3 Days in Paris with Teenagers

Teenagers judge Paris on different criteria from their parents. They want something that sounds slightly dangerous, a view worth posting, food they can eat walking, and at least an hour a day when nobody is explaining architecture to them. This route gives them all four, and it sneaks the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower in on terms they will accept.

It starts underground, in the Catacombs, which is the single most requested sight among 13 to 17-year-olds and needs booking a week ahead. It climbs the Eiffel Tower by the stairs, which is cheaper, faster and more fun at that age. It spends an afternoon among the murals of Belleville and ends in a former foundry where paintings are projected across every wall. In between there are two free rooftops and a basilica on a hill.

Youth tickets are cheaper at most of these sights, and half the route costs nothing, so this is not the expensive version of Paris it looks like. As always, the arrival day is not Day 1. Teenagers sleep on planes badly and wake up late in hotels, so the route starts no earlier than 9:45.

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This route at a glance

Tickets to book before you fly

If you only book one thing, book the Catacombs: the slots go fast. The rest can wait until you are in Paris, apart from the Eiffel Tower in summer. Prices are the lowest adult prices on the booking page; youth options are cheaper.

Arrival evening: a first look at the city

Teenagers recover from a flight faster than adults if you feed them. Drop the bags, find a crêpe stand or a falafel shop, and go for a walk with a destination: the Pont des Arts at sunset, the steps of the Sacré-Cœur, or the Trocadéro if your hotel is in the west.

Let them choose. A teenager who picks the first evening owns the trip a little more, and every option on this list is free and open late.

• Pont des Arts and the tip of the Île de la Cité: sunset over the river.
• Sacré-Cœur steps: buskers, the whole city lit up below.
• Trocadéro: the tower sparkles for five minutes at the start of every hour after dark.

Day 1: The Catacombs, a skyscraper and the Latin Quarter

The Catacombs are twenty meters below the street: 131 steps down, a kilometer and a half of tunnels lined with the bones of six million Parisians, and 112 steps back up to an exit in a different street. The one-way route takes about an hour, the temperature stays at 14 °C all year, so bring a sweater even in August. The audio guide is included in the full ticket and is good. They are closed on Mondays.

You surface in Montparnasse. Walk fifteen minutes to the Montparnasse Tower, the city's only real skyscraper, and ride to the 56th floor. From the roof, three flights of stairs higher, you get the panorama every other viewpoint lacks: Paris with the Eiffel Tower in it. It is optional, and it is the one teenagers photograph most.

After lunch, head north through the Luxembourg Gardens and into the Latin Quarter. Shakespeare and Company, the English-language bookshop on the river, is worth the queue for anyone who reads. The streets behind it are full of cheap crêpes and kebabs, and the bridges onto the Île de la Cité finish the day with Notre-Dame, which is free to enter.

Stops in order

1. 9:45 · Catacombs of Paris: timed entry, about an hour underground
   1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol Tanguy, 75014, Paris
2. 11:30 · Montparnasse Tower: 56th floor and the roof; optional
   Rue du Départ, 75015, Paris
3. 13:30 · Luxembourg Gardens: free, picnic lunch
   Place Edmond Rostand, 75006, Paris
4. 15:00 · Shakespeare and Company: English-language bookshop
   37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005, Paris
5. 16:30 · Notre-Dame Cathedral: free entry
   6 Parvis Notre-Dame - Place Jean-Paul II, 75004, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Take the exit photo, not the bones

Photos are allowed in the Catacombs but flash is not, and the tunnels are dark. The shot teenagers actually keep is the moment they come up into daylight in a residential street, a long way from where they went in.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: Rain makes no difference underground. Skip the Montparnasse roof if the cloud is low and spend longer in the bookshop.

Day 2: The Louvre at teen speed, a free rooftop and Montmartre

The Louvre with a teenager is a two-hour mission, not a day. Pick three targets together the night before: the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory and one thing they choose, the Egyptian mummies, Napoleon III's apartments or the medieval moat under the museum. Book a 9:30 guided entry, go straight to the first target, and leave before anyone stops enjoying it.

Walk up the Avenue de l'Opéra to the Palais Garnier, the opera house that inspired The Phantom of the Opera, and on to Galeries Lafayette. The department store's glass dome is spectacular from the inside, and its eighth-floor terrace is a rooftop with a view to the Eiffel Tower that costs nothing and needs no ticket. It may close in bad weather.

Spend the late afternoon in Montmartre. Climb from Abbesses to the Sacré-Cœur, find the Wall of Love with "I love you" in 250 languages, and watch the portrait painters on the Place du Tertre. Then let them loose for an hour on the slopes with a meeting point; it is one of the safest and most walkable neighborhoods in the city.

