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Things to do with kids in Saint-Germain-en-Laye

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.

Musée des Arts et Métiers
Arnaud 25 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Museums and science

Marvel at the Arts et Métiers machines

Musée des Arts et Métiers · Paris

From age 6 · Indoor · €10 to €25 · Good on rainy days

In the museum's former church, Foucault's pendulum swings beneath the aircraft of Clément Ader and Blériot, hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

France Miniature
Henry Salomé 18:06, 2 November 2006 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Leisure parks

Tour France in miniature

France Miniature · Élancourt (78)

From age 3 · Outdoor · €10 to €25

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.

Île de loisirs de Cergy-Pontoise
Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pools, beaches and water

Play on the beach at Cergy

Île de loisirs de Cergy-Pontoise · Cergy (95)

From age 1 · Outdoor · Under €10

Half an hour from Paris, 250 hectares of lakes and woods surround a fine sandy beach with supervised swimming in summer.

Hippodrome ParisLongchamp
DPA DPA · CC BY-SA 4.0

Animals and farms

Watch the horses gallop at Longchamp

Hippodrome ParisLongchamp · Paris

From age 3 · Outdoor · Under €10

In the heart of the Bois de Boulogne, ParisLongchamp racecourse hosts races from spring to autumn.

Ferme de Gally
Ferme de Gally · CC BY-SA 3.0

Animals and farms

Stroke the goats at Gally

Ferme de Gally · Saint-Cyr-l'École (78)

From age 1 · Outdoor · Under €10

On the edge of Versailles, this open farm is home to goats, sheep, cows, ponies, donkeys, pigs and hens.

Jardin d'Acclimatation
Moktarama · CC BY 3.0

Leisure parks

Enjoy the rides at the Jardin d'Acclimatation

Jardin d'Acclimatation · Paris

From age 1 · Indoor and outdoor · €10 to €25

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.

Château de Versailles
ToucanWings · CC BY-SA 3.0

Castles and heritage

Walk through the Hall of Mirrors

Château de Versailles · Versailles (78)

From age 3 · Indoor and outdoor · €10 to €25 · Good on rainy days

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.

Ballon de Paris Generali
Elodie Beaumont · CC BY-SA 4.0

Leisure parks

Fly over Paris in a tethered balloon

Ballon de Paris Generali · Paris

From age 3 · Outdoor · €10 to €25

Held by a cable, the balloon rises 150 metres above Parc André Citroën.

Musée des Égouts de Paris
Romain91 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Museums and science

Go down into the Paris sewers

Musée des Égouts de Paris · Paris

From age 6 · Indoor · Under €10 · Good on rainy days

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.

Aquaboulevard
Mariiwakura · CC0

Pools, beaches and water

Whizz down the Aquaboulevard slides

Aquaboulevard · Paris

From age 3 · Indoor and outdoor · Over €25 · Good on rainy days

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

Île de loisirs de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
Lionel Allorge · CC BY-SA 3.0

Parks and nature

Ride a pony by the lake

Île de loisirs de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines · Trappes (78)

All ages · Outdoor · Free

Around the lake at Saint-Quentin, this 600-hectare estate brings together cycle paths, play areas, mini golf and treetop adventure courses.

Musée Grévin
Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0

Museums and science

Pose with the stars at the Musée Grévin

Musée Grévin · Paris

From age 3 · Indoor · Over €25 · Good on rainy days

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

Musée en Herbe
Museeenherbe · CC BY-SA 3.0

Museums and science

Visit an art exhibition made for children

Musée en Herbe · Paris

From age 3 · Indoor · Under €10 · Good on rainy days

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.

Catacombes de Paris
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Castles and heritage

Go down into the Paris catacombs

Catacombes de Paris · Paris

From age 8 · Indoor · Over €25 · Good on rainy days

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.

Château de Monte-Cristo
JPGO · CC BY-SA 3.0

Castles and heritage

Follow Dumas at the Château de Monte-Cristo

Château de Monte-Cristo · Le Port-Marly (78)

From age 3 · Indoor and outdoor · Under €10 · Good on rainy days

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.

