Most Paris family guides squeeze museums in between the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Disneyland. This one is built the other way around. Staying four nights in Paris with kids aged 5 to 10, it spends the three full touring days one each at three places where children touch and observe things themselves: the Cité des enfants inside the Cité des sciences at La Villette in the northeast, the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution in the Jardin des Plantes in the south, and the Arts et Métiers museum of technology in the 3rd arrondissement. What sets the order is not preference but closure days and session times. The Cité des sciences and Arts et Métiers rest on Mondays, the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution on Tuesdays, and the Cité des sciences' children's space admits only by 90-minute session. The 4 nights 5 days run on the ground in Paris from arrival day to departure day; any extra days for long-haul flights depend on your flights. All ages in this article are in completed years. If this is your first Paris and you need to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre first, the Paris 5 nights 6 days standard itinerary fits better than this one.
What the days in Paris with kids go to
The allocation comes first: two travel days (arrival and departure), and the three full days take one zone each. At La Villette, the reserved 90-minute session is paired with the Cité des sciences exhibitions or the park; at the Jardin des Plantes, the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution is paired with a greenhouse or the gardens; in the 3rd, you take your time at the one technology museum. You stay four nights in one hotel near the Gare de l'Est and never move luggage.
| Day | Plan | Transport, notes |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Arrive in Paris, check in, dinner in the neighborhood | No session booked on arrival day. Rail on the airport ticket (Ticket Paris Région-Aéroports; RER B from Charles de Gaulle) |
| Day 2 | La Villette: Cité des enfants session → exhibitions for ages 8-10, Parc de la Villette for ages 5-7 | Metro Line 7 to Porte de la Villette. Closed Mondays |
| Day 3 | Jardin des Plantes: Grande Galerie de l'Évolution → Grandes Serres if it is wet or cold, the free gardens if it is fine | Metro Line 7 to Censier-Daubenton, Line 5 to Gare d'Austerlitz. Closed Tuesdays |
| Day 4 | 3rd arrondissement: Arts et Métiers permanent collection (optional children's audio guide) | Metro Lines 3 and 11 to Arts et Métiers, Line 4 to Réaumur-Sébastopol. Closed Mondays |
| Day 5 | Check out, go to the airport, depart | No visits on departure day |
The table above is the order when your touring days (Days 2-4) avoid Monday and Tuesday, such as Wednesday-Friday or Thursday-Saturday. The weekday rule sets the schedule. The Cité des sciences (Cité des sciences et de l'industrie) and Arts et Métiers close every Monday, and the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution closes every Tuesday. All three are closed on January 1, May 1 and December 25, so if one of those dates falls on your touring days, none of the three can be visited that day. Set the dates in three steps. First pick an arrival day that keeps those shared closure dates off your touring days. Next, if a Monday falls on them, make it the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution day, and if a Tuesday does, make it the Cité des sciences day (if the session you want is sold out, make Tuesday Arts et Métiers). Last, book the sessions for those dates. On Wednesday to Sunday without a shared closure date you can reorder freely. For example, if you arrive on a Sunday, the order is the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution on Monday, the Cité des sciences on Tuesday and Arts et Métiers on Wednesday. The Cité des sciences has made special Monday openings during French school holidays (October 19 and 26, 2026), but no Monday openings for November-December appeared on the official hours page (checked November 2, 2026). Don't build the plan expecting a Monday opening, and families going during the Christmas holidays should re-check the Cité des sciences hours page for Monday-opening notices before the visit.
Before departure: entry, bookings, transport tickets
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Visa | Depends on nationality. This plan assumes a visa-exempt passport; Korean passports, for example, are visa-free for short tourist stays (up to 90 days within 180 in the Schengen area) and need 3 months' validity beyond the planned departure |
| EES (Entry/Exit System) | Fully operational from April 10, 2026. Nothing to do in advance and no fee. Facial image and fingerprints registered at the border check on the day of first entry; children under 12 are exempt from fingerprints |
| ETIAS (pre-travel authorization) | Not yet in operation per the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs; no website currently issues it (beware of impostor sites). Re-check just before departure |
| Online application before departure | None. EES is done at the border check, and ETIAS is not yet running |
| Cité des enfants | Online booking strongly recommended. Parents and children each need a ticket. Official advice is 15 minutes before; this plan arrives 30 minutes early |
| Grande Galerie de l'Évolution | The official ticketing site currently states that online timed booking is mandatory (checked November 2, 2026, no end date announced) |
| Airport ticket | 14 euros one way, 7 euros for ages 4-9, free under 4, adult fare from age 10. Loaded onto one medium per person (a Navigo Easy card or a phone); cannot share a medium with Métro-Train-RER single tickets (it can be loaded once those are used up and 2 hours have passed) |
Your first EES registration adds a biometric enrollment step, so allow extra time for entry. EES replaces passport stamps by recording non-EU nationals' entries and exits electronically, and it applies to visa-exempt short-stay visitors too. The biometrics registered are a facial image and fingerprints, and children under 12 skip the fingerprints. To keep a tired child out of the line, it helps to handle the restroom and snacks on the plane beforehand.
