
Museums and science
Marvel at the Arts et Métiers machines
Musée des Arts et Métiers · Paris
In the museum's former church, Foucault's pendulum swings beneath the aircraft of Clément Ader and Blériot, hanging from the vaulted ceiling.
Here are our ideas for days out with kids in and around Saint-Germain-en-Laye, each one checked, for little ones and older kids alike. Here are 30 ideas picked from over 8,500 outings in the Trottimap app.

Museums and science
Musée des Arts et Métiers · Paris
In the museum's former church, Foucault's pendulum swings beneath the aircraft of Clément Ader and Blériot, hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

Leisure parks
France Miniature · Élancourt (78)
Across five hectares, 117 French monuments are reproduced at 1:30 scale, from Mont Saint-Michel to the Château de Chambord and the Eiffel Tower.

Pools, beaches and water
Île de loisirs de Cergy-Pontoise · Cergy (95)
Half an hour from Paris, 250 hectares of lakes and woods surround a fine sandy beach with supervised swimming in summer.

Animals and farms
Hippodrome ParisLongchamp · Paris
In the heart of the Bois de Boulogne, ParisLongchamp racecourse hosts races from spring to autumn.

Animals and farms
Ferme de Gally · Saint-Cyr-l'École (78)
On the edge of Versailles, this open farm is home to goats, sheep, cows, ponies, donkeys, pigs and hens.

Leisure parks
Jardin d'Acclimatation · Paris
On the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, this children's park brings together some 45 rides and attractions, from the gentlest to the bumpiest.

Castles and heritage
Château de Versailles · Versailles (78)
You tour Louis XIV's château through the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors, then step out into Le Nôtre's vast gardens, with their ornamental pools, groves and Grand Canal.

Leisure parks
Ballon de Paris Generali · Paris
Held by a cable, the balloon rises 150 metres above Parc André Citroën.

Museums and science
Musée des Égouts de Paris · Paris
Beneath the Pont de l'Alma, a 500-metre route follows real tunnels still in use, with their street signs and the rumble of water.

Pools, beaches and water
Aquaboulevard · Paris
This large indoor water park in the 15th arrondissement combines a wave pool, eleven slides, jacuzzis, geysers and water mushrooms.

Parks and nature
Île de loisirs de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines · Trappes (78)
Around the lake at Saint-Quentin, this 600-hectare estate brings together cycle paths, play areas, mini golf and treetop adventure courses.

Museums and science
Musée Grévin · Paris
More than 250 wax figures await visitors, from sports stars to cartoon heroes, and children spend the visit taking photos next to them.

Museums and science
Musée en Herbe · Paris
This small museum near the Louvre regularly changes its art exhibitions and designs them for children as much as for adults, with a playful trail to follow as a family.

Castles and heritage
Catacombes de Paris · Paris
Twenty metres beneath Denfert-Rochereau, a one-and-a-half-kilometre route follows old quarry tunnels where the bones of several million Parisians are stacked.

Castles and heritage
Château de Monte-Cristo · Le Port-Marly (78)
Alexandre Dumas had this small Renaissance-style château built on the hill at Le Port-Marly, with a Gothic pavilion opposite, the Château d'If, where he wrote.

Parks and nature
Parc des Impressionnistes · Rueil-Malmaison (92)
Facing the Île des Impressionnistes, this small one-hectare park recalls Giverny with its pond, wooden footbridge, gazebo, rose garden and white garden.

Castles and heritage
Désert de Retz · Chambourcy (78)
This Anglo-Chinese garden created in the late 18th century hides beneath its tall trees a pyramid, a temple, a Tartar tent and, above all, a huge broken column that people once lived…

Pools, beaches and water
Île de loisirs du Val de Seine · Verneuil-sur-Seine (78)
On the banks of the Seine, this leisure park has a lake with a beach where swimming is supervised by lifeguards in the warm season.

Parks and nature
Parc Edmond de Rothschild · Boulogne-Billancourt (92)
This 15-hectare park was laid out in the 19th century for the Rothschild family, whose château has since disappeared.

Parks and nature
Domaine national de Saint-Cloud · Saint-Cloud (92)
This 460-hectare park combines formal French gardens, woodland and wide lawns with views of Paris in the distance.

Museums and science
Musée départemental Albert-Kahn · Boulogne-Billancourt (92)
At the start of the 20th century, the banker Albert Kahn had the whole world photographed, and the museum shows these first colour images, known as autochromes.

Parks and nature
Bois de Boulogne · Paris
These woods of nearly 850 hectares have 17 kilometres of roads closed to traffic, where children can cycle in peace.

Parks and nature
Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil · Paris
This City of Paris botanical garden combines late 19th-century glasshouses with contemporary ones opened in 2019 around a Roland-Garros court.

Castles and heritage
Pagode Tinh Tâm · Sèvres (92)
Hidden behind apartment blocks in Sèvres, this Vietnamese pagoda opened in 1990 surprises visitors with its 14-metre stupa and glazed tile roofs from China.

Parks and nature
Parc André Citroën · Paris
On the large esplanade, jets of water spring from the ground and children dash through them as soon as the weather warms up.

Castles and heritage
Tour Eiffel · Paris
You can climb the steps on foot to the second floor, a challenge children measure by counting the landings, then take the lift to the top.

Parks and nature
Parc de l'Île Saint-Germain · Issy-les-Moulineaux (92)
This departmental park of more than twenty hectares occupies an island in the Seine.

Parks and nature
Forêt de Meudon · Meudon (92)
The closest state forest to Paris, it covers more than 1,100 hectares of chestnut and oak trees.

Pools, beaches and water
Bateaux-Mouches · Paris
Setting off from the Pont de l'Alma, the boat sails up the Seine to the Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis, then back down towards the Eiffel Tower, in just over…

Parks and nature
Parc Suzanne-Lenglen · Paris
Next to the heliport and Aquaboulevard, this hilly park mixes sports grounds, winding paths and rose beds.