Teenagers want plans that don't feel like a kids' outing. This list pulls together shows, outings and places where a 13 to 17-year-old gets something out of the day, not just the younger sibling. We add to it as new listings come in, so check back before the next school break.
The Catacombs are a 1.5 km one-way walk through old limestone quarry tunnels 20 meters under the city. The bones of several million Parisians, moved from old cemeteries, line the walls in stacked patterns of skulls and bones. Carved plaques mark the streets overhead.
It suits curious older kids who like history. Younger or anxious children may find the dim, narrow passages and the bones too much.
A modern retelling of Perrault's Donkey Skin. In a picture-perfect family the polish cracks: Mom walks out, Dad imposes "nap games," and the girl has nightmares. A neighbor keeps watch, and Monique Bergamote, her donkey comfort toy and piggy bank, comes alive to save her.
Writer Marie Dilasser and director Hélène Soulié tackle incest head-on. Best for tweens and teens ready to talk it through afterward.
Georges-Vallerey is the 50-meter pool built for the 1924 Paris Olympics, now under a wooden roof that slides open in good weather. A movable wall can split it into two 25-meter pools, and a moving floor sets the depth from 0.9 to 2.15 meters, so some days have a shallow end. It suits kids who can swim or are learning; there is no separate toddler pool.
Bowling Mouffetard has eight bowling lanes plus billiard tables, on Rue Mouffetard, the old market street of the Latin Quarter. Shoes and balls come with each game, and socks are required (disposable ones are handed out).
Weekend mornings and weekday afternoons draw families. Evenings, especially Friday to Sunday, turn into a grown-up night out with no bookings taken.
A public pool built on a barge moored on the Seine, beside the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand. The 25-meter pool sits under a glass roof that opens in summer, when a 500 m² sun deck with views of the river boats opens too.
It suits kids who swim confidently: there is no separate shallow pool for toddlers.
Smile World Bercy 2 fills 4,000 m² on the top floor of the Bercy 2 shopping center with an indoor karting track, a trampoline park, a laser game maze, arcade games and private karaoke rooms. It is the only Smile World with karting and trampolines.
Kids can book one activity or combine a few, and a bar serves pizzas and sharing boards between sessions.
The Puces de Saint-Ouen is the world's largest cluster of antique and secondhand dealers, spread over seven hectares just past the northern edge of Paris. Eleven covered markets, among them Vernaison, Paul Bert Serpette and Dauphine, sit alongside five shopping streets and sidewalk stalls. Kids who like a treasure hunt can wander narrow alleys packed with old furniture, paintings, crystal and vintage clothes.
A Gothic royal chapel from the 1240s, tucked inside the Palais de Justice on the Île de la Cité. The lower chapel has a low, painted blue-and-gold vault. A narrow spiral staircase leads to the upper chapel, where walls of stained glass hold 1,113 scenes from the Bible.
Kids who like spotting details can hunt for kings, animals and battles. Sunny days light the glass best.
The Arc de Triomphe stands at the top of the Champs-Élysées, in the middle of Place de l'Étoile. Kids climb 284 steps inside the arch to a rooftop terrace that looks down the avenues to the Eiffel Tower.
Under the arch are the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its flame, framed by huge sculpted groups on the pillars. The climb suits kids who can handle a long staircase.
Frank Gehry's building looks like a ship under twelve glass sails, set at the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. Inside, 11 galleries hold modern and contemporary art shows that change through the year.
For kids, the outside is half the visit: stairs climb to roof terraces with views over the trees, and a water basin runs along the base, beside Olafur Eliasson's glowing column corridor, Inside the Horizon.
The Musée d'Orsay fills a former railway station, built 1898 to 1900 on the Left Bank of the Seine. Under the glass roof of the old train hall, a long central nave is lined with sculptures, and a gilded station clock hangs at one end.
The galleries hold Impressionist paintings kids may know from books: Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône and Monet's Blue Water Lilies.
The Louvre is a former royal palace with about 35,000 works on display, from Egyptian antiquities to the Mona Lisa. It is huge and tiring for kids, so families do best picking one wing and keeping the visit short.
The Studio, on the ground floor of the Richelieu wing, has drawing activities, board games, a reading nook and a baby space with a bottle warmer and nursing chair.
