9 Days
France
30
a family
Ready for some great family experience?
This trip will take you to a fantastic holiday park where the kids will have action and activities while you enjoy the quiet and nature. Then, take short breaks from the park to the tremendous experience only Disneyland parks could provide. Later you’ll explore Paris monuments, gardens, streets, museums, and more.
The first day usually has less time since you fly in, have to check in to your accommodation, and might be a bit tired from the trip. I always like to take flights that arrive early morning, so I’ll have enough time to enjoy the day.
We landed at CDG (Charles de Gaulle Airport) and took a ride with the Magic Shuttle bus to Villages Nature Paris. It is recommended on the Disney website and offers a nice direct drive straight to the Disney hotels.
Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
Villages Nature Paris
50 minutes | 46 km / 29 mi
My family loves staying in holiday parks when traveling, and Villages Nature Paris was a lovely and pleasant park. It’s about one hour drive from CDG airport, one hour from Paris, and 10 minutes from Disneyland Paris.
It’s perfect for families and has a great location, great facilities and activities, and beautiful nature. It is a Disneyland Paris partner hotel, so you’ll get the benefits of staying in Disney hotels. We booked it directly from the Disneyland website, as a package with 2 days’ entrance to Disneyland parks.
Read my Trip to Paris post to learn more.
If you arrive before check-in time, put your luggage in storage, go to explore the park, and grab something to eat in one of the park restaurants.
Disneyland Paris has 2 parks – Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. Today we’re going to Disneyland Park, which is bigger and requires the whole day. I recommend reading this guide for detailed information about Disneyland Paris, detailing all the relevant information and tips.
Click here to pre-order your Disneyland Paris tickets.
Villages Nature Paris
As we stayed in a Disneyland partner hotel, we had a Magic Pass ticket, meaning you could get to the park an hour before the official opening time. Use this time smartly. Pre-plan your visit, understand which attraction you wish to go to first, which attractions had the longest lines, and go to those first. In the high season, the lines to the popular attraction could be 60-90 minutes, and in the morning, the lines could be less than 5 minutes for the same attractions. Yes, you could buy Fast Pass for specific attractions on Disney App during your visit, but this could get very expensive.
Some people even pre-book the restaurants. It might be suitable for some people. We found it is not required as there are many restaurants in the parks and in Disney Village.
Disneyland Park is pretty big, with many attractions, shows, parades, stores, and restaurants. We spent the entire day in the park, enjoying the attractions, shows, and parades. Don’t miss the main parade on Main Street, which takes place every day at 17:30.
We visited during Disneyland Paris’s 30th-anniversary celebration, so there was a big show until 11:30 pm, so it’s been a very long day.
It’s been a long day, goodnight
Another advantage of booking accommodation and tickets package from Disneyland is that you can enter the Disney parks on any of the days you stay in the hotel. You’re limited to the number of days you selected in the package (as I explained in my post on our trip to Paris, I think 2 days is the right amount of time in Disneyland Paris).
Since yesterday was a very long day, today it’s time to take things easy and enjoy family time at the holiday park. Enjoy the pools, slides, bowling, kids’ activities, stroll in the park, and so on.
Today we’ll have more family fun, visiting Disney Studios park and Disney Village.
Ask the Holiday Park info center to book a taxi from your room to Disney. They work with a company that can enter the park. Other companies will pick you up from the park entrance.
Villages Nature Paris
Today we’ll start the day at Disney Studios Park. This is a smaller park, but very nice and fun, especially if you like the newer Disney characters like Frozen, Toy Story and others.
Right next to the park, head over to Disney Village. In the village, you’ll find dining options, Imax cinema, a hot air Ballon, a golf course, stores, and a nice atmosphere.
Enjoy a few more hours in the park, before heading over to Paris.
This is the last day at the village, but note that you can check out, put your luggage at the entrance and keep using the park facilities for the rest of the day. Just make sure you keep your park bracelets.
