Paris in one day with kids - the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre

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Can you see Paris with kids in one day? You can see the Eiffel Tower from the inside, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées and the courtyard of the Louvre, but with four kids it is a very long and busy day. This is how our Monday, 29 April 2019, looked: from 9:00 to 20:30, by car, by metro and on foot.

We were staying at the Le Chêne Gris campsite, about 50 km east of Paris. We arrived there the day before, after two days on the road from Poland with a night at Bruchhäuser Mühle in Germany. The full day-by-day plan of the trip is in our post May holiday in France with kids.

Parking at Gare Montparnasse

We set off at 9:00. We had about 67 km to central Paris, and our plan was park and ride: leave the car at a big railway station and continue by metro. On the way through the city we noticed lots of electric scooters that did not stop at red lights at all.

The hardest part was finding a car park for our van. Most underground car parks in Paris only take vehicles up to about 1.90 m high, and our Ford is taller than 2 metres. In the end we found a car park at Gare Montparnasse station. It was so tight that we could hardly get out of the car, but we were happy that we fitted in at all.

By metro to Trocadéro, with a view of the whole tower

Metro line 6 goes directly from Montparnasse to Trocadéro. At first we got on a train going the wrong way, so we quickly changed at the next station. After about 30 minutes we were there. Part of line 6 runs above ground, and just before Trocadéro it crosses a bridge over the Seine, so our first view of the tower was from the metro window.

Trocadéro is a viewing terrace on a hill on the other side of the Seine. From here the whole Eiffel Tower fits into your photo, from its legs to the top. It is the best place for a family photo with the tower. Then we walked down through the gardens and across the Iéna bridge to the tower, about a 10-minute walk.

The Eiffel Tower with kids

There was already a long queue to go up the tower. It took time, but it was worth it. We visited the tower from 12:45 to 15:00. We climbed the stairs to the first and second floors, step by step with our youngest, and from the second floor we took the lift to the very top, to the terrace at 276 m. The view of Paris is amazing: you can see the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées and the roofs of the whole city.

Fun fact: at the top of the tower there is a copy of Gustave Eiffel's office. Through the glass you can see wax figures of Eiffel, his daughter Claire and Thomas Edison, who visited the tower in 1889.

How to visit the Eiffel Tower

The tower was built in just two years and two months, from January 1887 to March 1889, for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. It was 312 m high at first, and today, with the antennas on top, it is 330 m high.

Fun fact: the tower was meant to stand for only 20 years and then be taken down. Eiffel saved it by turning it into a place for science: he set up a weather station at the top and later let the army use the tower for radio tests. In 1909 a military radio station was built under the tower, and the city decided that the tower would stay.

Visitors can go to three levels:

• the first floor at 57 m,
• the second floor at 115 m,
• the top at 276 m, with a terrace and Gustave Eiffel's office.

You can take a lift or climb the stairs to the first and second floors, which is 674 steps. Only a lift goes to the top, and you change to it on the second floor. There is a security check before you go in, and the queue for the lifts can be long, especially if you have not bought your ticket online.

Around the tower we were surprised by the number of street sellers. They had all their goods on blankets, and when the police appeared, they rolled up the blankets in seconds and disappeared into the crowd. We bought a few small Eiffel Tower figures from one of them as a souvenir.

Baguettes and the metro to the Arc de Triomphe

After the tower we went to a bakery about 350 m away for some delicious French baguettes.

About 500 m further on we took the metro at Bir-Hakeim station (formerly called Grenelle), and line 6 took us in 10 minutes to Charles de Gaulle - Étoile, right by the Arc de Triomphe. It was already 17:00.

The Arc de Triomphe is almost 50 m high. Napoleon ordered it in 1806, and it was finished 30 years later. Under the arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the flame is relit in a ceremony every day at 18:30. You do not cross the roundabout to the arch on the street, but through an underground passage.

The Champs-Élysées and the Louvre

From the arch we walked onto the Champs-Élysées, the most famous avenue in Paris. It is about 1.9 km long and leads to Place de la Concorde. From there we walked through the Tuileries Garden to the Louvre, about 3 km from the arch in total.

By the glass pyramid of the Louvre we were really tired. Our one-day plan was too busy for sightseeing with kids, and there was a queue at the entrance too. We took photos in the courtyard and decided to skip the museum.

The pyramid was designed by the architect I. M. Pei and opened to visitors in 1989. Good news for families: children and teenagers under 18 visit the Louvre for free.

You can see our day in Paris in our video:

More videos from this trip are on our France 2019 playlist.

Back through Paris traffic

The metro took us back to Montparnasse and the car park in half an hour. Then we still had 62 km to drive to the campsite, which took 1.5 hours. We left Paris at about 19:00 and learned what traffic is like here: lots of fast scooters, horns and a rather relaxed attitude to the rules. We reached the campsite at 20:30 and agreed that skipping the Louvre had been the right choice.

The next day we went to Disneyland Paris.

Practical info

Driving to Paris

• Vehicle height: most underground car parks in Paris have a limit of about 1.90 m. At Gare Montparnasse, Maine Parking (50 avenue du Maine) takes vehicles up to 2.10 m (as of November 2026).
• Crit'Air sticker: you need it in the Greater Paris low emission zone, also with a foreign car. Order it only on the official website certificat-air.gouv.fr. It costs 5.11 EUR with delivery abroad and comes by post, so order it a few weeks before your trip. The zone rules change, so check them just before you go (as of November 2026).
• Metro: from Montparnasse, line 6 goes directly to Trocadéro, Bir-Hakeim and Charles de Gaulle - Étoile.

The Eiffel Tower

• It is best to buy tickets online for a specific time on the tower's official website. The lift to the top costs 36.70 EUR for adults, 18.40 EUR for young people aged 12-24 and 9.20 EUR for children aged 4-11. Children under 4 go in free but also need a ticket (as of November 2026).
• It is cheaper to climb the stairs to the second floor and take the lift from there to the top.
• There are two security checks at the entrance, and there is no left-luggage office at the tower.

The Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre

• 284 steps lead to the terrace of the Arc de Triomphe. A ticket costs 16 EUR, and EU residents under 26 go in free (as of November 2026).
• The Louvre: children and teenagers under 18 go in free, but it is a good idea to book an entry time for them too. The museum is closed on Tuesdays (as of November 2026).

How much time

The Eiffel Tower with the queue took us more than two hours, and the whole route from Trocadéro to the Louvre took the full day. With kids, it is better to plan two days for Paris or to leave the Louvre for another visit.