Stops in order

1. 9:30 · Louvre Museum: three targets, two hours
   Pont du Carrousel, 75001, Paris
2. 12:15 · Palais Garnier: outside; the inside needs a separate booked ticket
   Place Jacques Rouché, 75009, Paris
3. 12:45 · Galeries Lafayette: free rooftop on the 8th floor
   40 Boulevard Haussmann, 75009, Paris
4. 15:00 · Wall of Love: Wall of Love, Square Jehan Rictus
   Square Jehan Rictus, Place des Abbesses, 75018 Paris
5. 15:45 · Sacré-Cœur: basilica free
   Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018, Paris
6. 16:30 · Place du Tertre: artists' square
   Place du Tertre, 75018, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Give them a Louvre budget of three rooms

A list they wrote themselves works better than any audio guide. Agree on three rooms, walk fast between them, and offer the café under the pyramid as the finish line.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The Louvre and Galeries Lafayette are indoors; skip the rooftop and add the store's glass floor walkway under the dome.

Day 3: The Eiffel Tower by the stairs, street art and the Atelier des Lumières

Start at the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, the two-level iron bridge with the metro rattling overhead, which teenagers recognize from films. Walk to the Eiffel Tower and climb to the second floor by the stairs: about 674 steps, a first-floor glass floor on the way and no queue for the lift. Stair tickets are the cheapest way up, and there are youth options at the checkout.

After lunch, ride line 2 across the north of the city to Belleville. The rue Dénoyez is covered in fresh murals and changes every few weeks, the Parc de Belleville has a view back to the tower from the top of its terraces, and the neighborhood's Chinese and North African restaurants are some of the cheapest good food in Paris.

End at the Atelier des Lumières, a nineteenth-century foundry where digital shows of famous painters are projected onto every wall and the floor, with music. It is a different experience from a museum and teenagers who were lukewarm about the Louvre often love it. Shows change by season; check what is on and book a slot for the late afternoon.

Stops in order

1. 9:45 · Pont de Bir-Hakeim: iron bridge, film location
   Pont de Bir Hakeim, 75016, Paris
2. 10:00 · Eiffel Tower: stairs to the second floor, about 1 hour 30 minutes
   5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007, Paris
3. 12:00 · Champ de Mars: lunch on the lawns
   Avenue Bosquet, 75007, Paris
4. 14:00 · Parc de Belleville: view from the top terraces; murals on the rue Dénoyez nearby
   75020, Paris
5. 17:00 · Atelier des Lumières: immersive show, about an hour
   38 Rue Saint-Maur, 75011, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Make the first floor a checkpoint

The first floor, roughly halfway up the stairs, has a glass floor to stand on above the square. Stop there for the photo and a breather; the second half of the climb then feels short, even to a reluctant fifteen-year-old.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The stairs are covered but exposed to wind. In heavy rain, swap the order: the Atelier des Lumières in the morning and the tower in the afternoon if it clears.

Departure morning: the Marais

Use the last morning for food and souvenirs. The Marais has vintage shops, the falafel counters of the rue des Rosiers and the Place des Vosges for a last sit-down, all within a short walk of line 1.

Give each teenager a small budget and an hour on their own with a meeting point. For many of them it ends up as the best hour of the trip.

• Vintage and second-hand shops cluster around the rue de la Verrerie and the rue Vieille-du-Temple.
• The Place des Vosges is the calmest place in the area for the last coffee.
• Leave the center three hours before an international flight.

Which day goes where

The three days can run in any order. Use this table to keep every sight off its closing day.

What 3 days in Paris with teens cost

Teenagers pay youth prices almost everywhere, and the free half of this route is the half they often like most: the rooftops, the murals, the basilica on the hill. The table shows what each day costs per adult and what costs nothing.

Teenagers pay full fare on public transport from age 10, so a carnet of single tickets loaded on a Navigo Easy card is the simplest option.

Giving teenagers some freedom in Paris

• Montmartre, the Marais and the Latin Quarter are easy places for an hour alone: busy, compact and full of landmarks to meet at.
• Agree a meeting point and a time, not a phone call. Signal underground and in the metro is patchy.
• Avoid the metro alone late at night around Châtelet - Les Halles, Gare du Nord and Barbès, where pickpockets work the crowds.
• Keep phones zipped away on the metro and at the Eiffel Tower, the two places where thefts are most common.

💡 Pro Tip

Let them plan one half-day

Give your teenager this page and one free afternoon to fill. Most choose a mix of street food, a shop they found online and a viewpoint; all of it is easier than arguing about the Louvre.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

More 3-day routes

• Paris with kids: the version for 5 to 12-year-olds.
• Paris at an easy pace: for a trip with grandparents.
• Modern and street art: more murals and contemporary museums.
• Hidden Paris: the Catacombs and the city's secret corners.
• Getting around Paris in 3 days: tickets and passes for a family.
• 5 days in Paris: room for Disneyland or Versailles as well.
• All the 3-day routes, by theme