Moivory

I want to take my daughter to Paris and maybe one other city or country during that 7 day trip. Flying back home out of another city or country is no problem. Any suggestions on the other city or country to visit or hotels in both places and things to do with a 13 year old girl? Thanks.

mamcalice

If you are going for only 7 days, I would stay in Paris for the entire time, perhaps taking a couple of day trips to the French countryside. There is so much to see and do in Paris and I am sure your daughter would love to shop while she is there. A trip to Versailles would be fun for both of you. If you reply with a little information on your hotel budget, you will get lots of suggestions on hotels. We like the left bank and there is a great post on this forum that you can find by entering "left bank hotels" in the search box. When are you planning to go?

bardo1

I agree with 7 nights in Paris but if you must go elsewhere I would consider a pairing with a
uch smaller city you can see in a day or two, has a quick train connectio and that has a large airport. You could see Amsterdam or Brussels but that is really cheat both Paris and your second city.

Michel_Paris

You might want to give us some details of your daughter's interests. Is this a first time for both of you?

For that length of time, an appartment might make sense.

There is a lot to see and do in Paris, so don't worry about filling your time. Versailles is on good day trip (maybe she could read Antonia Fraser's book on marie Antoinette before going? M.A. married at 14)

Loire valley might be naother possible trip for a day.

StCirq

Lacking any information on your/her interests, what motivated you to decide to visit Paris/Europe, budget, or anything else, it's practically impossible to advise you about anything other than to say that a full week in Paris alone will barely be enough, though you could do a daytrip or half-day trip out of the city to any number of places.

Michel_Paris

This thread is someone who went to Paris with 3 children. It has some good links.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ough-paris.cfm

wayfinder45

London-Paris is another option.

Byrd

Hi Moivory,

My husband and I took our 18-year-old granddaughter to Paris for Thanksgiving week, and except for a day trip to Versailles, we were extremely busy just trying to do everything she wanted to do/see in Paris!

We rented an apartment on Rue de Buci (St. Germain area) and it worked perfectly for us. We had breakfast there every day, shopping for bread, cheese, etc. at the (seemingly) hundreds of wonderful little shops on our street.

I know you will have a great trip.

Byrd

Moivory

My budget is about $1500 USD for hotel and we are going March5-12th.

john183

We took our then 13 year-old-granddaughter to France and London on a two week trip in 2004. We spent a week at an apartment in Paris and loved every minute of it. Every day was full but not crazy busy and I think we covered most of the things you would want to see in Paris. I agree with the other responses and would also recommend spending the full week in Paris with a day trip to Versailles - the precious time you would spend travelling to another city in my opinion is not worth it. At the risk of boring you, I am going to copy in my brief trip report so you can get an idea of how we spent our days. We are taking our other granddaughter to France this June and hope to follow pretty much the same routine in Paris as we did in 2004. Like I said, we loved every minute of it.

I really enjoy reading other trip reports so I thought I would give it a try. My wife and I took our 13 year old grand-daughter to Paris, Normandy & London in June and had a wonderful time. Here goes the Paris portion.

Day 1. Uneventful overnight flight on Delta from Atlanta to CDG. Arrived fairly rested after a reasonable amount of sleep on the flight thanks to ambien. Took a taxi to our apartment on Rue du Bac where Laura showed us how to use the dishwasher, washer, drier etc. We prefer apartments to hotels for a variety of reasons but mainly for the extra space and the kitchen. Unpacked, walked around, got the feel of the neighborhood and had a fantastic lunch at Cafe Varenne. Went grocery shopping at Bon Marche then took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. Did the boat ride on the Seine and about 10 guys mooned our boat from the left bank. It was actually quite funny. Grabbed a mediocre dinner and headed to the apartment, a very good first day.

