of traffic.

If your aim is to see the fountains at Versailles, then yes, go to Notre Dame in the morning. You'll probably want a half-day at Versailles, so you could leave Paris around noon, giving you the afternoon at Versailles and plenty of time to see other things in Paris before that.

I love the château d'Amboise because of the history, but your kids will no doubt be far more interested in the Clos Lucé. I wouldn't try to cram 3 châteaux into one day, especially with kids.

Is your flight out on Day 4? If so, you shouldn't even be contemplating a visit to the Loire.

bquinons

St Cirq,
thanks for the advice. I´ll skip Champs Elysées then.

My plane leaves at 9 pm, so driving at 5 pm out of the Loire allows us plenty of time to get to the airport and leave the rented car. I saw the Michelin web page and it calculates almost 2 hours... maybe leaving at 4 pm will be more relaxed.
My kids love the stories about knights and castles, if we do at least one castle, we will be happy, that´s why we want to go there, even though it would have been better to have more days over there.

AtlTravelr

We took our son when he was 12.

He LOVED the catacombs - you need to do that with 2 boys for sure. Both kids (daughter was 14) really liked the Eiffel Tower and were disappointed that we didn't get to go all the way to the top - so be sure you leave enough times for lineups, etc. so that you can do the whole thing. They much preferred the Musay d'Orsay to the Louvre. If you are going to the Louve, I would definitley do it first thing. They'll enjoy the Tuilleries - we went to Luxembourg Gardens instead for our picnic lunch.

Both enjoyed Notre Dame - We climb things and if you do too, then you need to leave time to get to the top of the towers, which is separate (another line). Personally I wouldn't do a walking tour with my kids, but you know them best.

I think your Versailles day is too long unless you are really lucky with transportation, lines, etc. I remember it took us "the whole day", considering we had a nice breakfast first. Got back later in the afternoon and went back to the hotel for a rest! But it was also summer and very hot, so that may not be an issue for you. We did get out later for a walk around at night. We took the evening Seine cruise on our first day and it put us all to sleep, but was fun anyway.

We stayed 2 nights in the Loire and the kids really enjoyed seeing many castles - I think they liked Chenonceau the best. We took a boat out on the water and they loved that. We did visit Amboise and there was a separate Leonardo exhibit that we all enjoyed. We had a car and drove - can't remember now the one other castle that they really liked - it had great gardens.

But don't miss Catacombs and getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower!

AtlTravelr

Ah! I just read your post again - and it WAS Villandry where my kids enjoyed the gardens so much. It will be hard to figure what to leave out.

bquinons

AtlTravelr, how much time do you think will take the Eiffel tower up to the top, two hours will be enough?
Thanks for the catacombe idea.
Maybe I should do just Chennonceau and Villandry, and forget about Leonardo da Vinci and Blois, I´ll show them more pictures.

StCirq

Check the official Eiffel Tower website. There's work underway on some of the elevators, which translates to people maybe waiting 3 or more hours to use the single elevator that will be working - not sure when you're going or when the work will end, but something to consider.

bquinons

I will be there in may 3rd to 6th. Thanks, I'll check the website.
I just saw a post about avoiding lines at Eiffel Tower... let's see how ...

Coquelicot

I think viamichelin is overly optimistic about travel time between Tours and CDG. I'd guess 3 hours would be closer. You're talking about driving in rush hour traffic around Paris to the airport, and once you get there you have a car to return and then make your way to check-in.

If you're flying internationally, you'll need to be at check-in three hours before your flight to be on the safe side.

I'm just reiterating the point St Cirq already made.

bquinons

I´m flying to Rome, if it´s in the European Union do I still need 3 hours? or only two?

I had already adjusted my depart time to 4 pm, but after your comment, we have to readjust it

Thanks for bringing it up!! It will save us a tense moment