Two Paris buggy walks – exploring with a toddler
Walking around a city, rather than heading down into a tunnel to take a train, is always the best way to explore it. I think that’s particularly true for Paris: especially with a young child as they can sightsee from the comfort of a buggy.
So I spent the two days of our trip covering as many of the sights as I could on foot and came up with the following two Paris buggy walks as a result.
And while there are innumerable walking routes you could try, these two are deliberately heavier on parks and outdoor sights rather than museums for toddlers with short attention spans – you will need comfy shoes…
Paris buggy walks: Route 1 (west to east)
Start by exploring the Jardin D’acclimatation over to the west of Paris, before cutting through the Bois de Boulogne towards the Trocadero.
There is an unavoidably busy section as you cross the peripherique or ring road, but then cut through the streets of the 16th arrondissement towards the river.
I wandered along the fabulously named Rue des Belles Feuilles which follows an almost direct route from Porte Dauphine (essential, given my shaky sense of direction).
At the end, you’ll suddenly see the Eiffel Tower framed by the buildings, across the Trocadero Gardens. Walk past the Palais de Chaillot, looking at the gold statues, dodging the souvenir sellers and watching the tower loom larger and larger.
Work your way down to the fountains in the lower half of the gardens (there are paths and small ramps on some of the steps) – over to your right hand side is an antique carousel.
If you want to climb the tower, you can cross over to the Champ de Mars, or head back towards the centre on Avenue de New York, which follows the right bank of the Seine.
At Pont des Invalides, cross Cours de la Reine away from the river to reach the Grand and Petit Palais and the gardens of the Champs Elysees, although it’s hard to believe that thoroughfare is minutes away.
Then pass the Place de la Concorde with its obelisk and the twinkling lights of the huge ferris wheel, into the Jardin des Tuileries created by Catherine de Medici.
The Louvre is at the far side or you can cut back (as I did) to the Rue de Rivoli and several Metro lines (which took us towards back north-east towards La Villette and a wander along Quai de la Loire and Canal St Martin).
Paris buggy walks: Route 2 (north to south)
Begin at the Centre Pompidou and the sculptures in the fountain of Place Stravinsky – probably some of Paris’ most accessible (and brightly coloured) art for toddlers. Follow Rue Renard down towards the Hotel de Ville and cross Pont d’Arcole or Pont Notre Dame onto the Ile de la Cite.
From here, you can head west towards the Conciergerie and stunning Sainte-Chapelle but although I love both, neither struck me as particularly toddler friendly, so we carried on east past Notre Dame itself and across the small bridge to the Ile St Louis for some great views back to the famous church.
Cross Pont de Sully onto the Left Bank, and you can head down the ramps on Quai de la Tournelle or Quai Saint Bernard right onto the banks of the Seine. Continuing east, you come to the Musee de la Sculpture en Plein Air in Jardin Tino Rossi.
Head back up onto Quai Saint Bernard and almost directly opposite you’ll find the Jardin des Plantes, Paris’ botanical gardens including its small zoo or menagerie, as well as the National Museum of Natural History.
Exit onto Rue Cuvier and follow Rue Lacepede (which is unexpectedly hilly) westwards towards the Pantheon – I highly recommend stopping at the boulangerie on Rue de l’Estrapade for a pain aux raisins en route.
Just a little further west are the Luxembourg Gardens with plenty of very welcome benches and deckchairs overlooking the pool in the centre.
If you still have time (which we didn’t) and energy, Saint-Sulpice and the Boulevard Saint-Germain are a few streets north.
This trip, there was no time for Montmartre unfortunately (and I’m faintly dubious about all the lovely cobbled alleys and steps with a buggy) but otherwise, I felt that gave us a flavour of a lot of the city with stops to explore the sights on the way if you wanted.
PIN FOR LATER: TWO PARIS BUGGY WALKS
Images copyright MummyTravels
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I totally agree with you, I try to never take the metro unless absolutely necessary, it’s by walking the backstreets that you get to know the city. I used to go to Paris over 4 times a year with work but haven’t yet taken my son. Your article has certainly made me want to go back. 🙂
Absolutely – the Metro is fantastic for getting across the city, but to explore you really need to be up at street level and wandering. And glad I’m tempting you back!
This post brings me great memories back, and no doubt inspires me for next the weekend, as I will be in Paris again for a few days 😀
#MondayEscapes
Lucky you! Re-reading it, I really want another trip – I always get itchy feet thinking about Paris.
Paris was my home for 10 years and I used to walk all over, I knew it so well. It’s such a great walking city. Found you through #MondayEscapes and hoping you might like to link this or another post on France to my monthy linky #AllAboutFrance
It really is such a great place to wander around – how amazing to have lived there. And thanks for letting me know about the linky, I hadn’t come across it before so have popped a few posts on for this month and will keep my eyes open for the next one too.
Excellent suggestions, they made me miss Paris a lot! I was actually writing a post about it, haha.
Thanks – I definitely get itchy feet to return too. And great minds…!
I love Paris and seeing it by foot is the best way. I did a similar, although not so planned, route when we went a couple of years ago. One of our days there, I thought it was a good idea to have Mrs T in a baby carrier – boy did I have a sore back!! Buggy all the way. You don’t realise how far you walk! #allaboutfrance
Oof, I’m glad I had the buggy to push, I’m not sure I’d have been able to walk again the next day otherwise – but being above ground and wandering the city is such a great way to see it.
I’m happy you linked this post up, Paris is definitely a great walking city. Both my kids were born in Paris so I pushed and hauled buggies around it for years! As well as walking all over I knew which metro stations were easier for buggies than others but having left for 8.5 years now (and both boys LONG out of being pushed around) I couldn’t tell you which ones they are.
Absolutely, you get such a different experience strolling along than constantly up and down the Metro stairs. I do remember from bitter experience that it’s worth avoiding Chatelet Les Halles with a buggy (or just in general!) but was also very pleasantly surprised by how helpful Parisians were in getting the pushchair up and down those stairs, far more so than London…
My favourite city in the world is definitely best seen on foot!
Our first evening, I took Miss 11 and Miss 7 for a walk from our apartment in the 6th through the Latin Quarter and ended up at the Pantheon where we had a lovely view of the top half of the Eiffel Tower. I returned the following night with Miss 11 as on the other side of the Pantheon is the spot where Gil in the movie “Midnight In Paris” met the car that whisked him away to the 1920s.
We also walked from our apartment to the Louvre & Tuileries Gardens. Since my kids are older and there’s no buggy/stroller for us, we can’t walk as long as I would when Im alone.
Gosh now Im thinking back to all the other little walks we did and you’ve inspired me to write a post about it! 🙂 #AllAboutFrance
Would love to see that post – it’s always a trade-off with kids, I think. While I could wander as far as my legs would take me with my daughter in a buggy, I love the idea of going back in half a dozen years and exploring as you have with your girls.
I agree, walking through a city is a fantastic way to see as much as you can. I spent four whole days in Paris recently and I covered over 45 miles on foot (over 100,000 steps!). A beautiful place, I can’t wait to return again one day!
That’s incredible – I did wish I had my pedometer with me, but I don’t think we quite managed such a walk. It is the perfect city to wander around though.