Day 2. Up quite late and had the usual amount of trouble trying to figure out how to get a cup of coffee made and showers taken. My wife and grand-daughter soaked the floors trying to get used to the hand-held shower. While my wife finished getting ready, Taylor and I went in search of a bakery for fresh breakfast pastry to bring back. We had a fun time getting directions from a guy we saw carrying a fresh baguette - he spoke no English and we spoke no French. Went to Notre Dame, toured the Church and climbed to the top. Fantastic is all I can say. Believe it or not, we got lost inside the St-Michel train station and a very nice French woman helped us. Everyone was extremely nice to us everywhere we went. Relaxed a little at the apartment before going to the Place de la Concorde and walking up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Just as we got to the top of the Arc, the light show on the Eiffel Tower began. Had dinner outside at a restaurant on the Champs-Elysees and got in the middle of an incredibly wild celebration by the Portuguese soccer fans for their victory over Spain.

Day 3. More fresh pastry for breakfast then on to Sacre-Coeur. Beautiful church and view. Did the tourist thing and had Taylor's portrait done by a guy in the place de Tertre. It took about 30 minutes and we were very satisfied. Metro back to Place de la Concorde, wandered around the Tuilleries Gardens and had lunch at the top of the Samaritaine Dept Store. Then we went to St Chappelle and St Germain des Pres churches. It was about this time Taylor said she wasn't going to church for a month when she got back home. Stopped for drinks at Cafe de Flore and had a great time giggling while we were people-watching. Bought food at Bon Marche and cooked at the apartment. Lots of laughs about some very stinky cheese.

Day 4. Went to the Orsay. Taylor was getting bored with her grand-parents so we made a game of her going a room ahead of us and picking out her favorite painting. When we got to that room, she would show us the one she picked and tell us why, then she would go on to the next room while my wife and I looked at the rest of the paintings. This seemed to work very well for us. Next we toured the Rodin museum, some of which is very bizarre with a 13 year old. Then on to the Invalides and Napoleon's Tomb. Next we took a lot of pictures on the very beautiful Alexander III bridge and walked down the right bank looking at the incredible house boats on the Seine - each of us picking our favorite. This little walk is one of my favorite memories of Paris.

Day 5. Versailles. Short train ride on what turned out to be a very cold and windy day. The palace and gardens were great and Taylor wanted to ride in the row boats in the cold and wind. What an adventure. We survived and went back to Paris to get ready for our splurge at an expensive restaurant. Had a great meal at a very tiny place that was recommended by a friend.

Day 6. Toured the Louvre with an English speaking guide from the Louvre. Very good tour with the private headsets they now use that makes it easy to hear even when it is crowded and loud. Next we went to Luxembourg Gardens then had lunch at a small cafe where we experienced our first "hole in floor" toilet in France. I'm sure we didn't laugh all the time in Paris but thinking back we sure had quite a few laughs. That night, we had dinner at our favorite Cafe Varenne again. We had more laughs as our waiter had to act out the type of dish on the menu for us because Taylor wanted beef but it was "finished" for the day. He flapped his arms, jerked his head back and forth and went "coo coo' to describe the pigeon which Taylor refused to try. He then walked around saying "baa baa" which she also refused. I can't remember what she finally ordered but we had a blast trying to figure it out. After dinner, we went back to the Eiffel Tower to go up while it was dark to see the lights of Paris.

Day 7. Our last day in Paris was very relaxed just walking around a little eating crepes and Bertillon’s ice cream. Went back to the Champs-Elysees for a final time then went back to the apartment to pack for our train ride to Rennes the next day.

Christina

hard to know without knowing what your daughter wants to do or what catches her interest, I agree -- but for a lot of kids, I think the London-Paris combo would be very exciting. I love Paris and visit it often myself, but am not in the camp of all these folks who tell people to visit Paris for a week and nowhere else.

tdk320n

BOOKMARK

wayfinder45

Here are some ideas that should appeal to a 13-year old girl:

London -- Tower of London, Windsor Castle (outside city center), London Eye, river boat down Thames to Greenwich, Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, theater (depending on what's playing), shopping.

Paris -- Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, Versailles, walking and window shopping. A ballet at the Opera Garnier is a special experience, if that's something that would appeal to her.

Of course, both cities have amazing museums to explore.