Teenagers want plans that don't feel like a kids' outing. This list pulls together shows, outings and places where a 13 to 17-year-old gets something out of the day, not just the younger sibling. We add to it as new listings come in, so check back before the next school break.
The Catacombs are a 1.5 km one-way walk through old limestone quarry tunnels 20 meters under the city. The bones of several million Parisians, moved from old cemeteries, line the walls in stacked patterns of skulls and bones. Carved plaques mark the streets overhead.
It suits curious older kids who like history. Younger or anxious children may find the dim, narrow passages and the bones too much.
A modern retelling of Perrault's Donkey Skin. In a picture-perfect family the polish cracks: Mom walks out, Dad imposes "nap games," and the girl has nightmares. A neighbor keeps watch, and Monique Bergamote, her donkey comfort toy and piggy bank, comes alive to save her.
Writer Marie Dilasser and director Hélène Soulié tackle incest head-on. Best for tweens and teens ready to talk it through afterward.
Georges-Vallerey is the 50-meter pool built for the 1924 Paris Olympics, now under a wooden roof that slides open in good weather. A movable wall can split it into two 25-meter pools, and a moving floor sets the depth from 0.9 to 2.15 meters, so some days have a shallow end. It suits kids who can swim or are learning; there is no separate toddler pool.
Bowling Mouffetard has eight bowling lanes plus billiard tables, on Rue Mouffetard, the old market street of the Latin Quarter. Shoes and balls come with each game, and socks are required (disposable ones are handed out).
Weekend mornings and weekday afternoons draw families. Evenings, especially Friday to Sunday, turn into a grown-up night out with no bookings taken.
A public pool built on a barge moored on the Seine, beside the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand. The 25-meter pool sits under a glass roof that opens in summer, when a 500 m² sun deck with views of the river boats opens too.
It suits kids who swim confidently: there is no separate shallow pool for toddlers.
Smile World Bercy 2 fills 4,000 m² on the top floor of the Bercy 2 shopping center with an indoor karting track, a trampoline park, a laser game maze, arcade games and private karaoke rooms. It is the only Smile World with karting and trampolines.
Kids can book one activity or combine a few, and a bar serves pizzas and sharing boards between sessions.
The Puces de Saint-Ouen is the world's largest cluster of antique and secondhand dealers, spread over seven hectares just past the northern edge of Paris. Eleven covered markets, among them Vernaison, Paul Bert Serpette and Dauphine, sit alongside five shopping streets and sidewalk stalls. Kids who like a treasure hunt can wander narrow alleys packed with old furniture, paintings, crystal and vintage clothes.
A Gothic royal chapel from the 1240s, tucked inside the Palais de Justice on the Île de la Cité. The lower chapel has a low, painted blue-and-gold vault. A narrow spiral staircase leads to the upper chapel, where walls of stained glass hold 1,113 scenes from the Bible.
Kids who like spotting details can hunt for kings, animals and battles. Sunny days light the glass best.
The Arc de Triomphe stands at the top of the Champs-Élysées, in the middle of Place de l'Étoile. Kids climb 284 steps inside the arch to a rooftop terrace that looks down the avenues to the Eiffel Tower.
Under the arch are the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its flame, framed by huge sculpted groups on the pillars. The climb suits kids who can handle a long staircase.
Frank Gehry's building looks like a ship under twelve glass sails, set at the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. Inside, 11 galleries hold modern and contemporary art shows that change through the year.
For kids, the outside is half the visit: stairs climb to roof terraces with views over the trees, and a water basin runs along the base, beside Olafur Eliasson's glowing column corridor, Inside the Horizon.
The Musée d'Orsay fills a former railway station, built 1898 to 1900 on the Left Bank of the Seine. Under the glass roof of the old train hall, a long central nave is lined with sculptures, and a gilded station clock hangs at one end.
The galleries hold Impressionist paintings kids may know from books: Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône and Monet's Blue Water Lilies.
The Louvre is a former royal palace with about 35,000 works on display, from Egyptian antiquities to the Mona Lisa. It is huge and tiring for kids, so families do best picking one wing and keeping the visit short.
The Studio, on the ground floor of the Richelieu wing, has drawing activities, board games, a reading nook and a baby space with a bottle warmer and nursing chair.
