If you were taking a 7 year old to Paris where would you stay? What hotel less than 250?...and what activities besides the normal tourist sites..One thing I'm thinking is the fat bike tour...maybe the rooftop cafe of the Printemps?the opera for sure...help!

I lived for five years in Paris with my children, aged at the time 5-10 and 3-8. They loved the tour eiffel, the boats along the river. Playing with the sailboats at the luxembourg park, the science museum at la Villete with the submarine.
Going up every building, tower, Arc, etc..
Of course the usual, Ice cream, etc..
I don't know what the fat bike tour is but if you are thinking about taking a 7 year old in a bike around paris, there are two possibilities and both bad, either you take him/her with you on your bike on the proper seat or he/she rides the bike in between the traffic.I will suggest asking parents first before doing something like that.
But you don't need to risk his life and your emotional balance to have fun with a 7 year old, just don't walk too much, take buses. They will carry you all over Paris and you don´t need to walk up and down the metro.
Have fun.

2 hotel suggestions, the Mansart near the opera, and the hotel brighton, right on the tuilleries, not to far from the louevre. There you can request a room with a view of the gardens that you can see the eiffel tower on.

The Bateau Mouches, boat rides are great for a 7 year old Mine like the eiffel tower, the walk up to the top of notre dame, and both an abbreviated tour of the louvre Mona lisa, winged victory, napolean apartments, end of story. And the d'orsay(cool polar bear sculpture).

Also, we tried to get to Berthillion as many times during the day for ice cream as we possibly could.

I assume by Opera you mean Opera Garnier?

Luxembourg Gardens for marionette show

There is a bird market on Ile de la Cite on Sundays not far from Notre Dame.

Sparkling Eiffel tower from Palais Chaillot (across river).

Depending on time of year...the Christmas windows at the Grands Magasins on Blvd Haussmann should be mandatory for childen...of all ages..

Hi H,

We always stay at the Hotel Bonaparte, 61 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th. From 128E twin w/bkfst. It is located near 3 metro stops. Has AC and an elevator.

Tel 33 1 43 26 97 37
FAX 33 1 46 33 57 67
[email protected]
www.hotelbonaparte.fr

For more info, enter "Hotel Bonaparte" in the "search this forum" box.

Photos are at http://tinyurl.com/ludgd

PS,

It is about 2 blks from the Luxembourg gardens, across the street from Pierre Herme' and 2 blks from Laduree - both nice places for chocolates and pastries.

We just returned from Paris with our 5 and 8 year old children. They loved the bird market mentioned above, and the science museum at Parc de Villette, and an amusement park called Le Jardin d'Acclimatation, as well as the typical Paris attractions of the Eiffel tower and the boat cruises. They also enjoyed breaking up the sightseeing with stops at playgrounds, their is one in the Luxembourg gardens, for a small entry charge, and one in the Tulleries Gardens, free. Be aware that if you plan on going to the Cite Des Sciences for Children at Parc de Villete, entry is limited to a fixed number of children in assigned time slots, so if you go on a French school holiday or weekend, the spots may fill up it you have not prepurchased tickets over the internet. I highly recommend the Parc de Villete complex, not only does it have the Cities des Enfants, which has interactive science exhibits for kids ages 5-12 that fascinated my kids,but also has a changing additional exhibit appropriate for your neices age. The Geode is a 360 degree large format movie theater showing really neat I-Max type movies. The movies are in French, but I think you can get an English headset. The science exhibits are have French/English/and Spanish instructions. I would not probably due the bike tour, though, watching the cycling going on throug the city. We did bike in Brittany though, where there is little traffic. Having to ride a bike in Paris would have terrified my 8 year old daughter. She enjoyed the metro though. Also, the Musee De Orsay has a kids scavenger hunt type of brochure you can request for them to do there own sort of kids tour.

great advice THANK YOU!!!!!I think I will NOT do the bike..too young..I forgot about the marionette show...I want to see it myself but how do we know when??? Oh what a good idea staying on the Tulleries!!! and I forgot the rides after dark!! yes..thanks Ira! chocolate... a must...thanks everyone

Why would you NOT do the bike tour? It was a blast! Here's a link -
http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com...children.shtml

If you can afford the splurge, lunch at Jules Verne is amazing.

Oh, I found the post.

The bike tour is only on a street for a very short period of time - and the group is pedaling together. The rest of the time, the tour is on sidewalks or gardens, etc.

I would love the bike tour....OK, I will see how comfortable she would be with it and her parents...

There were families on the bike tour I was on with younger children and Fat tire does have children sized bikes. The question is does your 7 year old ride a bike regularly to feel comfortable riding it. If the answer is yes, then they will like the tour. I loved it, but some of the adults should not have done the tour since they had forgotten how to ride a bike.

Clea

I'm not sure when you are going, but the circus sounds like a good idea. They tend to have a lot of performances during the winter, but not many in the summer, as I recall. Cirque d'Hiver, for example, would be great.

I really would not take a 7 year old to the opera. It also will likely not be very pleasant for the people sitting nearby, having had the unfortunate situation of being near young children in the ballet or opera. They simply do not belong there, with very very rare exceptions -- they aren't interested, and make a fuss and talk out loud, and stand in their seats and squirm. Also, both are very expensive.

no, I meant for a tour daytime (opera).....how can I find out about the puppet show in the Luxembourg??? Thanks

i will answer myself ...I finally found it!!!


Théâtre des Marionettes du Luxembourg
Rue Guynemer (Entrance)
*Next to the playground
Daily shows @ 4 pm (€3)

Marionettes du Champ de Mars
Champ de Mars
Between Avenue Risler and Avenue Motte Piquet
Seasonal shows (€3)


now if I can just find the Rue Guynemer entrance...and I dont think they allow adults....

When are you going?

We were there this summer, and one of the hotels we stayed at had a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower. The Hotel Muguet. DD and I loved watching it every night as we went to sleep. Now that is definitely something your niece would remember! And you

We had lunch at the rooftop cafe at Printemps. It was fine, but the weather was awful that day so the views were very limited.

Don't have a date yet but I think they will only let me take her in the summer.Always said I would take her and I think 7 is old enough don't you think?? Hotel Muguet is supposed to be good...I will keep it on my list...now I'm trying to decide how long ...do you think a week is too long?

Where are you flying from? Is the US or Canada, I think 1 week is the minimum to bother flying all the way to Europe. If you're based in Europe and talking about a quick trip to Paris 4-5 days would be enough.

We have been taking our kids to Europe since around age 4, so no, I don't think 7 is too young They actually do remember quite a bit too! And a week is definitely not too long. I guarantee you will be wishing you had more time.