I'm wondering if there is a one day pass where I can visit Eiffel Towers and Museum to avoid the long wait in line. I found the 2 day pass that must be consecutive days but not one day pass.
We will be arriving Paris from the US on a Friday morning and will be traveling with 3 young kids (age 2, 4, 7). I suppose they will probably be pretty jet-lag since it is around midnight US time when landed CDG. We'll probably head over to the hotel first and take a nap then head out in the afternoon. I'm wondering, is it better to go to the Eiffel Tower area on Friday afternoon and Notre Dame Cathedral area on Saturday morning to avoid the crowd? or it is better to do the reverse (i.e. Notre Dame Cathedral area on Friday afternoon then Eiffel Tower on Saturday morning)? We are planning to stay close to the Place Vendome area and we will be picking up our rental car on early Saturday afternoon to head over to the Loire Valley. We will still have time visit sightseeing Paris when we get back but it will still be a Saturday and Sunday. I'm wondering which is better to avoid the crowd. are there usually a long wait for the Eiffel Towers and museum in mid-April? Is there any way i can purchase the ticket in advance to avoid the wait at the site to purchase the tickets? I don't know how much patiences my kids have on waiting in line. i tried booking it online for the Eiffel Tower but the date is not available. Does that mean, I just can't do advance purchase but can still get up there if I don't mind waiting on line to buy the tickets at Eiffel. I thought it is a bit pricy to pay a 2-day pass when i probably ended up visiting one or two places. Or any recommendation on the time to visit the Eiffel Towel and the Notre Dame (I assume they want to climb the stairs) where the wait may be shorter on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
When is the best time (ie less wait time) to visit Versailles Palace? Saturday or Sunday?
Thank you all in advance.

no, the Eiffel Tower is privately owned and you won't find it on any pass with the museums, which are mostly govt owned. I don't know where you found a two day pass where you could do both, I've never seen such a thing.

They used to have a one day Paris Museum Pass only, but they did away with it some years ago and now the cheapest is the 2 day pass. It is expensive unless you go to a lot of museums in one day. I never buy one because I don't do that. You'd probably have to go to at least 3 things on it to make it worthwhile (per day).

yes, you can go to the tower and wait in line if tickets are sold out online. I don't climb up towers so can't advise on best time, but usually it is earlier in the day for everything (museums, attractions). A lot of people don't seem to get going until afternoon. Evening hours are usually less crowded at museums. I don't know that it makes any difference for Versailles on Sat or Sunday, both weekend days are busy. If I had to guess, Saturday would be better (they have some special fountain show sometimes on Sunday, I believe, so crowds may be bigger).

First,keep checkiing online for Eiffel Tower tickets. They do more than one release of tickets. So you could check one day and they are sold out and check again another day and they can have availability.

If you still don't manage to get any I would head over to it in the afternoon and see what the line is like to the top. If it's really long the lines to the 2nd fl are usually not. You can get to the 2nd fl and then buy tickets to the top. But, I've read many reports that buying the tickets on the 2nd fl can also be long. I've also read reports where people got to the 2nd fl and didn't feel the need to go to the cramped & crowded top. The views are just as good.

Re Versailles - no way to know which will be more crowded. Best of my knowledge they only do the fountain shows in the Summer. Some people say get there when they open to beat the bus loads of tourists.

With kids that age I'm not even sure I would make the trek up to the top. (Unless it is something you personally want to do.)

it looks like you aren't in Paris for Long at all... So the views from the top of the Eiffel Tower aren't going to mean anything to you.

ok,, first there will a line for the church part of Notre Dame.. BUT.. do not let it alarm you.. since it is a free visit the line is simply a bottleneck at the door.. the line moves steadily.. so just get in line. That line is the line at the front running often across the square.

There is no reason for you to get a Museum pass for such a short visit .. your kids are free at museums and at Notre Dame ( as you are at ND church , but not Towers) and there is no line skipping allowed for climbing the Towers Of Notre Dame ( the MP does cover the admission fee, but no line skipping, and that line moves slowly.. and plus with three young children you really can't climb Towers anyways, no elevator, steep narrow steps)

Next,, your hotel will allow you to check in, leave luggage etc.. but you cannot assume your room will be ready for you to nap in before official check in time later in afternoon.

So.. now you have to keep yourselves and kids busy till then .

The best way to beat jet lag is to not nap.. but to try and live at time you arrive.. harder with young tots of course..but 2 yr old should be able to nap in stroller. If weather is nice maybe go see Eiffel Tower first and then lunch and play time in a park ( many nice pocket parks around as well as larger ones with fun playgrounds) Where are you staying?

Versailles is busy nightmare in palace every day.. and in April I would count on it more so then jan-mar... Frankly I would not take your young children in there.. the grounds are great for them ( weather being nice hopefully) and they will likely love visitng Marie Antionettes Hamlet( don't miss that part with kids) .. but the palace , ugh, you will have to carry the 2 yr old so she is not stepped on, and likely the 4 yr old also.. no strollers allowed inside, and the 7 yr old will see mostly the back of peoples backs and elbows. Yes, it can be that bad.