Aim to arrive in Paris around 1 pm. Grab something to drink at the hotel open bar, and go for lunch until the room is ready for check-in.
A quick taxi or Metro ride will bring you to Arc de Triomphe. Once you’ve arrived, you’ll cross under the street to get to the arc.
Have a look at this impressive structure, and make the effort to reach the top by climbing 284 stairs (there is an elevator if you need it). Especially in the high season, there will be long lines to buy tickets and to enter the arc. In order to save time, click here to pre-order your tickets.
As soon as you reach the top, step out to the roof for a spectacular 360 views of Paris, including our next stop, the Champs-Élysées.
If you’re a food and shopping fan, this street is one of the most famous shopping streets. It is expensive, but you’ll find a lot of options and brands here.
From the Champs Élysées, keep walking all the way to Place de la Concorde.
It’s a long yet very nice walk. On the way you’ll see several landmarks:
When you arrive at Place de la Concorde, it will probably be early evening, and it’s a good time to call it a day and grab a Metro or Taxi back to the hotel.
For taxis and metro in Paris, see my Guide to Public transportation in Paris.
Enjoy your evening at the hotel. Got some energy left? Go for a night out in one of the bars or restaurants near the hotel.
Less than an hour’s drive will take you to the amazing Palace of Versailles. After observing the staining palace and gardens, we’ll head back to explore Paris.
34B hotel Astotel
The Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence located in Versailles.
You must order your tickets online in advance, or there’s a good chance you won’t be able to get in. Book your tickets for early morning as this place is enormous and requires at least half a day.
There are different types of tickets, but I recommend taking the kind that lets you visit the palace, the gardens, and enjoy the fountains shows.
You can buy more ticket combinations on the palace’s official website, including rowing boat rides and tickets to return with “the little train.” When in the palace gardens, you can also rent a golf cart. Still, I recommend walking in the park, enjoying the small passes in the trees, and finding the hidden fountains and restaurants.
Take a ride to this beautiful bridge crossing over the Sein river.
From there, walk along the Sein, in any route you choose, until you reach Bateaux Mouches dock. There are some nice places to grab a drink along the river, and we also found some spots with climbing playgrounds for the kids along the river boardwalk.
See the trip map to better understand the route from Pond Alexandre III to the dock.
Bateaux Mouches is a river cruise company offering boat rides exploring Paris’s main landmarks along the Sein. This was an enjoyable 70 minutes ride.
Don’t forget to pre-order your tickets and avoid the need to wait in line for tickets.
After you get off the boat, take a walk towards the Eiffel Tower. Our initial plan was to go for a picnic at the gardens in front of the Eiffel, called Bassins du Champ de Mars, but while we were on the boat ride, we’ve noticed that there’s a market right along the Sein, under the Eiffel, so we’ve decided to check it out before heading to the gardens.
It turned out as mainly a food market, so it was an excellent opportunity to get dinner.
As one of the more famous landmarks in the world, expect long lines to enter the tower and a long wait for the elevators. However, that does not mean you should avoid the visit; simply be prepared and ensure you’ve booked your tickets at least a few weeks in advance. Click here to book entrance tickets or guided tours.
Arrive at the Eiffel tower before sunset, so you’ll be able to enjoy the view during light and dark hours.
Looking at the Eiffel tower is even more spectacular than looking at the view from the tower. Yes, you can see it from many different locations around the city, especially along the Sein, but the best view of the Eiffel Tower is from the Trocadéro Gardens or Palais de Chaillot, right above the gardens.
Every evening, at dusk and until one o’clock, the tower lights and beacon are lit up. As soon as it gets dark, the Eiffel Tower will light up with blinking lights for 5 minutes, at the beginning of each hour. Don’t miss it.
If you got some energy left, I recommend taking a walk along the Sein, toward the hotel. It’s a different atmosphere at night, and you’ll be able to catch more views of the Eiffel shine along the way. Whenever you feel like it’s enough, get in the app and book a taxi back to the hotel.
