Traveling in a large urban area like Paris can be exhausting, especially with children, but fortunately the city has a robust transit system to help get around quickly and easily. I want to share our own personal experience traveling Paris by public transit with children. It can feel daunting but I will tell you, if we can do it so can you too!

The Basics

Paris has a Metro (subway) as well as a RER (regional trains) transport system. The transit system is huge and can get you around the city quickly. Most people do not have a need for a car when arriving in Paris even if you plan to do a day trip outside of the city as you can take local and express trains to different parts of France and other areas of Europe quite easily. There is a map of the transportation system available at most of the stations as well as online.

Arriving from Charles de Gaulle Airport

After the long flight over to France, the anticipation for beginning your vacation can finally be over. You are here! But how do you get into the city?

After you go through customs and retrieve your bags from baggage claim. You have a few different options to get into the city. You can hail a taxi, get a rental vehicle or take public transport into the city center.

We have only rented a car at this airport once and that was when my wife and I were traveling to the western part of France. We have never driven a car in Paris itself before but from what we have heard and seen you really don’t want to as traffic can be horrendous. Taking a taxi would be an option too, but can be quite expensive and you may still have to deal with traffic.

Taking public transit has been the only way my wife and I have gotten into the city and that is with or without kids. It is fairly inexpensive to purchase a ticket to get where you want in Paris and you can get brought directly to the area you would like to go within an hour or so.

Taking the RER B line into Paris

You can follow the signs for RER B to getting to transit area after leaving baggage claim. Prior to boarding the train, you will need to purchase your tickets at kiosks to go into the city. After getting your tickets, you can then go through the turnstiles to get to the train. We had our daughter in a stroller and were able to go through a separate accessible lane to get through the turnstile area. You will then have to descend stairs to get to the train platform, but there are also elevators to go down to the boarding area as well. Make sure to keep your ticket handy as you will be required to use it again to exit the train/metro station once you arrive at your final destination.

Once you get to track area, I would look at the transit map to know where you are for sure headed in Paris to be able to plan accordingly. The RER B (Blue) line runs pretty much directly south through Paris and has a few stations that are right in the center of the city (Gare du Nord, Chatelet-Les Halles, St-Michel Notre-Dame, and Luxembourg). Some of those stations also connect to Metro lines to be able to get to other parts of Paris easily.

Express vs. Local Train

There are 2 different trains, the local or the express, to potentially take into central Paris. We have taken both trains but the one that I would definitely recommend to take, especially with kids, is the express train. This may seem like a no-brainer but the local train may be leaving sooner when you arrive at the boarding platform and after a long flight you may be tempted to take first train that is departing. Please watch the trains carefully as we have made the mistake of taking the local train on a Monday morning, which can get extremely congested with commuters, and almost be too difficult to even move around as people are trying to board the train at the different stops.

Using the Metro with Children

As I have mentioned, using the Metro can be very convenient to get around Paris quickly and easily. You can purchase tickets from a vendor at some stations or pay at a kiosk as well. There are reduced and free fares depending on your child’s age. For children under age 4, they can travel free as long as they do not occupy a seat. For children between 4-9, they can travel at a 50% discount on single tickets (or ticket packs which are currently being phased out).

When traveling with a little one in a stroller, keep in mind that many Metro stations are not accessible by elevator and may require you to fold up your stroller and carry it up or down stairs to reach the train. This can be challenging, especially when arriving from the airport with luggage, or after a long day of sightseeing and shopping. There are resources online to find an accessible route within the Paris metro/RER. This website will also show which stations do not currently have functioning elevators. It’s worth noting that Paris has been slowly upgrading its metro system to make it more accessible, and Metro Line 14 is now fully accessible.

To make getting around Paris easier with a stroller, consider purchasing a compact, easy-to-fold stroller such as the gb Pockit+ all terrain stroller. You can read my blog post to learn more about our experience using the gb Pockit+ stroller and what we loved about traveling with it!

Staying near the RER lines

After traveling to Paris a few times, we have found that if you choose to stay near the RER lines it can it a lot more convenient when arrive from the airport as well as on your departure day. Since the RER lines are commuter lines, they will have elevators and escalators available to make hauling your luggage around so much easier.

In the past we have stayed at hotels where we have needed to change from the RER line to a Metro line to get to it. This has been really stressful as we have found out that we need to carry our heavy suitcases up and down numerous flights of stairs and around large crowds of people. Not very much fun at all especially when you are on vacation!

When traveling with children, we have found staying near the RER lines can make it that much easier to manage those arrival and departure days. The Hotel Residence Henri IV was a perfect option for us when we stayed with our toddler in Paris as it was only about a 10 minute walk to the nearest RER B station. This station had elevator access which worked out well for us especially with luggage and stroller we had with us.

The Bottom Line

Overall it is very doable to make your way throughout Paris with children in tow. Utilizing public transit can make good use of your time as it can make it easier to get from one locale to another safely and quickly. If you have an upcoming trip to Paris or you are starting to plan one, I would also definitely consider staying near a RER station to hopefully help make the trip less stressful on travel days. This will also allow you to access the expansive Paris transport system with ease.

Have you traveled to Paris with your kiddos before? What did you learn from your experience? Do you have any tips to share for other families planning a trip to this beautiful city? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!