Paris sewer and catacombs tours

[mountaingirl]

Hello out there! My husband and two children ages 11 and 12 are travelling to Paris for a week in August-our first time and we are sooooo excited! We are trying to find some tours that the kids will be keen about and have heard about these two tours-what do you think? Has anyone out there done one or both of these? Also, I've contacted www.paris-walks.com for information. They seem to offer some reasonable and interesting tours. Has anyone out there toured with this outfit? They are willing to put together a tour of the Catacombs and sewers for around 250 Euros-seems expensive...what do I know? Just a girl from the mountains of beautiful British Columbia, Canada!

[Jody]

Sounds terribly expensive. Might I suggest you contact Michael Osman at [e-mail]. He will take your whole group out for all day for a way less that that and take you anywhere you want to go. He's also great with children, I've never heard anything but good about his tours. He'll stay with you until you beg for mercy. He willcustom design your tour. Darcy and I love him. Even though we both have been to Paris numerous times it's always a treat to explore something new with Michael. He has a website , I don't have the address handy but will post it for you later.


Here you go!

www.geocities.com/parisfinder/index.html

[PariS]

I've been to the catacombs. Since you're asking, you must think your kids would be interested--so go! It's dark and creepy, and just the sort of thing many kids would find very cool. Admission on it's own, not through a tour, is very reasonable (under 10€) compared to the Paris Walks price you've gotten. Have fun planning your trip! How lucky your children are to be going for the first time at such a great age! Welcome to the forum--feel free to ask anything!

[PariS]

You might also look into the segway tours and bike tours offered here:

citysegwaytours.com/paris

fattirebiketours.com/paris

We took our family on the segway tour when we took them several years ago, and it was the highlight of their trip.

[Truffaut]

Hi, Mountain. I'm glad you found the forum and I know you're going to find lots of great info in preparation for your stay with us. That price for the sewer/catacombs tour is outrageous! The entry fee for each is maybe $10 (US) per person and they're both completely self-guided tours. There's so much information available on this forum and in various travel books, there's really no reason to pay for overpriced guided tours. I would recommend, however, that when touring museums you consider spending a little extra to get the audio tour guides. They can really make a tour much more interesting--especially as most French museums and other sites don't have a lot of labels translated into other languages.

Doug "Truffaut"

[mountaingirl]

Thanks for the quick responses...I am enjoying the process of researching ideas for our week in Paris. I'll keep asking questions...thanks for enlightening me! The tour truly did seem ridiculously expensive...glad to hear from 'those in the know."
Mountaingirl

[joan1]

Hi Mountaingirl,,

I have taken my 14 yr old son to Paris, and my 12 yr daughter, two seperate trips. Are you kids boys or girls?
My 14 yr old loved the Catacombs, my dd chose not to visit them at all. You have to take personalities into account.

I thnk there is an age limit for segaways, so I would research that first before mentioniing it to kids, wouldn't want to get their hopes up.. I think it is 12..but check.

That fee for tour is absolutely ridiculous, but I wonder, is that an all day tour that includes those two sites along with others, and is that for all four of you? The company does do good tours, our Family tour of Louvre was conducted by Paris Walks, the guides name was Iris I believe, and she did a wonderful job showing off the highlights of that massive museum in a way that was interesting to the children in our group. I had been to Louvre at leasst 6 or 7 times before and still found I learned alot from her .

My kids both enjoyed climbing the Towers at Notre Dame, get there EARLY, at least 20 minutes before the Towers open( check website , they list times) . The church line may look long but it moves quickly, the line for the Tower moves slowly as they only let 20 people up at a time( stairs are narrow and windy).
My son loved climbing the stairs at the ET,, we did this to avoid the long line for elevators( still waited 20 minutes though) but the view was very neat going through the legs so to speak . Don't bother if your kids are whiners about physical activities, it is doable my almost anyone,, but it is a long hike up( but stairs are wide so you can stop and rest and people can pass you) .
Boat ride down river is fun for kids.

If your kids like biking the day bike tour by Fat Tire would be fun. we did the night tour,, but it ends very late, after 11 pm, so a bit late for an 11 yr old I would think,, we also did Versailles by bike and liked that, but , you can just rent bikes at Versailles to tour grounds also.

[gertie]

It has been some years but my daughter was 11 when we went to Paris the first time. Naturally she had a great time at Euro Disney. She loved the Eiffel Tower, the carousels scattered about - we spent a long time searching for one with a giraffe and finally found it! -, having tea in a tea house, wandering in the market at Versailles, climbing Notre Dame (we had breakfast at the cafe across the street from where the line forms just to be certain to be there early), seeing the evidence of the Roman Baths in the Cluny, and we agreed we liked the windows and atmosphere in St Severin more than inside Nortre Dame. The boat trip on the Seine was a big hit, too, and we loved the hot chocolate. My daughter adored the milk they gave her for her cereal where we stayed and tells me she craves it now she is all grown up and expecting!