What a teenager might like to see outside Paris?

[3kids4me]

For our last day in France, I'm thinking of arranging a private tour, being picked up from our hotel, taken on the tour, and then dropped off at the hotel near the airport where we will be staying the night before we depart. Versailles would probably be perfect for this, except that I think my daughter might find a whole day in Versailles to be a bit boring, especially after all of the castles and towers we will have already seen in London.

Can anyone suggest another fun trip instead?

Thank you for any guidance!!

 

[brigechols]

Versailles is not boring and the city itself is fabulous. Even if you do not tour the palace, the gardens at Versailles are incredible and provide a perfect backdrop for a picnic lunch. Lots of terrific restaurants and quaint shops in the city.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Carnac stones in Brittany. I did that years ago - you can still walk around these monoliths. And there are thousands of them. Then, go to a village cafe for hot apple cider and crepes - salt crepes have meat and sweet crepes are for desserts.

 

[MommaBear]

I second Versailles. Have your daughter see the movie with Kirsten Dunst- Marie Antoinette before you go. It will really impress her when she is there live.

 

[Corinne]

Versailles...meh. Went with my daughter a few years ago...she was eleven then. I think we were both a little bored.

What else is on your itinerary? Maybe I can suggest something else if I know what you've already got planned.

If you do go, plan on arriving early so you can beat the rush. The lines get reallllly long.

-Corinne

 

[northwoodsgal]

Versailles looks so different that English castles that there's no comparison. Absolutely impressive. We took our three kids when they were all teens and no one was bored. You can't imagine the scale of it until you're there. Have she had European history in school yet?

 

[Pompey Family]

Stuff Versailles. She's a teenager, take her to Parc Asterix she'll have a much better time! Travelling's not all about historic sights, have some fun. If I were a teenager and was offered the choice I know which one I'd go for.

 

[hibbeln]

Does she like history? Art?
Spend the day shopping?
Go to Honfleur? Cute town, not too far (you could do it yourself).
Rouen?
Mont St. Michel....this is one of those iconic places that you see on every postcard, so it is very cool to be able to say "I've been there". My kids loved it (though the oldest was in 6th grade then). We didn't do it with a guide, just poked around on our own. Also it was spring so it wasn't TOO crowded yet. But you could mix this with other sights in the area if you have a guide. Maybe do a quick circuit of D-Day sites, American Cemetary, or even some WWII cemetaries that are in the immediate area (we stopped at a German one on our own, then did a formal all day tour the next day of the D-Day sights in Normandy). Certainly if you said "Let's go to Mont St. Michel and maybe see some things near there or on the way" they could come up with something great!

 

[hibbeln]

I agree that Versailles might not be the best option if you've been to lots of castles and palaces already.....my kids can go in to overload also. The one thing we liked about Versailles was the historical aspect of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. My kids thought it was cool to be where that occured (and to be standing where the photo in every history book was taken) but besides that it wasn't a total home run. But we were also there in February so the gardens were a no-go. If you think she'd have fun bicycling around the gardens on a nice day.....

 

[hibbeln]

Chartres?
(Just throwing out random ideas)

 

[hibbeln]

http://goparis.about.com/od/sightsattractions/tp/Paris_day_trips.htm

 

[vacationhopeful]

Chartres?
(Just throwing out random ideas)

Been there. Quaint old town. Very nice cathredral with historic rose window.

 

[stmartinfan]

Euro Disney? After all the historic, ancient stuff, it might be fun to see something that's just pure fun. (And even a tad educational, to see how something so American translates to France.)

 

[colamedia]

I was about to say Disneyland Paris and someone beat me to it (though it hasn't been Euro Disney for quite a while)

The bragging rights that she's been to Disneyland Paris will be worth more than any other option once she gets back to her friends. Versailles won't mean much, and other historical places won't have any mileage at home.

 

[hibbeln]

I just asked my teen sons.....thinking back on 2 trips to France they said Mont St. Michel and the D-Day Beaches and the Bayeux Tapestry (all in Normandy) were their favorites by far!

 

[3kids4me]

Thanks everyone.

Disneyland Paris might be a fun surprise for the last day! Right now I'm trying to figure out how to manage the issue of getting our luggage from one hotel to another that day...we are going to stay right next to the airport for the last night before we leave Paris. My first thought was that it would be a good day to schedule a private tour of somewhere, and that way we could be picked up at our first hotel, toured, and then dropped off at the other one, but I really can't think of anywhere where we would really need that kind of service!!

 

[helenbarnett1963]

another vote for Euro Disney!

if you do Euro Disney, stay at one of the resort hotels overnight and go to the airport in the morning for your flight - the hotel should be able to keep your luggage for the day whilst you are at the park and you can pop back to check-in later in the day.

We did similar last year. We were in Paris for a couple of days and did a surprise day at the parks before our flight home.
We stayed at the Hotel Cheyenne (basic, but cheap!) and it was 15 minutes walk from the park entrances through the Disney Village to the hotel.
The next morning we had an 8.30 flight, so we pre-booked a taxi from the hotel to the airport, we were picked up at 6am and the journey to CDG was about 40 minutes (would be longer when roads are busy later in the day).

Helen

 

[3kids4me]

Hi Helen,

I really want to stay at the airport that last night, because I don't like the worry about getting there on time, taxi not showing up, etc. It looks like there is a train from CDG to Disneyland Paris that only takes 10 minutes, could that be right? (Of course, then I have to worry about making that last train as well....)

 

[Pompey Family]

Yes, the train is very convenient. The station is right at the entrance to the park and the train leaves from terminal 2 at CDG. The journey takes about 10 minutes.

In my opinion this is your best bet. Trains run frequently and there's no need to worry about taxi's, buses etc. As long as you leave the park in time it should be relatively hassle free.

 

[Glynda]

Trains

Unless they're on strike!

My teenager was bored with Versailles. What she remembers as being cool in Paris was the Catacombs with all the skeletons and the Turkish toilets at the Marche aux Puces. We did a day trip to the Loire Valley and visited some homes there that she was just so so about.

 

[MaryH]

When are you going?

Not sure about the tastes of teenagers.

Things I like are Versailles, Cheateau du Fontainbleu, I liked Lille when I was there.

A way out option is to go to CDG and leave your luggage at the hotel then take TGV to Brussels for the day. It is only 1.5 or so hrs by train from CDG.
Brussels has a small and compact city center that could be done for a day trip if needed.

Another TGV trip option is Lyon... A medieval town and some nice restaurants and a nice food market.

Was in paris recently and had dinner with friends and they said there have been a lot of strikes recently.

 

[spencersmama]

How old is your teen? I have my kids, 12 and 15 this year, do some research and choose their top place to visit or activity to do in the area we are visiting. It gives them buy-in for the trip and they sometimes come up with fun and unique ideas. sometimes they are interested in seeing things they learned about in a class or saw on a show.

 

[icul8rg8r]

Why not have her look over the guidebooks and pick out what she'd like to do that day? It may surprise you! My folks always allowed each of us (and there were 5 of us) to plan one of our vacation days -- SO MUCH FUN! No pouty kids (especially teenagers)!

 

[beejaybee]

Great Advice

Why not have her look over the guidebooks and pick out what she'd like to do that day? It may surprise you! My folks always allowed each of us (and there were 5 of us) to plan one of our vacation days -- SO MUCH FUN! No pouty kids (especially teenagers)!

To add to this, you might want to bookmark 3 or 4 of the suggestions mentioned here so that she doesn't have to wade thru the entire guidebook. (But do encourage her to check out other options that you might have missed.)