Book the Cité des enfants first. Its 90-minute sessions have a capacity, so the times you want fill first. Once your dates are set, grab the session for the Cité des sciences day you set around the closure days on the official ticketing site first, then buy the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution timed ticket. The official ticketing site currently says online booking is mandatory there, so don't count on buying at the door. Buying at the door is enough at Arts et Métiers, but online ticketing adds a 1-euro fee per booking.
From the airport to the hotel, based at the Gare de l'Est
The reason to base at the Gare de l'Est is a single line. Metro Line 7 runs from the Gare de l'Est north to Porte de la Villette (Cité des sciences) and south to Censier-Daubenton (Jardin des Plantes) with no transfer. From the same station, Line 4 goes to Réaumur-Sébastopol (Arts et Métiers) and Line 5 to Gare d'Austerlitz (the east entrance of the Jardin des Plantes). A route with no transfers on all three days is the biggest saving when moving with kids. The Gare du Nord, where the RER B airport line stops, is also within walking distance.
| Route | Getting in (airport → hotel) | Getting out (hotel → airport) |
|---|---|---|
| Charles de Gaulle (CDG) ↔ Gare de l'Est | RER B to Gare du Nord, then walk toward the Gare de l'Est. Airport ticket 14 euros one way (ages 4-9 7 euros) | Walk from the Gare de l'Est to Gare du Nord and take RER B toward the airport. A new one-way airport ticket (14 euros, ages 4-9 7 euros) |
| Orly (ORY) ↔ Gare de l'Est | Orlyval (Orly 1, 2, 3 or Orly 4 station) to Antony, change to RER B toward Paris, get off at Gare du Nord and walk toward the Gare de l'Est. Airport ticket 14 euros one way (ages 4-9 7 euros) | Walk from the Gare de l'Est to Gare du Nord, RER B to Antony, then Orlyval to the airport. A new one-way airport ticket (14 euros, ages 4-9 7 euros) |
How to ride. The airport ticket is for rail only, and at both airports it must be used within 2 hours of the first tap-in, transfers included. You can transfer between RER B, the metro and Orlyval, and exiting through the gates along the way ends it (the only exception is walking an officially signposted street-level transfer route). The ticket is one way, so buy a new one for the trip back to the airport. Instead of a paper ticket, it is loaded onto a Navigo Easy card or a phone. Under the official terms of use, several people cannot tap in one after another on one card or phone. An airport ticket also cannot sit on the same card or phone as Métro-Train-RER single tickets (Bus-Tram tickets can), and to load an airport ticket onto a card that still holds single tickets, you must use them all up and wait 2 hours. So each family member aged 4 or over needs their own card or phone, and the departure-day airport ticket goes either onto a card whose single tickets were used up, loaded the day before, or onto a different card or phone. Rail to and from the airport requires this airport ticket, not a single city ticket (2.55 euros). Children under 4 ride free on both the airport ticket and city transport.
Heading back, count backward. For international flights, plan to reach the airport 3 hours before departure, then add the airport rail ride (RER B to Charles de Gaulle; to Orly, RER B and Orlyval with a change at Antony) and an extra hour of margin for traveling with kids to set your hotel departure time. For an afternoon flight, it is better to go straight to the airport after checkout, and no museums go on departure day.
