May holiday in France 2019 - Paris, Disneyland and Parc Astérix with kids

Ten wpis po polsku

The Eiffel Tower, Disneyland and Parc Astérix in one May holiday, with four kids and a car from Poland. In 2019 we spent 9 days near Paris, staying in a mobile home at a campsite, and drove almost 3,000 km. Below is the whole plan day by day, with distances, places to stay and links to the posts about each day.

You can watch short videos from this trip in each post, or all of them in order on our France 2019 playlist on our YouTube channel.

In short

• Dates: from Saturday 27 April to Sunday 5 May 2019, 9 days.
• Countries: Poland, Germany and France.
• Route: across Germany to Paris, with a night in Holzappel; on the way back, a night in Glanbrücken.
• Distance: about 2,960 km, including 1,385 km to Paris in two days and 1,257 km back in two days.
• Where we stayed: a week in a Eurocamp mobile home at the Le Chêne Gris campsite, about 50 km east of Paris, and two stopovers booked through Booking.com.
• We travelled with four kids in our golden Ford Tourneo Custom.

Day-by-day plan

Day 1 (27 April): 832 km to Holzappel

On the first day we drove across Germany to Holzappel in Rhineland-Palatinate. Our night at Bruchhäuser Mühle was meant to be just a stopover, but it surprised us with ponies, a playground and a forest valley (Bruchhäuser Mühle in Holzappel - a stopover on the way to France).

Day 2 (28 April): 553 km to the campsite near Paris

The second part took us to France, to the Le Chêne Gris campsite in Pommeuse, where we stayed in a mobile home for the whole week (same post).

Day 3 (29 April): Paris in one day

We left the car at Gare Montparnasse and took the metro to Trocadéro. Then we climbed the stairs to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and took the lift to the top, ate baguettes, saw the Arc de Triomphe and walked along the Champs-Élysées to the Louvre. We were back at the campsite at 20:30 (Paris in one day with kids).

Day 4 (30 April): Disneyland Paris

Ten hours in the park: Sleeping Beauty Castle, a boat ride through Fantasyland, Winnie the Pooh, Alice's labyrinth, pirates, Indiana Jones, a paddle steamer and Big Thunder Mountain. We queued for more than an hour for every big ride (Disneyland Paris with kids).

Days 5-6 (1-2 May): rest at the campsite

Icy pools for the brave, dancing on the terrace, playgrounds and a walk around the area (Le Chêne Gris campsite near Paris).

Day 7 (3 May): Parc Astérix

The Roman legionaries show, the spinning Discobélix disc and roller coasters. We liked the Astérix park more than Disneyland (Parc Astérix with kids).

Day 8 (4 May): 353 km to Glanbrücken

In the morning, baguettes from the bakery for the road, then the drive to Germany, to a night in a quiet apartment in the middle of Glanbrücken (same post).

Day 9 (5 May): 904 km home

The last and longest part, in four stages, straight home.

Best moments of the trip

• the view of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower,
• meeting Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland,
• the Roman legionaries show and the spinning disc at Parc Astérix,
• the ponies and the playground at Bruchhäuser Mühle,
• the activities and dancing at the campsite.

What we learned

Paris in one day is too much for sightseeing with kids. We had to skip the Louvre, and after driving back through Paris traffic we were very tired. It is better to plan two days for the city. You can also take the train to Paris, which stops right next to the campsite.

Disneyland on a long weekend is mostly about queues. Parc Astérix was calmer and cheaper, and we went on many more rides there.

A year earlier we spent our May holiday at Lake Garda (May holiday at Lake Garda - Eurocamp in Peschiera del Garda), and you can find our other longer trips on the Our trips page.

Practical info

• Germany: motorways are free for cars (as of November 2026).
• France: motorway tolls can be paid by card at the gates, and for the Greater Paris low emission zone you need a Crit'Air sticker ordered in advance on certificat-air.gouv.fr (as of November 2026).
• Car parks in Paris: most have a height limit of about 1.90 m, so check the car park in advance if your vehicle is taller.
• A base near Paris: a campsite next to a railway station lets you visit Paris without a car, and Disneyland is about 25 km away.