Free fun for all the family
Great days out with the little ones in the capital - that won't cost you a cent!
Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace
From parks and gardens to child-friendly museums and galleries, read Time Out's guide to the best free days out in Paris...
104 (Centquatre)
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
- Free
It's more than a century since Montmartre was the centre of artistic activity in Paris. But now the north of Paris is again where the action is - albeit a couple of kilometres east of place du Tertre, in a previously neglected area of bleak railway goods yards and dilapidated social housing.104, described as a 'space for artistic creation', occupies a vast 19th-century building on the rue
- 104 rue d'Aubervilliers et 5 rue Curial, 19e
Parc André Citroën
- Free
This is one of Time Out's top 50 things to do in Paris this summer. Click here to see the full list. This park is a fun, postmodern version of a French formal garden, designed by Gilles Clément and Alain Prévost. It comprises glasshouses, computerised fountains, waterfalls, a wilderness and themed gardens featuring different coloured plants and even sounds. Stepping stones and water jets make it
- Rue Balard, rue Saint-Charles ou quai André Citroën, 15e
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
- Critics choice
- Free
There are plenty of handsomely ordered opportunities to indulge in a bit of park life in Paris, from the pathways of the Jardin des Tuileries to the ponds of the Jardin du Luxembourg. But if you're looking for something a little less formal, one patch of greenery definitely worth a stroll is the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Set high up in Belleville and often missed by weekenders keen not to stray
- Rue Botzaris, 19e
Jardin des Plantes
- Critics choice
- Free
The Paris botanical garden - which contains more than 10,000 species and includes tropical greenhouses and rose, winter and Alpine gardens - is an enchanting place. Begun by Louis XIII's doctor as the royal medicinal plant garden in 1626, it opened to the public in 1640. The formal garden, which runs between two dead-straight avenues of trees parallel to rue Buffon, is like something out of Alice
- 36 rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, 2 rue Buffon, place Valhubert ou 57 rue Cuvier, 5e
Parc de la Villette
- Critics choice
- Free
Dotted with red pavilions, or folies, the park was designed by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi and is a postmodern feast (guided tours 08.03.30.63.06, 3pm Sun in summer). The folies serve as glorious giant climbing frames, as well as a first-aid post, burger bar and children's art centre. Kids shoot down a Chinese dragon slide, and an undulating suspended path follows the Canal de l'Ourcq.As well
- Avenue Corentin Cariou, 19e
Place des Vosges
- Critics choice
- Free
Paris's first planned square was commissioned in 1605 by Henri IV and inaugurated by his son Louis XIII in 1612. With harmonious red-brick and stone arcaded façades and steeply pitched slate roofs, it differs from the later pomp of the Bourbons. Laid out symmetrically with carriageways through Pavillon de la Reine on the north side and Pavillon du Roi on the south, the other lots were sold off as
- 4e
Parc Montsouris
- Free
The most colourful of the capital's many parks, Montsouris was laid out for Baron Haussmann by Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand. It includes a series of sweeping, gently sloping lawns, an artificial lake and cascades. On the opening day in 1878 the lake inexplicably emptied, and the engineer responsible committed suicide.
- Boulevard Jourdan, 14e
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
- Critics choice
- Free
Notre-Dame was constructed between 1163 and 1334, and the amount of time and money spent on it reflected the city's growing prestige. The west front remains a high point of Gothic art for the balanced proportions of its twin towers and rose window, and the three doorways with their rows of saints and sculpted tympanums: the Last Judgement (centre), Life of the Virgin (left) and Life of St Anne
- Place du Parvis Notre-Dame, 4e
Bois de Vincennes
- Critics choice
- Free
This is Paris's biggest park, created, like the Bois de Boulogne in the west, when the former royal hunting forest was landscaped by Alphand for Baron Haussmann. There are boating lakes, a Buddhist temple, a racetrack, restaurants, a baseball field and a small farm. The park also contains the Cartoucherie theatre complex. The Parc Floral is a cross between a botanical garden and an amusement
Parc Monceau
- Free
Surrounded by grand hôtels particuliers and elegant Haussmannian apartments, Monceau is a favourite with well-dressed children and their nannies. It was laid out in the 18th century for the Duc de Chartres in the English style, with a lake, lawns and a variety of follies: an Egyptian pyramid, a Corinthian colonnade, Venetian bridge and sarcophagi.
- Rue de Monceau, 8e
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