Zones and how long they take
| Zone | Anchors | From the Gare de l'Est | Time for this zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Villette (19th) | Cité des sciences, Cité des enfants, Parc de la Villette | Metro Line 7 northbound, Porte de la Villette | One day (90-minute session + exhibitions or the park) |
| Jardin des Plantes (5th) | Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, Grandes Serres, Ménagerie, gardens | Metro Line 7 southbound to Censier-Daubenton or Line 5 to Gare d'Austerlitz | One day (2-3 hours in the gallery + gardens and greenhouse) |
| 3rd arrondissement | Arts et Métiers (former Saint-Martin-des-Champs priory) | Metro Line 4, Réaumur-Sébastopol | Half a day to a full day (children's audio guide 1 hour 30 minutes) |
Day 1, arrival: hotel and ticket check
Arrival day ends with check-in and dinner nearby. Don't book a 90-minute session right after a long-haul flight. Three things to do before dinner: find the Cité des enfants session confirmation email for the day you set for the Cité des sciences, the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution timed ticket for its day, and the passports that prove the children's ages. Both the free entry at the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution and the child rate at the Cité des sciences are based on proof of age.
Day 2, La Villette: the Cité des enfants and the Cité des sciences
Cité des enfants 5-10, how to pick a session
The Cité des enfants 5-10 is a children-only space inside the Cité des sciences. Each session lasts 90 minutes, and everyone must leave when the session ends. Start times depend on the day. Tuesday to Friday there are four sessions a day (9:45, 11:45, 13:45, 15:45); on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and during French school holidays there are five (9:45, 11:30, 13:15, 15:00, 16:45). The reason to pick the first session at 9:45 is simple: after it ends you have the whole afternoon for the Cité des sciences exhibitions or the park, and the 90 minutes fall when your child's focus is best.
The ticket rules are the most confusing part of this itinerary. Children must enter with an adult, and adults cannot enter alone. Parents and children each have to buy a ticket: full price 15 euros, ages 2-25 12 euros. A younger sibling under 2 enters without a ticket, and a sibling aged 2-4 or 11 and over enters with a ticket when with a child aged 5-10. The official guide recommends arriving 15 minutes before the session. Allowing for the ticket line, this itinerary plans for 30 minutes.
Whether to add the exhibitions: the combined-ticket call
A Cité des enfants ticket does not get you into the Cité des sciences' general exhibitions. To see both, you need to buy the combined ticket (Cité des enfants + exhibitions, 19 euros) from the start; ages 2-5 pay 14 euros. The deciding factor is your child's age. At 8-10, kids often have the energy and interest left for the exhibitions after the session, so the combined ticket fits; at 5-7, the 90-minute session alone is often enough, so buy the single ticket and turn the afternoon into a park walk. The combined ticket's only age discount is for ages 2-5 (14 euros), so compared with the single ticket it costs 4 euros more per adult, 7 euros more for a child aged 6-10, and 2 euros more for a 5-year-old. For two adults, a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old, combined tickets total 71 euros, 17 euros more than single tickets (54 euros).
The general exhibitions are open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00-18:00 and Sunday 10:00-19:00. The café-restaurant in the building's hall opens Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-17:45, with both dine-in and takeaway. The cloakroom runs Tuesday to Saturday 9:15-18:00 and Sunday 9:15-19:00, and baby-changing tables are on levels -1, 0 and 2.
Parc de la Villette and the ride back
Outside the Cité des sciences building is the Parc de la Villette, and the silver spherical La Géode stands right in front of the Cité des sciences (the Cité des sciences also sells a Cité des enfants and Géode combined ticket). If your child needs room to run after the session, head out to the park's lawns and paths. The sun sets early in Paris in November, so use the park in the early afternoon and ride Line 7 back to the Gare de l'Est before dark.
Day 3, Jardin des Plantes: the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution and the greenhouse
Grande Galerie de l'Évolution
The Grande Galerie de l'Évolution is a gallery run by France's National Museum of Natural History inside the Jardin des Plantes (opened 1994), showing the history of biodiversity through specimens. On the land-animal level, African savanna animals such as giraffes, zebras and lions form a procession led by an elephant. It opens daily except Tuesday, 10:00-18:00, and ticket sales close one hour before closing (17:00). It also closes on January 1, May 1 and December 25. Permanent-gallery admission is 13 euros for adults, 10 euros reduced, and free for ages 25 and under with proof (both EU and non-EU residents). A family of four pays only the two parents' 26 euros.
Ticketing links to an online sales page where you choose a time slot, and that page currently states that online booking is mandatory (checked November 2, 2026, no end date announced). Buy the timed ticket once your visit date is set. Entering at the 10:00 opening, spending 2-3 hours, then having lunch suits a child's stamina.
