First trip to Paris
 

I will be traveling to Paris in October for a week with my two girls, ages 7 & 10. While there I would love to hit one of the neighboring countries. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which would be the most feasible and what method of transportation would be best? Thanks!

There's lots to fill a week in Paris but you could take the Thalys train Paris to Bruges

http://www.thalys.com/nl/en/timetables/Paris/Bruges

Paris has much to offer. Is there any particular reason to go to another country?

You could do a day trip out of Paris to go visit castles, for example.

schedule wise, remeebr that first day you will be jet-lagged and need to get from aiprot to hotel. So you lose 1/2 day, plus feel less than optimal that day. Similarly, last day you need t oget to airport, so not much can happen. How many days do you "really" have?

Alternatively, land in Amsterdam..1/2 first day, all of next day, leave for Paris on high speed train late day. Or London in a similar way. Flights could be better priced too.

(need spell check) :)

From Paris, Belgium, the Netherlands or England are the most feasible as they are the closest. Train works for all of them.

England would be great. I bet the little ones would enjoy the castles. You can take the plane and trains in getting around. Also, it might require a lot of walking.

Last summer, my daughter and I visited Brussels after Paris. For us, it turned out that a return flight from Brussels was a lot less expensive than flying home from Paris, so we took the Thalys train in the morning from Paris (in itself, a nice experience since we have no rail travel options where we're from). Our hotel was next to the Grand-Place, so we checked in, and explored that part of Brussels. It was a great day, and a nice conclusion to our trip.

As others have mentioned, Paris can keep you busy for months, but if you want a little variety, Brussels is a good choice because it is close, has a lot of flight options, etc...

I would stay in Paris and maybe a day trip to another city. if you really want another country, I would take the Eurostar to London!

For only one week in Paris I wouldn't waste time on another country. Go to the Chateaux of the Loire, to Normandy, or to Burgundy if you want to get out of Paris for a day or two.

I agree with Spaarne. With only one week in Paris I wouldn't go to another country. There is SOOO much to do and see in Paris. I went for a week last Summer and didn't get to see everything we wanted to. The Palace of Versailles was awesome and I bet your girls would love seeing it(just make sure you wear good walking shoes; The gardens and palace are huge) I think they also do a water show. I also enjoyed Normandy and getting to visit the beaches and learning more about WWII.

One week isn't even enough to see Paris. You'll have to choose quantity or quality, but not both.