Ideas for family day out in Paris

We%26#39;re planning a day trip to Paris in the new year, 3 adults %26amp; 5 children (4 boys %26amp; a girl) under 12... What are the best things to do with kids? Can we book anything in advance? And what%26#39;s the easist thing to do about meals?

We%26#39;d like to do the Eiffel Tower, as the kids will be disappointed if we don%26#39;t go there, but have no other ideas yet.

We are quite restricted by train times, and will be arriving in Paris at 11.30am, leaving at 7pm.

Thanks!

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with kids this age, I%26#39;d want to climb the bell tower of Notre Dame and see the gargoyles up close -- watch the Disney movie Hunchback before the trip --

another thing to do with so little time would be the Seine boat trip

this is a very tight time frame -- so a couple of big memorable things seem like the right idea

buy sandwiches at a bakery for the trip back and some fancy pastries -- my kids at this age loved picking out the incredibly beautiful French pastries

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I agree with the above. If they are high energy kids and it is not raining, I%26#39;d take them ice skating at the Hotel de Ville or on the trampolines in the Tuileries gardens.

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We just came back from a trip to Paris with our 2 kids (7 and 4). My kids loved the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre. Since you%26#39;re on a limited time, I%26#39;d go with the other poster and go see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Lines may be long to go up to see the gargoyles too. My kids were perfectly fine seeing the gargoyles through a camera lens.

I highly recommend going to the Trocadero metro stop and seeing the Eiffel tower from the Palais de Chaillot. Great view! There is an open area for the kids to run around or sit and a couple of vendors selling crepes if they get hungry. You can then walk down and across the river Seine to get a close up view of the Eiffel Tower.

There are a lot of bakeries and pastry shops around the Notre Dame area. My children were also content with crepes and paninis for snack and lunches. Crepes with ham and cheese for lunch and crepes with nutella for dessert was my daughter%26#39;s almost daily menu with hot chocolate. Have a great trip!