The temporary exhibition 'Sur les traces des dinosaures' (On the trail of the dinosaurs) in the same building is a separately priced temporary exhibition, and the free entry for 25 and under does not apply to it. The permanent gallery alone fills a 2-3 hour morning, so this itinerary and budget leave it out.
Greenhouse, Ménagerie or gardens: one for the afternoon
Pick just one for the afternoon. The Grandes Serres open 10:00-17:00 except Tuesday (last entry 16:00, winter hours valid through February 28, 2027), at 9 euros for adults, 7 euros for ages 3-25, free under 3 (family ticket for 2 adults + 2 young people aged 3-25, 28 euros), and tickets are sold online only. With a tropical rainforest greenhouse, you can see plants indoors even on a cold November afternoon. The Ménagerie opens daily 10:00-17:00 (ticket sales close 16:00, closed December 25, winter hours valid through February 28, 2027), at 13 euros for adults, 10 euros for ages 3-25, free under 3, and a family pass (2 adults + 2 young people aged 3-25) is 40 euros. If you'd rather not spend more, the Jardin des Plantes gardens are free (daily 8:00-17:30 through February 28, 2027, last entry 15 minutes before closing). However, the Jardin alpin inside the gardens closes from November to March.
Here is how to decide: the Grandes Serres if it rains or is cold, the Ménagerie if your child wants to see live animals, and the gardens if the weather is good and you want to save. Fit in all three and the stamina spent in the morning gallery runs out.
Day 4, 3rd arrondissement: Arts et Métiers
How to see a museum of inventions with kids
Arts et Métiers is a museum of the history of technology covering scientific instruments, materials, construction, communication, energy, mechanics and transport, housed in the former Saint-Martin-des-Champs priory. Its list of key collection pieces includes Clément Ader's airplane 'Avion III' (1897) and the Blériot XI airplane (1909). It opens Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00, until 21:00 on Fridays, and closes on Mondays and on January 1, May 1 and December 25. Ticket sales end 45 minutes before closing, and the museum floors can no longer be reached from 30 minutes before closing.
Permanent-collection admission is 12 euros for adults, 9 euros reduced, and free for under-18s regardless of nationality. The same paid rate applies to the permanent collection during the Friday 18:00-21:00 late opening, so don't expect free evening entry. On the first Sunday of every month the permanent collection is free, but tickets are given only at the museum's information desk. Since children are free anyway, the first-Sunday saving is the two parents' 24 euros.
Children's audio guide and activity booklets
There is a children's audio guide for ages 7-12. It is a 1 hour 30 minute course following a small robot through 34 collection pieces to find keys, available in German, English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese (no Korean). Rental is 5 euros per device, and you leave an ID. For a child aged 7 or over who understands English or another of those seven languages, this one course forms the backbone of Day 4. The activity booklet (enquêtes-jeux) currently posted for download on the museum's site is also a single one for ages 7-12, 'Étonnant explorateur', so with a 5- or 6-year-old, keep the visit short, within 1-2 hours, with a parent leading a hunt for the two key airplanes (Avion III and the Blériot XI).
On weekends and during the school holidays of zone C, which includes Paris, there are also family workshops for ages 4-6 and 7-12 (1 hour 30 minutes, 15 euros for adults, 10 euros for under-18s). The official guide does not state the language they are run in, so they are not in this plan; families who don't speak French use the children's audio guide instead.
Metro station Arts et Métiers has a platform whose walls and ceiling are covered in copper-colored metal plates, which makes it easy to remember as the museum's station. From the Gare de l'Est, Line 4 to Réaumur-Sébastopol is close with no transfer.
Day 5, departure
Check out and head to the airport. Double-check that the airport ticket is loaded in advance and that children aged 4-9 have the half-price ticket. The key visits were finished within Days 2-4, so nothing goes on departure day.
