• Dome climb has a height rule: kids under 1.35 m can't go up, and it's an extra ticket, so check before promising the view
• No strollers inside the château: there's stroller parking out front, and the gardens' gravel and cobblestones are hard going, so a carrier helps with toddlers
• Event days need online tickets: the Easter Egg Hunt, Candlelit Evenings and the Grand Noël are booked ahead and priced separately

Vaux-le-Vicomte is a 17th-century château built for Nicolas Fouquet, set in the first great formal French garden, laid out by André Le Nôtre. Kids can rent period costumes to tour the rooms, climb to the top of the dome, and visit the Carriage Museum.

In the woods, the Iron Mask trail runs through a vaulted underground passage, and the Sounding Forest plays La Fontaine fables from inside the trees.