My family travel – from Paris with love, cheese, mickey ears, and impressions!

Hi everyone!

Some years ago I thought that it would be great for my 5-year-old daughter to visit Disneyland. Since my wife also dreamt to visit Paris, I decided it’s a good chance to please them both. So, I started to prepare a travel to Paris and Disneyland Paris, which is located in suburb.

(You will find a collection of useful links at the bottom, right before the upvote button ;-)

First that you need to know is that there are a lot of cheap flights to Paris. If you buy early enough you can have a round-trip ticket for September as low as 8.9 euros per person (lowest I’ve seen, currently from Katowice, Poland to Paris, France via Wizzair, if it’s still available).

Second, 4 days is not enough. If you can afford it, plan more time!

No any reason to rent a car – you can get to any place either walking, by train (better buy daily tickets or a set of them), or Open Tour bus (tickets are sold everywhere) – the best option in my opinion to see Paris.

What to see? Just about everything! Buy that Open Tour tickets and enjoy the city!
My family spent the whole day just in Louvre Museum. If you didn’t know, Mona Lisa is there, but it’s not the most impressive painting to say honestly. Except that there are dozens of places you would want to visit, once again – plan more time, like a week or so.

If you would like to visit Disneyland, better buy the entrance tickets beforehand, or you will stand in some long line ;-) Also, in this connection there is no reason to reserve a hotel room in the center of the city. There are hotels close to Disneyland (located in suburb) with free shuttle both to Disneyland and train station. Around 100 euros per night for a nice family room with a great view and tasty breakfast for us three as opposed to some 200-300 euros or much more in Paris itself for a small room. I should only note here that it will take more than 40 minutes by RER (train) to get from Disneyland to Eiffel Tower, for example. So, my advice is to plan some days solely for Disneyland and some days for visiting Paris itself.

Well, that’s about it. You’ll find more info along with the pictures’ captions further.
Yet, this wasn’t planned as a comprehensive guide, but more of a motivational post ;-)

Dream Castle Paris

Spectacular view from the hotel I stayed in – Vienna House Dream Castle Paris

Paris train (RER)

RER or train or metro, whatever you call it. The sexiest voice I’ve ever heard telling me that my train arrives. RER system is very complex, so take a free map, when buying tickets! And one more: the last train leaves at around 12:30 AM and taxis are pretty expensive, so keep it in mind!

Arc de Triomphe

Pretty intensive traffic around and they say it is an awesome view from the top, but better buy tickets beforehand. It’s located in the central area, Charles de Gaulle square, same name as the train station. Pretty close to the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower daytime

I didn’t really know that it’s so enormous! If you want to take selfie at the top better buy tickets in advance. Really huge lines to buy tickets and to enter.

The Eiffel Tower lights up every evening from sunset to 1 AM

Just for your information: they have a restaurant at the top, quite expensive though, so I never tried it, but maybe you are richer ;-)

Open Tour over Paris

That’s the easiest way to see Paris in my opinion. They give free earphones and you choose your preferred language, just listen and enjoy the views.

The Louvre or the Louvre Museum

That’s definitely what you must see in Paris. Lots of masterpieces. Nothing to add here.

Imperial Throne of Napoleon (the Louvre Museum)

No, really? That small chair is the throne?

The Mona Lisa (the Louvre Museum)

What can I say? You can hardly see any details or whatever… Some small painting actually.
Taking a selfie with it is a real challenge!

Notre-Dame Cathedral outside and inside

Another place anyone must see. Free entrance, but seems I wasn’t supposed to take pictures inside or you’ll get a penalty or something (don’t flag me for this), just be warned!

The Seine

The Seine is a 777-kilometre (483 mi) long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France (that’s according to wiki). I would say that it’s a wonderful experience to walk along the Seine embankment (at least in the central part of the city), some nice views and a lot to see. Also, you can take a cruise along the Seine, if you feel comfortable aboard.

Escargots (snails cooked in garlic and butter)

Must try it too despite lots of garlic!

Almost forgot to say about what to buy in Paris to bring home…
Buy cheese and wine (actually I prefer Calvados - an apple brandy). It’s really cheap there, so I would buy a lot!

Disneyland® Paris

Disneyland is a paradise for kids (and for adults too). Nothing to add here!
Just buy tickets in advance for 3 or more days and enjoy! It’s not cheap and food there is not cheap either. If you don’t bring lots of money with you, try McDonalds. It’s the cheapest option and has the same taste (well, almost) all over the world.
Also buy mickey mouse ears and autograph books for your family (Yes, you can have it signed by Mickey, Cinderella or whoever you can imagine!).
Disneyland® Paris has 2 huge parks, so plan at least the whole day for each.

Some useful links for you:

Flights to Paris:
https://www.skyscanner.net/flights-to/pari/cheap-flights-to-paris.html?currency=USD

One more link about the flights with tips and tricks:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Discount_airlines_in_Europe

Open Tour Bus:
http://www.paris.opentour.com/en/

Paris train (RER):
http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_21879/visiting-paris/

Arc de Triomphe:
http://www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/en/

The Eiffel Tower:
http://www.toureiffel.paris/en.html

Notre-Dame Cathedral:
http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/spip.php?rubrique2

Louvre Museum:
http://www.louvre.fr/

Moulin Rouge cabaret:
http://www.moulinrouge.fr/?lang=en

National Opera:
https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/

The Palace of Versailles:
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

Cruises along the Seine:
http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/en/cruise-tours.html

The hotel I stayed in (Dream Castle Paris):
http://www.viennahouse.com/en/dream-castle-paris/the-hotel/overview.html

Other Disneyland® Paris hotels:
http://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/hotels/

Disneyland® Park:
http://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/destinations/disneyland-park/

Walt Disney Studios® Park:
http://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/destinations/walt-disney-studios-park/

If you have any questions please post them in comments.
If you liked my post I would appreciate upvotes!
Wish you a great time in Paris!