Paris is dark before 5pm in December, so winter outings with kids move under glass roofs or follow the lights. Ice rinks pop up between market chalets and inside landmark halls, lantern trails glow after sunset, and the circus season runs into March. Here's what we checked, from skating under the Grand Palais roof to the Chinese New Year dragons in the 13th.
Each winter the nave of the Grand Palais becomes an indoor ice rink, billed as the largest in the world, under the building's famous glass and steel roof. Kids skate on the main rink or in a separate area kept just for children.
Between laps, the mountain-style restaurant serves crêpes, waffles and hot chocolate. Evening sessions run late and suit teens and adults more than young kids.
The biggest Christmas market in the Paris region fills the La Défense esplanade with more than 350 wooden chalets. Kids come for the ice rink, the carousels, the costumed parades and a visit to Santa and Mrs. Claus. At the elves' workshop in Santa's house, younger ones make their own Christmas decorations to take home. Grown-ups get treats and gift shopping among the office towers.
La Magie de Noël fills a corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, with 95 wooden chalets and rides. Most chalets sell goods made in France.
Kids come for the fairground: a giant slide, hook-a-duck, Santa's little train and treasure hunts for small ones, bumper cars, flying chairs and a small roller coaster for older ones, with the Grande Roue Ferris wheel overhead.
An 800 m² ice rink under a glass roof, inside the Espace Sportif Pailleron a few streets from the Buttes-Chaumont park. Most of its ice time goes to public sessions rather than clubs, with music playing over the ice.
A rest area sits beside the rink, and a walkway and stands around it let parents watch from off the ice. Skates and helmets are for hire at the desk.
La Terrasse is the open-air roof on the 8th floor of the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann department store, directly above its Art Nouveau glass dome. From the top, kids can pick out the Eiffel Tower and the white Sacré-Cœur on the Montmartre hill across a sea of gray rooftops.
In the warmer months pop-up bars and restaurants set up on the terrace, and in winter an ice rink opens there.
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.
En voie d'illumination is the Jardin des Plantes' winter night walk. After dark, the garden's paths fill with giant glowing sculptures, projections and sound, built around a theme the Muséum's scientists pick each year: oceans, evolution, dinosaurs, and most recently the light that animals, plants and minerals give off themselves.
It suits kids who like animals and science, and families who don't mind a cold evening outside.
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.
Paris is dark before 5pm in December, so winter outings with kids move under glass roofs or follow the lights. Ice rinks pop up between market chalets and inside landmark halls, lantern trails glow after sunset, and the circus season runs into March. Here's what we checked, from skating under the Grand Palais roof to the Chinese New Year dragons in the 13th.
Each winter the nave of the Grand Palais becomes an indoor ice rink, billed as the largest in the world, under the building's famous glass and steel roof. Kids skate on the main rink or in a separate area kept just for children.
Between laps, the mountain-style restaurant serves crêpes, waffles and hot chocolate. Evening sessions run late and suit teens and adults more than young kids.
The biggest Christmas market in the Paris region fills the La Défense esplanade with more than 350 wooden chalets. Kids come for the ice rink, the carousels, the costumed parades and a visit to Santa and Mrs. Claus. At the elves' workshop in Santa's house, younger ones make their own Christmas decorations to take home. Grown-ups get treats and gift shopping among the office towers.
La Magie de Noël fills a corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, with 95 wooden chalets and rides. Most chalets sell goods made in France.
Kids come for the fairground: a giant slide, hook-a-duck, Santa's little train and treasure hunts for small ones, bumper cars, flying chairs and a small roller coaster for older ones, with the Grande Roue Ferris wheel overhead.
An 800 m² ice rink under a glass roof, inside the Espace Sportif Pailleron a few streets from the Buttes-Chaumont park. Most of its ice time goes to public sessions rather than clubs, with music playing over the ice.
A rest area sits beside the rink, and a walkway and stands around it let parents watch from off the ice. Skates and helmets are for hire at the desk.
La Terrasse is the open-air roof on the 8th floor of the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann department store, directly above its Art Nouveau glass dome. From the top, kids can pick out the Eiffel Tower and the white Sacré-Cœur on the Montmartre hill across a sea of gray rooftops.
In the warmer months pop-up bars and restaurants set up on the terrace, and in winter an ice rink opens there.
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.
En voie d'illumination is the Jardin des Plantes' winter night walk. After dark, the garden's paths fill with giant glowing sculptures, projections and sound, built around a theme the Muséum's scientists pick each year: oceans, evolution, dinosaurs, and most recently the light that animals, plants and minerals give off themselves.
It suits kids who like animals and science, and families who don't mind a cold evening outside.
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.