Parc des Impressionnistes
Moonik · CC BY-SA 3.0

Parks and nature

Cross the footbridge in the Parc des Impressionnistes

Parc des Impressionnistes · Rueil-Malmaison (92)

All ages · Outdoor · Free

Facing the Île des Impressionnistes, this small one-hectare park recalls Giverny with its pond, wooden footbridge, gazebo, rose garden and white garden.

Désert de Retz
Rémih · CC BY-SA 4.0

Castles and heritage

Seek out the Désert de Retz follies

Désert de Retz · Chambourcy (78)

From age 3 · Outdoor · Under €10

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…

Île de loisirs du Val de Seine
Matthieu Roger · CC BY-SA 3.0

Pools, beaches and water

Go swimming at the Val de Seine

Île de loisirs du Val de Seine · Verneuil-sur-Seine (78)

All ages · Outdoor · Under €10

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.

Parc Edmond de Rothschild
Traumrune · CC BY-SA 3.0

Parks and nature

Play in the former Rothschild park

Parc Edmond de Rothschild · Boulogne-Billancourt (92)

All ages · Outdoor · Free

This 15-hectare park was laid out in the 19th century for the Rothschild family, whose château has since disappeared.

Domaine national de Saint-Cloud
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Parks and nature

Picnic facing the Grande Cascade

Domaine national de Saint-Cloud · Saint-Cloud (92)

All ages · Outdoor · Free

This 460-hectare park combines formal French gardens, woodland and wide lawns with views of Paris in the distance.

Musée départemental Albert-Kahn
Salix · CC BY 2.5

Museums and science

Travel the world in pictures at Albert-Kahn

Musée départemental Albert-Kahn · Boulogne-Billancourt (92)

From age 3 · Indoor and outdoor · Under €10 · Good on rainy days

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.

Bois de Boulogne
Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0

Parks and nature

Row out to the island on the lake

Bois de Boulogne · Paris

All ages · Outdoor · Free

These woods of nearly 850 hectares have 17 kilometres of roads closed to traffic, where children can cycle in peace.

Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil
Arne Müseler · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Parks and nature

Explore the jungle of the Serres d'Auteuil

Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil · Paris

All ages · Indoor and outdoor · Free · Good on rainy days

This City of Paris botanical garden combines late 19th-century glasshouses with contemporary ones opened in 2019 around a Roland-Garros court.

Pagode Tinh Tâm
Popolon · CC BY-SA 3.0

Castles and heritage

Discover the Tinh Tâm pagoda

Pagode Tinh Tâm · Sèvres (92)

From age 3 · Indoor and outdoor · Free · Good on rainy days

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.

Parc André Citroën
Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0

Parks and nature

Run through the water jets

Parc André Citroën · Paris

All ages · Outdoor · Free

On the large esplanade, jets of water spring from the ground and children dash through them as soon as the weather warms up.

Tour Eiffel
Benh LIEU SONG · Public domain

Castles and heritage

Climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower

Tour Eiffel · Paris

From age 3 · Indoor and outdoor · €10 to €25

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.

Parc de l'Île Saint-Germain
Rémih · CC BY-SA 4.0

Parks and nature

Play on the Île Saint-Germain

Parc de l'Île Saint-Germain · Issy-les-Moulineaux (92)

All ages · Outdoor · Free

This departmental park of more than twenty hectares occupies an island in the Seine.

Forêt de Meudon
Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Parks and nature

Walk round the Meudon ponds

Forêt de Meudon · Meudon (92)

All ages · Outdoor · Free

The closest state forest to Paris, it covers more than 1,100 hectares of chestnut and oak trees.

Bateaux-Mouches
Daniel Stockman · CC BY-SA 2.0

Pools, beaches and water

Cruise the Seine on a bateau-mouche

Bateaux-Mouches · Paris

All ages · Indoor and outdoor · €10 to €25 · Good on rainy days

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…

Parc Suzanne-Lenglen
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5

Parks and nature

Let off steam at Parc Suzanne-Lenglen

Parc Suzanne-Lenglen · Paris

All ages · Outdoor · Free

Next to the heliport and Aquaboulevard, this hilly park mixes sports grounds, winding paths and rose beds.