PS Skip Versailles if you just want to see a palace.. you are already going to the Loire Valley and the chateaus there are not crowded .

Gosh, you are very brave.

I agree that your hotel room is unlikely to be ready when you arrive, and you will have to find breakfast and amuse the children until you can get in for your naps. I would not eat near either of the attractions. Choices are limited in both places and expensive near the Eiffel and tourist traps near ND.

If you are staying anywhere near the Luxembourg Gardens, it is a wonderful place to take children these ages. Other children will be sailing boats in the basin, but there are playgrounds and pony rides and Punch and Judy Shows in the wooded area up the hill and to the right when your back is to the Palace.

If you are on the Right Bank, you can go to the gardens in front of the Louvre which also have playgrounds.

Otherwise, as Justine says, there are pocket parks all over, many of them behind churches, and for that matter, there are large open ares in front of Notre Dame and a big lawn, big lawn, all around the Eiffel. There will be a million people in those two places, but they are not confined areas.

The church will be very dark and crowded inside. If I recall correctly, circulation is generally in a counterclockwise direction, and you do need to go with the flow. It would help to read a bit before about what you will be seeing so you can have a context. There may be a mass going on right in the middle of the whole tourist thing.

I've been to Paris a fair number of times without ever going up in the Eiffel. The two best places to look at it are from the Trocadero, just across the river, or from one of the river cruises at night. The tower has a magical light show every ten minutes after dark. You can see it from all over, but the boats -- Vedettes du Pont Neuf are best in my opinion -- would be easy with the children.

Unless you live in a city in North America, the biggest issue is going to be staying out of the way on sidewalks on major streets and being safe crossing them. In many places, it takes two lights to cross, one to an island in the middle of the street, another to the opposite curb.

You aren't going to be there very long, and it will be a challenge. Good luck!

I agree - the most enjoyable way to see the Tower is from the river, especially with young kids. We climbed the stairs with our girls when they were about 9 or 10 (there was no queue for the stairs!), and it actually was not as arduous as I expected. But for younger ones I think it would be too much. For cruises, you can also have a look at the Batobus. It offers you an all-day ticket to jump on and off as often as you like, and stops at strategic points for many major sights. Your kids will also love to see the Tower sparkling by night. Another park to consider is the Tuileries, which has a carousel and pony rides for young children.

thank you all so much for the advice. last time i was in paris was 10 yrs ago and all i remembered was the line was really really line. i'm relieved to hear that parks in france are also great places for kids to hang out.
we are thinking about staying at westin vendome. at least there is a near across the street to hang-out if the room is not available. and close enough to tourist attraction site if we need to go back to take a nap.
my kids are totally fascinated w eiffel tower and notre dame because of the ratatouille and quasimodo cartoon. so those two sites are a must. maybe i can get away without going up if the line gets way way too long.
thanks again.

Going up.. as in up the Towers of Notre Dame.. well as I said.. I doubt its manageable for your kids.. you would have to carry the two year old( if they allow it even ) because the stairs are VERY narrow, winding in most places and very steep. There is absolutely no way to avoid a long slow wait at ND towers.. unless you arrive in the morning before they open and get in line, as I said.. because the stairs are steep and narrow ( and one way!) they only let about 20 people up every 20 minutes or so..

For Eiffel Tower the easiest is to pre purchase online tickets for the elevator.. that will avoid a long wait for sure.. we waited 10 minutes instead of the two three hours other people were having to do , but you must use the tickets only in the time slot you purchase, if you are more then 10 or 15 minutes late you will lose the tickets and they will not allow you up . And you must buy the tickets as quickly as they are released for sale on the Eiffel Tower website. they are snapped up FAST.. within hours ..

We first brought our children to Paris when they were 9 and 12. What they remember from this trip: walking around the Champs de Mars at night, playing war with the set of tin soldiers that we bought my son at the Louvre, watching a fisherman on the Ile St. Louis pull eels out of the Seine, and being served chocolate mousse out of a big crock at a neighborhood restaurant. We did go inside Notre Dame and into several museums, but they don't remember that at all.

I would recommend that you stick to the outside areas of your must-sees and don't bother going inside. As I mentioned above, the Champs de Mars is a pretty cool place at night (my kids were fascinated by the souvenir vendors and their bundles of light-up Eiffel Towers), and the garden behind Notre Dame is perfect for a nice stroll. If you visit Notre Dame during the day, you might take the short walk over to Berthillon for an ice cream treat.

I've been to Paris nine or ten times and I have never been up the Eiffel Tower, nor do I ever intend to go up. I just like the way it looks from the ground and I hate lines, so...it is not going to happen for me. My family has no desire to do so, either, but perhaps that is my fault!

Bon voyage!

If you do decide you'd like to go up the Eiffel Tower, you might consider doing it at night when it is lit. Every hour on the hour the lights "sparkle" for about 5 minutes or so and I think your kids would enjoy the spectacle. I would wait to book tickets in case of bad weather.

hi elizzie4000, thank you so much for your advice on checking the eiffel tower tickets on-line. after weeks of checking, luckily, i got the date and the time i want. Thanks.

NewHere - Frantastic!

Have a great time!!