Travel Plan- Please Suggest.....

i am travelling to Paris with my family (2 Kids-6 %26amp; 10 yrs) in first week of July

Following is my travel plan. Please Review it cirtically and suggest if any thing i should change,

Or i am missing something which may be intrest of Kids.

Day 7 is yet open-open i can ammend it.

Day 1 (Sat)

Reach to Paris around 5 P.M.

Day 2 (Sun)

Centre Pompidou, Paris

Musee d%26#39;Orsay

Musee Rodin

Day 3 (Mon)

Eiffel Tower

Montmartre (Sacre-Coeur),

Luxembourg Gardens

Day 4 (Tue)

Disney Land

Day5 (Wed)

Musee du Louvre

La Cite des Science

Day 6 (Thu)

Versailles

Arc de Triomphe

Day7 (Fri)

Notre Dame Cathedral

Regards.

Anoop

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Day 2 - three museums in one day is one or two too many, can you spread them out a bit more?

Look at your sights on a map - you might try to %26#39;group%26#39; them geographically a bit better. For instance, put Notre Dame and Jardin de Luxembourg together, or maybe Cite des Science and Montmartre together. Eiffel, d%26#39;Orsay, Rodin together... etc.

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The Luxemburg gardens have a %26quot;pay%26quot; play area for kids and is beautiful. But if you can add one more park, I would add a stop to the Tulleries - beyond the Louvre and before the Concorde heading towards Arc de Triomphe.

There, they also have a playground, carousel, and fountain for sailing toy boats (Wed). BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY - they have in-ground trampolines that are still the highlight on my 8-yr olds trip! (15 minutes for a few euros).

If it should rain, duck into the Orangerie right on the corner of the grounds for an amazing view of Monet%26#39;s Water Lilies - breathtakingly in the round!

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this is a schedule that will assure these kids grow up hating art and art museums

one museum a day is plenty with kids in tow -- and even then, give some careful thought to how you introduce kids to art -- don[%26#39;t death march them through the museum (and especially don%26#39;t death march kids through museums early on when everyone is a bit jet lagged)

One thought -- on Louvre day -- take the kids in to see things they have identified ahead of time they want to see and then one parent takes them into the Tuilleries where they sail little boats on the pond, jump on the trampolines, etc etc and then the other parent trades off so parent two can see the museum more thoroughly while parent one gets the kids lunch in the Tuilleries

I am not a fan of La Cite des Sciences but your kids might enjoy it if they have not been to many other science museums -- we were disappointed in the large number of broken hands on stations, the inadequate number and the general lack of wonderfulness -- but others may disagree

do Notre Dame the first or second morning -- and have the kids watch the Disney movie before you leave Dubai

kids this age get a real kick out of the gargoyles and the guide at the top who gives a little talk about the bell will let young kids like this sit right under it

build each day around a little slack time that caters to the kids -- e.g. Luxembourg gardens has a wonderful playground for kids the age of yours -- it costs a few Euro but looks really fun -- and it gives them a chance to run and play a bit -- the park has many other charms

Maybe do the Orsay in the morning, then get picnic foods and walk over to the Luxembourg Gardens for picnic and to enjoy the playground

and throughout the planning you have grouped things in such a way that you will be running back and forth across town e.g. Eiffel, Montmartre and Luxembourg gardens are at opposite ends of town -- you could hardly plan something with more wasted travel -- I am not sure Montmartre has much to offer a young family but if you go then don%26#39;t plan these other things the same day -- we recently spent 8 days in an apartment in Montmartre and enjoyed that but I wouldn%26#39;t have taken my kids to Montmartre at 8 and 10 -- they aren%26#39;t at the stage of just enjoying walking around picturesque streets at that age.

Do the Eiffel Tower and then perhaps a museum that afternoon -- in other words look to balance activities

you might want to add a boat trip on the Seine at some point

and make it a point to go French pastry shopping every afternoon -- kids this age love to go into a French bakery and choose one of the amazingly beautiful confections -- make this an afternoon ritual -- take them back to the hotel for after dinner -- or have %26#39;afternoon tea%26#39; in your room or in a nearby park

and make sure you taste test Amorinos and Berthillon (again this kind of quest is fun for kids) in other words try to make Paris as fun for the kids as the Disneyland portion

and give the kids a guidebook and ask them to pick out a couple of things they particularly want to do and build that in to the travel -- ownership is important in family travel

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Unless your kids are really exceptional and really into traveling, I see your agenda as really an agenda for adults and even quite demanding for an adult. One question is, have you traveled a lot with your kids and know how they will react to 7 consecutive days of nonstop sightseeing?

Days 2, 3 and 5 are about double what you can do expect to do with kids that age. And almost every day is a heavy intense agenda. You will likely want to take more time to do park things, eat at leisure and allow them to rest and chill out in the hotel. Almost all of the Paris things take A LOT of walking. There is a lot of walking just getting from one place to another, or within the metro and getting from the metro to where you are sightseeing. Almost all of the attractions come with a lot of space and park like area that demand walking. Its all wonderful for engrossed adults, but many kids seem to come down with leg problems, cramps and all sorts of pseudomedical issues when they get tired and bored.