Practical details
| Venue | Hours | Closed | Adults | Children | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cité des enfants 5-10 | Tue-Fri 4 sessions, weekends, public holidays and school holidays 5 sessions (90 min each) | Mon, 1/1, 5/1, 12/25 | 15 euros | 12 euros (ages 2-25), under 2 free | Metro Line 7, Porte de la Villette |
| Cité des sciences exhibitions (combined ticket) | Tue-Sat 10-18, Sun 10-19 | Mon, 1/1, 5/1, 12/25 | Combined ticket 19 euros | Combined ticket 19 euros (ages 2-5 14 euros) | Same |
| Grande Galerie de l'Évolution | 10-18 (ticket sales close 17:00), online booking mandatory | Tue, 1/1, 5/1, 12/25 | 13 euros | Permanent gallery free for 25 and under (proof) | Line 7 Censier-Daubenton, Lines 5 and 10 and RER C Gare d'Austerlitz |
| Grandes Serres | 10-17 (last entry 16:00) | Tue (opening on 1/1, 5/1, 12/25 not stated; leave it out those days) | 9 euros | 7 euros (ages 3-25), under 3 free, family ticket 28 euros (2 adults + 2 aged 3-25) | Same |
| Ménagerie | Daily 10-17 (ticket sales close 16:00) | 12/25 | 13 euros | 10 euros (ages 3-25), under 3 free, family pass 40 euros (2 adults + 2 aged 3-25) | Same |
| Jardin des Plantes gardens | Daily 8:00-17:30 (last entry 15 min before closing; Jardin alpin closed Nov-Mar) | None | Free | Free | Same |
| Arts et Métiers | Tue-Sun 10-18, Fri to 21:00 (ticket sales end 45 min and floors 30 min before closing) | Mon, 1/1, 5/1, 12/25 | 12 euros | Free under 18 | Metro Lines 3 and 11 Arts et Métiers, Line 4 Réaumur-Sébastopol |
Fares are as shown on the official pages on November 1-2, 2026. Hours for the Grandes Serres, the Ménagerie and the Jardin des Plantes gardens are winter hours valid through February 28, 2027, so re-check for a trip from March. Arts et Métiers closes at 16:00 on December 24 and 31, 2026 (under the same rules, ticket sales end at 15:15 and the floors close at 15:30). The Grandes Serres page does not say whether it opens on January 1, May 1 or December 25, so on those shared closure dates leave the greenhouse out too.
Adjust by situation
| Situation | Day changed | Drop | Add | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A younger sibling aged 2-4 | Day 2 | 5-10 session alone | A separate session in the 2-6 space in the same building (with only one adult, book the two sessions so they do not overlap) | A 2-4 sibling can enter the 5-10 space with a ticket, but the 2-6 space is run separately for that age |
| All your children are 11-12 (no sibling aged 5-10) | Days 2 and 4 | Cité des enfants | Cité des sciences exhibitions alone, Arts et Métiers audio guide | Children 11 and over cannot enter the 5-10 space by themselves. With a 5-10 sibling, an 11-12-year-old enters with a ticket, so keep the base plan |
| A Monday on touring days | That Monday | Cité des sciences, Arts et Métiers | Grande Galerie de l'Évolution | Of the three, only the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution opens on Mondays |
| A Tuesday on touring days | That Tuesday | Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, Grandes Serres | Cité des sciences (Arts et Métiers if the session you want is sold out) | The Jardin des Plantes' gallery and the Grandes Serres close together, and the Cité des sciences needs a session booking, so fixing it first settles the other two days |
| First Sunday of the month | That Sunday | Other venues | Arts et Métiers | The permanent collection is free, saving the parents' 24 euros. Tickets are given only at the information desk |
| Christmas holiday trip | Arrival day, touring days (Days 2-4) | Touring days on December 25 or January 1, the weekday 4-session schedule | Dates clear of the shared closures, the holiday 5-session schedule | During the French school holiday (starting December 19, classes resume the morning of January 4) session times change and local families crowd in, and all three venues close on the 25th and the 1st |
Food: eating with kids in the three neighborhoods
At La Villette, the café-restaurant in the Cité des sciences' hall is the most reliable choice. It opens Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-17:45 and does takeaway, so it works well for stepping out to eat between sessions. At the Jardin des Plantes and in the 3rd, a baguette sandwich or croissant from a neighborhood bakery (boulangerie) handles lunch simply, and eating dinner near the hotel suits a child's stamina. With kids aged 5-7, plan the day around a hearty lunch and an early, light dinner.