Head back for a good night’s sleep. Of course, you could take the Metro, but since it’s late, you had a lot of walking today, and the kids are probably tired, I recommend booking a taxi.
Today we’ll visit one of the most known art museums, and visit an artists’ village.
34B hotel Astotel
Montmartre is a vibrant neighborhood with a unique atmosphere, cafes, and street artists. It’s located at 430 ft (103 meters) high, providing a fantastic view of the city. It’s also the home to the Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur, and every Sunday morning, you’ll find a friendly market right at the heel of the Basilia.
An amazing art museum, definitely worth your time, even with kids. You must buy tickets in advance and select a specific visit time. I recommend buying tickets via the Tiqets website. Click here to buy.
Tuileries Gardens are located between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde. They stretch along much of the Seine’s Right Bank in the 1st Arrondissement. With more than 55 acres (over 200,000 square meters), the park offers plenty of room to stroll, enjoy the flowers, statuses, fountains, and relaxing from a lovely picnic.
If you’re tired from walking all day, take a taxi back to the hotel. If you still got some energy, you can take a walk back to the hotel.
Walk around the latine quarter streets and enjoy the vibe. To get there, get to the Metro station located just a few minutes walk from the hotel, and ride to the Pont Neuf station.
Just grab breakfast at the hotel and start your day.
34B hotel Astotel
Since I really think that walking around this neighborhood is fun, this time I’m not giving you an exact route. I’ll list the things you can see and do in the Latin Quarter (they are also marked on the map), and you can learn more about each of them and decide where you wish to spend more time and what you prefer to skip.
The main streets of the Latin Quarter are Boulevard St. Germain and Boulevard St. Michel. The main square is Place St. Michel.
Depend on where you’ll go next
Paris has a lot of shopping areas, centers, and streets. Some offer small boutique stores, and others offer long streets with shopping malls and street stores with all the brands you know and love.
I’m not a shopping fan. I find small boutique stores provide a more exciting and unique experience. You can enter the passage next to the hotel and find some interesting stores. But, as with any trip, you need to offer activities that everyone loves, so we did some shopping. 🙂
Check out this details guide for shopping in Paris. On this trip were looking for the big brands’ stores and there are some nearby streets and centers which offer the perfect experience for shopping lovers.
Click here to open the trip map. Then, on the left bar, click on the layer called Shopping Route. This is more or less the walk we took to the hotel. Along this route, you’ll find some main shopping streets and the Westfield mall. You’ll also see interesting historic buildings and restaurants.
Depend on where you went shopping
Head back to your room for some good night rest.
We’ve reached the last day of our trip. Depending on your flight home boarding time, I recommend enjoying the nearby attractions and keeping the luggage with the hotel front desk. You can also ask them to book a taxi to the airport.
34B hotel Astotel
This wax museum features many celebrities and characters, significant personalities in French history, sports legends, political figures, and film stars.
My kids like watching Miraculous TV series. It’s an animation taking place in Paris. My young girl loved looking for locations in Paris that appeared in the show, especially the fact that there was a Ladybug statue in the museum.
Galeries Lafayette is a very famous department store. They have many stores in Paris, but this specific branch, located at 40 Bd Haussmann, 75009 Paris, France, is beautiful and has a balcony with a spectacular view of the city.
It’s an expensive place for shopping, so if you’re here just to see the architecture and view, you can quickly go to the center of the store to see the impressive design, and then take the elevator to the top floor, and from there to the balcony.
An Italian-style opera house with beautiful architecture, painted ceiling, and a library museum. Even if you don’t want to watch the opera show, it is worth taking some time to view this 19-century building right across the street.
Walk back to the hotel, take your luggage from the front desk and take a taxi to the airport.
Have a safe trip, and don’t forget to give us feedback so we can improve the itinerary for future travelers.
Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
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