Things to do in Paris for teenager : 21 great tips

Is the quick not “epic” or “swag” enough? These Things to do in Paris For Teenager will make happy. The best neighborhoods to see, the coolest things to do!

 

The Montmartre district: Instagram heaven

The high Montmartre is one of the most photogenic neighborhoods in Paris. With stunning views, beautiful streets and lots of hip street art. Even the too touristy artist’s square Place du Tertre is well suited to most teenagers. You can get immortalized by a portrait artist and there are ridiculously cheap souvenirs in the stores around the square.

Tip: It is best to start your visit to Montmartre at Place des Abbesses (metro stop of the same name). This way you avoid the area right under the Sacré Coeur (Boulevard de Pigalle), because that is the red light district of Paris and it is a bit less picturesque. Also, you have a lot of baggers there.

 

Berges de Seine: hanging out by the water.

A must with teenagers in Paris is a few hours strolling or scooting along the banks of the Seine. Down on the quays, where Paris Plage takes place in summer, there are now terraces and places to sit, play and hang out all year round. Chill atmosphere and there is always something to do! On the right bank you can descend next to the town hall (Hôtel de Ville). On the left bank at the level of Musée d’Orsay and Invalides.

 

Modern art with a view of the Eiffel Tower

Centre Pompidou, the famous museum next to the Marais, has a nice permanent collection of modern art (including Matisse, Picasso, Dubuffet). The colorful building is also already a draw, with its with beautiful views from the escalators. Artists from the same period (1905-1960) are in the Musée de l’Art Moderne (MAM), which overlooks the Eiffel Tower. While one door down, the Palais de Tokyo shows pretty hip contemporary art, such as provocative video art and installations.

 

Tip: From the back of these two latter museums, you can take the best selfies with the Eiffel Tower. And a little further on, Trocadéro, the square with large statues right in front of the tower, is also a well-known photo spot.

 

Strolling and shopping in the Marais

The Marais, with its photogenic Place des Vosges, is another neighborhood that generally makes teenagers happy. There are many hip young clothing stores and trendy concept stores, such as Merci and Autour du Monde (where you can score Bensimon sneakers; read here which French sneaker brands are even hotter). There is also a fun food market reminiscent of London (Le Marché des Enfants Rouges) and the neighborhood has many crêperies, sandwich stores and falafel tents.

 

Tip: Avoid Sundays if you have the choice, that’s when the Marais is the busiest. Saturdays are already better.

 

Creeping in the catacombs

It’s pretty gruesome, all those skulls and charnels underground, but most young people love a visit to the dark catacombs of Paris. There’s plenty to see and shudder at, you can read more about it here!

 

Also read: Honeymoon in France Package

 

Rummaging around at the big department stores

Printemps Haussmann and Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Hausmann have extensive sections for teenagers and at both department stores you can also step onto the roof terrace for a view. Just behind Printemps is Citadium. This department store concentrates on street style clothing brands, so expect endless amounts of jeans, sneakers, sweaters and T-shirts. By the way, there’s also a brand new Galeries Lafayette on the Champs-Elysées, with an extra young and fashionable slant.

 

Tasting French pastries

Schedule a stop at one of Paris’ better pastry stores for a sampling round of macarons, Paris-Brest or Saint-Honoré. Or plan B , if you don’t have time for a detour: get some madeleines, éclairs or a bag of chouquettes (dry puffs with sugar granules) from a corner bakery. Also always a great success!

 

To the floating street art museum

On the Seine you can also go to Fluctuart, the first floating museum in Paris! This museum boat has small exhibitions by famous international street artists, who often come to create special work on site.  The museum café will also appeal to teenagers: the menu there is pasted on empty spray cans and skateboards. That’s pretty cool of course.

 

Read also: Cheap Trip to Spain

 

Shopping in Rue de Rennes

The above mentioned large department stores are located on the right bank of Paris. If you’re in the chic district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés on the left bank, then you should especially dive into Rue de Rennes with teenagers. There you will find many affordable brands such as Naf Naf, Kookai, Zara, Havaianas, Undiz, Monoprix, Uniqlo, Pimkie and many shoe stores.

 

Tip: Just off Rue de Rennes is also one of the budget pharmacies in Paris, where you can get skin care products from brands like Vichy, Avène, Nuxe and La Roche-Posay for cheap.

 

Boat ride on the Bassin de la Villette

If the weather is nice you can rent an electric boat with your family on a well-known canal on the northeast side of the city. You don’t need a license and via the Canal d’Ourq you can even sail out of town for a while. Pass by large graffiti ‘s on the walls along the quay, until it suddenly looks surprisingly rural.

