• Book the Cité des enfants ahead, since it runs in 90-minute timed sessions with separate areas for ages 2-6 and 5-10, and online booking is strongly recommended
• Separate tickets for the exhibitions and the Cité des enfants, with a combined ticket for both, so pick what you want before you book
• A space for babies, the Cité des bébés for under-2s, runs morning and afternoon sessions Tuesday to Sunday, with booking needed only in the morning

A science museum in a huge glass-and-steel hall on the edge of Parc de la Villette. Kids push, pull and test their way through hands-on permanent and temporary exhibitions, sit under the planetarium dome, and walk through the Argonaute, a real navy submarine.

The Cité des enfants has two timed play areas, one for preschoolers and one for school-age kids, built around water play, a forest and a building site.