Hi - We are a family of 4 (children 8 & 11) traveling to France/Belgium for a first time visit mid-April to May 2nd (3 weeks). Our children are experienced travelers who would like to see a good variety. We fly into Marseilles and plan to spend the first week between Nice area and Provence. From there, we're undecided.

Initially we'd considered ~1 week in Paris next, followed by a foray into Bavaria before heading to Brussels for the weekend, where we board our return flights home. Then I discovered the Spring Break schedules for France; Paris in particular, and the Paris schools are on break the first 2 weeks of our trip. The end of our second week is also Easter weekend there. This got me thinking that we probably don't want to go to Paris until the 3rd week, when Paris schools are back in session, and Easter weekend travelers have gone back home. Would others advise us to avoid Paris during Easter and the Paris' school break?

If we wait 'til our third week to see Paris, it seems to make less sense to include Bavaria, though the kids were quite disappointed when I shared that we may not see any of Germany this trip. If Paris would be OK to visit our second week, then we could still consider a visit to Bavaria after Easter. If Paris is likely to be one big line-up when the children are off school, and over Easter weekend, we will turn our sights to some of the other interesting areas of France until school's back in session.

p.s. Does anyone have any interesting suggestions about spending Easter in France?

Thanks in advance for your advice,
Michele

There isnt really a difference in Paris. if you were talking ski slopes or the beach then yes its busier during the school holidays, but paris is always busy; no matter the season. There is no reason to avoid paris just because its school holidays.
looking at your itinerary though, makes more sense to do the south, then germany then paris then brussells, give how close brussells is to paris. depends on the flight to and from germany i suppose.
anyway, no reason to avoid paris because of easter.

Easter is nothing to worry about as long as you have accommodations organized.

As for school breaks for the Paris zone, that empties out Paris more than filling it up. The moment the schools are out, the residential streets become amazingly more quiet. And of course Parisian kids do not visit the Eiffel Tower or other tourist attractions when they are on break. If you run into them, you'll find them at the science and natural history museums, usually with the divorced father.

As long as you stay out of the resort areas and are ok

with fairly cold sometimes rainy weather Paris will be

ok over spring break times usually.

Personally try to stay south www.sunfrance.com

Arles www.lecalendal.com Aix as I am not a cold/rain fan.

www.weather2travel.com Climate Guides France.

Happy Journey,

It's not an issue. Although I vacation in Paris during different times of the year, I have been there during the time that you are mentioning probably a dozen times or more. It hasn't hindered anything that I needed to do. Happy Travels!

Thank you all for your quick and unanimous response. Ah, that's a relief. It opens up our options. We were wondering if Paris is like our own neighborhood - long weekends are the best time to stay home 'cus we have the neighborhood to ourselves! Now the real fun begins; sorting out the finer details of our itinerary!

I'll get on the task of confirming a booking for Easter weekend, and ensuring we have a spot to hang our hats on the beach for the first week. Thanks, Kerouac and Vinylcrocodile. We'll get on that.

We live in a climate where rain's a frequent occurrence, so a bit of rain in Paris won't dampen our spirits. We do want to enjoy some sunshine, so thank you, Qwovadis, for the links.
Michele