 

Tip: After the cruise, go for a drink at the lovely Pavillon des Canaux, a hip cafe-lunch restaurant at the water’s edge. It’s decorated like a sort of Pippi Longstocking house and you can even eat a sandwich in the bathtub!

 

Horror tours in Paris.

Dutch guide Rachella Kingswijk gives tours of the “darkest” places in Paris. During her Freaky Tours (from 11/12 years of age) she tells exciting stories about serial killers and devil worshippers. Can’t your teenagers be horror enough? Then there’s Le Manoir de Paris, an advanced haunted house….

 

Discovering the Louvre with a Nintendo

The Louvre museum has an English-language tour by Nintendo DS, which you can get at the entrance. The Egyptian, Greek and Mesopotamian halls especially capture the imagination. And there is also a Highlights tour, passing, among others, the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Niké (no not the sneakers 🙂 of Samothrace. More tips for the Louvre with kids

 

 

Eating French hamburgers

Good news for picky teens: burgers have been the big fashion in Paris for several years. And especially le burger of level: made with good French (AOC) beef, freshly baked buns, homemade ketchup… Well-known restaurants with multiple addresses in Paris include: Mamie Burger, Blend, Big Ferdinand and Le Camion qui Fume. So look forward to it!

 

Taking selfies at Musée Grévin

Musée Grévin, the Parisian wax museum dating back to 1885, has been around almost as long as its English counterpart Madame Tussauds. In addition to international celebrities like Clooney and Obama, here you also stand face to face with French stars. From footballer Mbappé and rapper Maitre Gimms to Edith Piaf and President Macron.

 

Tip: Afterwards, visit the beautiful Passage Jouffroy, the 19th-century shopping arcade where you suddenly find yourself when you leave the wax museum.

 

Read also: 20 Things To Do in Paris Tonight (Restaurant, Bar, Nightclub)

 

See cool art and architecture at Fondation Louis Vuitton

Fondation Louis Vuitton is a beautiful modern museum on the outskirts of Paris that looks like a giant glass cloud or ship. Young Instagrammers can get their grams here too: particularly photogenic building! There is no permanent collection, only temporary, large-scale exhibitions on impressionism, pop art or contemporary art.

Tip: Take an Uber or use the museum’s own shuttle bus (leaving at the Arc de Triomphe), as this museum is quite far from a metro stop. Skipe-the-line tickets incl. shuttle bus

 

Games and pinball machines in a large arcade

Is it raining? Not far from the big department stores on Boulevard Haussmann is a giant arcade: La Tête dans les Nuages. With computer games, racing games, table soccer, a mini-bowling and games for different ages. So younger siblings will also be entertained here for a while.

 

A bite to eat in the hip food halls of Paris

La Félicità. That’s the name of the gigantic food hall with several bars and restaurants that opened in 2018 in the southeast of Paris. Not very central, but it looks beautiful so it’s easy to linger there for a while.

 

Tip: Preferably go during the week, on weekends you often have to wait a long time here.

 

Visit the Stade de France

Soccer fans will be delighted by a tour of the most famous stadium in Paris, where you can explore the dressing rooms, skyboxes, players’ tunnel and stands. You’ll see jerseys of famous footballers, rugby players and also photos of the many stars who performed here. Also, the Stade de France is of course a bit out of the center, but you can get there with the RER (kind of metro).

 

Fashion exhibitions and museums

In fashion city Paris there are regularly great exhibitions of famous designers and fashion houses. These usually take place in Musée des Arts décoratifs, a side wing of the Louvre. Or in Palais Galliera, the fashion museum near Trocadéro and the Eiffel Tower. If there’s nothing at these two addresses during your visit to Paris, you can always go to the small but fine Musée Yves Saint-Laurent, too.

 

Bike tour of the highlights of Paris

A bike ride along the most famous spots in Paris is also a lot of fun! We have had good experiences with Paris by Bike, which organizes Dutch tours on real Dutch granny bikes. Of course, you can also improvise a bike tour yourself with the Vélib city bikes, which you can rent everywhere on the street with a credit card.

 

Chill out in Jardin du Luxembourg

… or in the park of the Tuileries, in Buttes-Chaumont, the Jardin du Palais Royal. Parks always do well with kids! (And with teenagers, it probably helps if you tell them that the parks in Paris have free Wifi…! :- )