February Break Ideas in Paris 2027

A night walk through part of the Jardin d'Acclimatation, lit by nearly 2,000 handmade lanterns: tigers, elephants, temples, deities and festival scenes from India, with music along the route. Kids see something new every few steps, from a family of tigers to a painted elephant. It ends in a food court serving Indian dishes. This is the park's fourth lantern festival, after China and Japan.

The big Lunar New Year parade in Paris runs through the 13th arrondissement, home to the city's largest Asian community. Dragon and lion dancers weave down the avenues to drums and Chinese music, followed by local associations in traditional costume.

Kids watch from the curb, and red clothes are the tradition. It suits kids who like a loud spectacle; ones who struggle with dense crowds may find it a lot.

Volte is this season's new show at the Cirque d'Hiver, the 1852 circus building run by the Bouglione family. It is classic ring circus: a prize-winning flying trapeze troupe, slackline, diabolo, breakdancers, juggling, clowns and a horse-and-pony act, all led by Monsieur Loyal and a live orchestra.

It suits kids old enough to sit through a full-length show, and grandparents who remember the circus this way.

A family version of The Nutcracker that mixes ballet and theater. Dancers and actors tell the story of Masha and her nutcracker through a run of living scenes, with new choreography and a few surprises.

The setting is intimate and the show draws the audience in. It suits kids who love dance and costumes. One who doesn't know the story may want a quick retelling first.

Two hands-on play spaces inside the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie at Parc de la Villette, each split into themed zones. The younger side has a forest, an elastic climbing course, a building site and an air-and-water area.

The older side has water games, a tilted park full of soil creatures, a funfair of brain and body challenges, a tinkering workshop and a Weird House of puzzles.

The Grande Galerie de l'Évolution is the Natural History Museum's main hall at the Jardin des Plantes, an 1889 iron-and-glass nave holding about 7,000 specimens. Downstairs, whales and a giant squid loom over sea life. Upstairs, an elephant leads a parade of savannah animals, and the lights and soundtrack run from dawn to a passing storm. A room of threatened and extinct species holds a giant panda and a Tasmanian tiger.

Aquaboulevard is a big indoor water park at Balard, with the water kept at 29°C all year. Inside are two wave pools, 11 slides, rivers with a current, geysers, water mushrooms and jacuzzis.

In summer, outdoor pools and a 4,000 m² sand beach open too. A Gaumont cinema, a McDonald's and a Decathlon share the same complex.

Aqua Mundo (called Aqualagon until the Center Parcs rebrand) is the water park of the Villages Nature Paris resort, about 6 km south of Disneyland Paris. Under a tropical dome there's a wave pool, seven slides, rivers, whirlpools, splash play and a pool with a climbing wall. Outside, lagoons heated by geothermal water sit beside a 15-hectare lake.

An indoor play park built around giant soft-play structures, heated in winter and air-conditioned in summer. Under-4s get their own area with a motor-skills course, a ball pit and a slide.

Older kids get tunnel slides, a sled run, monkey bridges, mini motorbikes, giant Lego, a multisport court, a zip line and a small disco. Parents stay to supervise, with a snack corner and free Wi-Fi.

A private museum of fairground rides, automatons and show objects from the 19th and early 20th centuries, set in Bercy's old wine pavilions. Guides who double as performers lead every visit, start up the musical automatons and invite visitors onto century-old carousels, including a merry-go-round turned by pedaling bicycles.

The halls include a Belle Epoque funfair and a little Venice with its own lagoon.

The largest bouldering and roped-climbing gym in the capital, spread over 4,000 m². Kids can boulder on walls up to 4 meters high over thick mats with no harness, or tie in on roped walls around 10 meters high.

Instructors run a climbing school, family sessions and school-holiday programs. A café-bar serves light meals, and a separate studio hosts yoga.