Budget for a family of four, 4 nights 5 days
This is for two adults and two children aged 7 and 5. Admissions and transport are calculated from official fares; lodging, food and sundries are editorial planning assumptions.
| Item | Budget | Standard | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admissions | 104 euros (Cité single ticket + Grande Galerie de l'Évolution + Arts et Métiers) | 132 euros (+ Grandes Serres family ticket 28 euros) | 154 euros (combined ticket + Grandes Serres family ticket + 1 audio guide) |
| Airport round trip | 84 euros (adults 14×2 + children 7×2, round trip) | 84 euros | 84 euros |
| City transport | 69.30 euros (9 rides) | 92.40 euros (12 rides) | 123.20 euros (16 rides) |
| Lodging, 4 nights (family room) | About 1,000 euros | About 1,400 euros | About 1,800 euros |
| Food, 5 days | About 600 euros | About 800 euros | About 1,000 euros |
| Sundries | About 50 euros | About 50 euros | About 50 euros |
| Total | About 1,910 euros | About 2,560 euros | About 3,210 euros |
Totals are rounded to the nearest 10 euros. Comfortable admissions of 154 euros are combined tickets 71 + Grande Galerie de l'Évolution 26 + Arts et Métiers 24 + Grandes Serres family ticket 28 + one audio guide 5. City transport counts one family ride as 7.70 euros (adults 2.55 euros×2 + ages 4-9 1.30 euros×2): Budget assumes three rides a day on Days 2-4 (9 rides), Standard four a day (12 rides), and Comfortable adds four rides around the hotel on Days 1 and 5 (16 rides). The airport round trip counts two one-way tickets per person and assumes both children qualify for the half-price ages 4-9 fare; a child aged 10 or over pays the adult fare. Admissions stay light because the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution and Arts et Métiers are free for children. The biggest variable is the rate for a family room where all four sleep together, and international flights to Paris are excluded from the total.
Season and operating calendar
The core of all three days is indoors, so the calendar matters more than rain or cold. From early November to mid-December there are no French school holidays, so the Cité des enfants runs the weekday four-session schedule on Tuesday to Friday (the public holiday on Wednesday, November 11 runs five sessions) and local families are relatively few. If you go during the Christmas holidays (starting December 19, 2026, with classes resuming on the morning of Monday, January 4, 2027), the Cité des sciences runs five sessions on the days it opens, but local families crowd in, so book earlier. All three venues close on December 25 and January 1, so keep those dates off your touring days, and Arts et Métiers closes at 16:00 on December 24 and 31. Through February 28, 2027 the Jardin des Plantes gardens close at 17:30, and the Jardin alpin is closed from November to March.
The things to hold on to
- Parents need tickets at the Cité des enfants too. Arrive with only the children's tickets and you cannot get in.
- All three close on December 25, January 1 and May 1. Take those dates off your touring days, then make Monday the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution and Tuesday the Cité des sciences.
- Go to the airport on the airport ticket (14 euros one way, 7 euros for ages 4-9). It cannot share a card with single city tickets, so prepare the departure-day ticket separately.
- Carry the passports that prove the children's ages every day. Both free entry at the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution and the child rate at the Cité des sciences depend on proof of age.
Wrap-up
Paris with kids over four nights is not about giving up landmarks; it is about bundling a session, exhibits and a place to rest into one zone per day. Ninety minutes of hands-on experiments at La Villette, a procession of animal specimens at the Jardin des Plantes, nineteenth-century airplanes overhead in the 3rd. Monday and Tuesday set the order, and thanks to the two venues that are free for kids, the hotel rather than admissions drives the budget.
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What we verified
Tripop's editorial team checked the fares, hours, sessions and entry rules in this article on November 1-3, 2026 against each operator's official guidance: the Cité des sciences hours and fares; the Jardin des Plantes pages for the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, the Grandes Serres and the Ménagerie; Arts et Métiers hours and access and fares; for transport, the French government's 2026 fare notice and the Île-de-France Mobilités airport-ticket terms and the Orlyval guide; and for entry, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs EES and ETIAS guidance, the UK government EES notice and, for the Korean-passport example, the Korean foreign ministry's Schengen page. Re-check remaining sessions and any temporary closures on those official pages before your visit. If anything differs from what you find, tell us and we will fix it.
Images: Pexels (Darya Sannikova: Parc de la Villette and La Géode, Artūras Kokorevas: Paris metro platform, Svitlana Shakalova: Grande Galerie de l'Évolution and the Jardin des Plantes, David Henry: Grandes Serres in the Jardin des Plantes, Manon Segur: Saint-Martin-des-Champs priory (Arts et Métiers), Jakub Zerdzicki: metro station Arts et Métiers, Fleur Bijl: croissants), Pexels License.