Paris as a Family, the Neighbourhoods Where Life Is Good with Children

With children, Paris changes scale. Distances count, naps count, and a garden near home is worth more than a monument on the other side of the city. Choosing the neighbourhood is no longer a question of charm; it becomes a question of rhythm.

Here are three neighbourhoods in the heart of Paris, and how they are lived as a family.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the neighbourhood of the Luxembourg

In the 6th, the Luxembourg garden is very close. It is the neighbourhood's garden: alleys of chestnut trees, green chairs, the pond where children push sailing boats, playgrounds. You go by in the morning and return in the afternoon.

All around, Saint-Germain offers quiet streets, bookshops, pastry shops and the Pierre Hermé boutique on rue Bonaparte for an exceptional afternoon treat. It is the calmest of the three neighbourhoods, and the most classic.

The Upper Marais, museums on a child's scale

The Marais is livelier, but it has its refuges. The Square du Temple is a neighbourhood garden with room to play. The Musée des Arts et Métiers, with its machines, its aeroplanes and Foucault's pendulum, is often the youngest visitors' favourite museum. And at lunchtime, the Marché des Enfants Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris, always has a counter that pleases everyone.

The 2nd, covered passages and the Palais-Royal

The 2nd is central and compact. The covered passages, such as the Galerie Vivienne, are explored like a treasure hunt, sheltered from the rain. The Palais-Royal gardens, right next door, have their alleys of lime trees and the Buren columns, where children love to jump from one to the next. And rue Montorgueil, a pedestrian street, is the market where you buy dinner.

What makes the difference on a family stay

• · Real space. Two to four bedrooms, up to eight guests depending on the apartment.
• · An equipped kitchen, for children's timetables.
• · Air conditioning in every apartment, precious in summer.
• · For the little ones, a high chair in almost all our apartments and a baby cot in several of them: tell us your children's ages and we will point you to the equipped apartment.
• · A team that can be reached at any hour, and a concierge for the airport transfer or a table where children are welcome.

To decide

For a first trip with young children, Saint-Germain and the Luxembourg are the most serene choice. For families with curious teenagers, the Marais. For those who want everything on foot, the 2nd. An intimate relationship with Paris, one neighbourhood at a time.

Discover the collection, the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood and our guide apartment or hotel as a family.

The ACT 3 Team