For example when my kids were a bit older than that we would go to one museum for a few hours, eat a leisurely lunch, and do some park type things in the afternoon. Then go out in the evening again for walking around.

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Thanks to all for your valuable feedback

I will ammend my plan based on your suggestion.

If this plan is quite heavy then can any one like to suggest that which place i should delete, which is not required for kids ?

Regards.

Anoop

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We were in Paris for 4 days (wish we had 7) early June with 4 and 9 yr old. We went there after a week in London so my kids were already over jet lag and used to day long sightseeing. We also did quite a few items in 2 full and 2 half days, but we lucked out by having good weather (by what I read it rained before and after we were there) and the long days also helped. We tailored our plans for our 9 yr old (and have to bring the young one back when she is older) and she read a lot on both London and Paris for a couple of months, we checked out a ton of guidebooks from the library. The only thing we cut out because of my 9 yr old complaining (my little one is the most energetic of us all and never complained) that we planned to walk through the Tulleries gardens after Louvre but it was around 3 pm and quite hot (mid 70s) and so instead we chilled at a cafe and skipped walking through the gardens (hence she missed the trampolines).

My kids enjoyed the Seine river cruise very much. My 9 yr olds favorite part of the Paris vacation was eating in the Eiffel Tower and pastries at the bakeries. She also eThey both loved the Luxemberg gardens (it was perfect weather, not hot). Your 6 yr old is too young but do have your 10 yr old read up on the places you are visiting then he/she will be more engaged when you visit these places. I do think 9/10 yr old is a great age to get to visit these places, they will remember the trip rest of their lives and want to come back as adults. SO I would not suggest you water down your plans too much.

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What to delete? Hard to say, but here%26#39;s a possibility:

Day 2--Pompidou may appeal to kids, but overall the D%26#39;orsay and Musee Rodin are better items. I think kids will react well to Musee Rodin as its small, sculptures are interesting and it has the garden with a pond, trees, cafe and interesting sculptures. Since the Rodin is quite close to the D%26#39;orsay you might be able to do them both in the same day. D%26#39;orsay is also quite dramatic in terms of the building (show them the giant clock set into the building on the side of the building inside on the upper floor) and the sculptures inside. For example, do the D%26#39;orsay in the morning--have lunch there or go to the Rodin for lunch in the garden and spend the afternoon leisurely in the Museum garden and museum.

Day 3: I would do Luxembourg gardens and Eiffel. Be aware that trying to get up in the Eiffel can be difficult due to long lines, so you might want to be satisfied with viewing it from below. Sometimes late in the evening works best. You might want to do Montmartre in the evening on a day when you%26#39;ve had a relaxing afternoon. Montmartre is heavy walking--steep hills and the metro stops are few and far between and not that convenient. Also depending on the time you go, the crowds can be overwhelming in terms of getting around.

You may want to combine the arc de triomphe with Notre Dame as they are both shorter venues and you can go from one to the other via a short metro ride. You might want to do this on day 1 as the these are more causal venues for kids, the views are dramatic and it may put them into a good mood for future days, rather than hitting them with major museums the first day.

Day 5--hard to say what to do--I%26#39;m not familiar with Cite des Science. I do know the Louvre can be trying in terms of the lines and crowds, both in terms of getting in and getting around inside, depending when you go. You need at least a good half day and it can be rather exhausting.

Other parks that are good for kids are the Tuilleries--do a TA search--there was recent comments about kids liking it, and also Jardin des Plantes which has a nice zoo and mineral museum, etc.

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Too many museums for children that age. Paris is exhausting. Our 14, 15, 16 year olds were not into more than one museum per day. My suggestion is to find out what they are interested in and let them pick out something.

Your itinerary is compiled for two mature adults.

Read some of the posts folks have written about Paris with children.

AND having just returned the crowds at Notre Dame are huge. The line to CLIMB to the top was over an hour and those steps for a 6 year old are just too, too tiring.

Surely you will return so slow down and enjoy the sights AND your children

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Before we went, we read %26quot;Eloise in Paris%26quot;- the children%26#39;s book. It was cute, taught you a little French, and showed a child what to expect in the city.

When we got to Paris, my daughter recognized a lot of the famous sites from the story and was more interested to see Museums and monuments than if she hadn%26#39;t known anything about them.

When we first arrived, she didn%26#39;t like it there and told us she wanted to go home. After asking why, we found out it was because everyone spoke %26quot;funny%26quot; and she couldn%26#39;t understand them. We talked about all the new words she read/heard in Eloise, and you could see the %26quot;light bulb%26quot; go off. Next thing we know, she was ordering her own gelato in French by the end of the trip!

Un petit coppa gelato, s’il vous plait

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Thanks to everybody.

I am ammending my plan and making it more light %26amp; relaxed.

Regards.

Anoop