Paris in July with kids means school’s out and many Parisians have decamped for les grandes vacances. Now is the perfect time to get outside – parks and playgrounds are in full swing but there are also plenty of events and activities happening across the city worth checking out. Here are my top picks for things to do with kids in Paris this month.
- 1. Ride the Summer Funfair at the Tuileries Gardens
- 2. Save the Galaxy at The Edge Virtual Reality
- 3. Cool Off at Aquaboulevard Water Park
- 4. Enter Bubble Planet at La Villette
- 5. Climb the Trees on an Accrobranche Course
- 6. Watch Movies Under the Stars at La Villette’s Open-Air Cinema
- 7. Catch Summer Concerts at Jardin d'Acclimatation
- 8. Go Fruit Picking at Ferme de Gally
- 9. Celebrate Bastille Day on 14 July
- 10. Catch the Tour de France in Paris on 27 July
1. Ride the Summer Funfair at the Tuileries Gardens
The Tuileries Festival is back from 21 June to 24 August 2025, turning the gardens between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde into a 60-ride playground. Little ones can whirl on carousels, hook plastic ducks, bounce on trampolines, and race down slides. Bigger kids brave the swinging, spinning thrill rides or test their aim at penalty-shoot stalls. Don’t miss the Grande Roue de Paris, a giant Ferris wheel that now serves up front-row views of the Olympic cauldron. Yes, that hot-air-balloon-style flame left over from the Games.
Entry’s free; you just pay for rides. Food stalls dish out cotton candy, churros, waffles, and candy apples, so sugar highs are sorted. Evenings are cooler and extra wow-worthy when the wheel rises above the treetops and the Louvre pyramids, Eiffel Tower lights, and Olympic flame all twinkle in one sweep. If the kids can hang on till about 9.30pm, stick around to watch the cauldron ignite and float 60 metres into the air. There is no ticket needed, so just grab a spot before sunset and enjoy the show.
Address: Jardin des Tuileries
Opening hours: Daily from 21 June until 24 August 2025
Tickets: Entrance is free but each attraction requires a ticket (prices vary by ride).
2. Save the Galaxy at The Edge Virtual Reality
The Edge VR’s “Ganymede” in Marais is a fully immersive virtual-reality escape adventure that lasts about an hour from check-in to finish. After a brief preshow, each player puts on a headset, handheld controllers and a haptic vest that blasts heat, wind and floor vibrations, making the 45 minutes spent roaming a space station in 2360 feel uncannily real. Teams of two, three or four hunt for missing scientists while puzzles and hazards adapt on the fly to the group’s skill level, thanks to live gamemasters and fourteen VR stations. The experience is open to anyone aged ten and over who stands at least 1.20 metres tall, and players under sixteen must come with an adult. Sessions run in French, English or German.
Address: 60 Notre Dame de Nazareth St, 75003, Paris.
Tickets: €88 for 2 tickets or €44 per person. The minimum number of players is two so a parent/friend can come along. Buy your tickets here.
3. Cool Off at Aquaboulevard Water Park
Aquaboulevard claims the title of Europe’s largest urban water park, squeezing 7,000 m² of aquatic fun into Paris’s 15th arrondissement. Inside you’ll find wave pools, counter-current rivers, 11 giant slides, including the 100-metre twin Aquamikaze chutes. There is also the Wake Box, where you can carve across a powerful artificial wave on a short water-ski run. Little ones aren’t left out – there’s a shallow toddler pool and pint-sized slides (access starts at age 3). Outdoors, a 4,000 m² sand beach, lawns, terraces and sun-beds open from late spring through summer, giving families a place to relax between rides.
Children under three aren’t admitted, and anyone under 12 must stay with an adult. Most big slides require riders to be at least 1.20 m tall. Proper swimwear is compulsory – boys must wear tight-fitting swim briefs or boxers. Remember to bring a €2 coin for the lockers.
Address: 4-6, rue Louis Armand, 75015, Paris
Opening hours: Daily, open weekdays from 9am and weekends from 8am until 11pm-12pm.
Tickets: Day passes cost €44 for those aged 12 + and €25 for children aged 3–11. Anyone under 12 must enter with an adult, and under-threes are not admitted. Buy your tickets here.
4. Enter Bubble Planet at La Villette
La Villette’s big-top pavilion has been transformed into Bubble Planet, an immersive world of ten bubble-themed zones that aims to awaken all five senses. Visitors wander from floor-to-ceiling foam pits and soap-film tunnels to an iridescent “infinity room,” a swirling “bubble bath,” and a gallery of giant shimmering spheres. A hyper-realistic hot-air-balloon simulator and other virtual-reality set-pieces give the feeling of floating through a bubble-filled sky. Children under ten flock to the bubble-blowing lab, where staff demonstrate how to create perfect soap spheres, while older kids race straight for the airy VR balloon ride. Near the exit, a cotton-candy station lets kids spin their own barbe à papa, sending everyone off in a sugar-dusted haze. The one-hour experience is suitable for kids of all ages. Remember that socks are required to access the foam bath.
Address: Espace Chapiteaux, La Villette – Quai de la Charente, 75019 Paris
Dates: Daily, until 13 August 2025
Tickets: Start at €16.90 for ages 13 and up and €12.90 for children aged 3–12. Prices vary by date and time under a dynamic-pricing model. Buy your tickets here.
5. Climb the Trees on an Accrobranche Course
If your kids crave height, speed and a healthy dose of adrenaline, an accrobranche session, essentially a treetop obstacle course, ticks every box. This activity is hugely popular in France, and you’ll find centres offering it all over the country. Each park strings a mix of zip-lines, rope bridges, cargo nets and “Tarzan” swings between platforms secured high in the canopy. Climbers click into a continuous belay cable, so you stay clipped on from start to finish.
Paris proper has just one site: Évasion Verte in the Parc Floral, tucked inside the Bois de Vincennes in the 12th arrondissement. Here, four colour-coded circuits start at beginner platforms barely two metres up and rise to zips that whip across woodland clearings. Children can join from age six, but most parents clip in too and end up shouting encouragement or squealing right alongside their kids. The fee covers gloves, a harness and a thorough safety briefing. Cafés, toilets and shaded lawns sit a few minutes’ walk away in the main park, so you can linger after un-clipping.
Every other treetop adventure park sits outside the city, dotted around the Île-de-France countryside. Our favourite one is Ecopark Bièvres, south-west of Paris, that weaves several progressively higher routes beneath centuries-old oaks and takes climbers from 1.10 m tall (about 5 years old). Your ticket here is valid for the whole day and plenty of picnic tables ring the base. Here, the routes are split into three tickets:
- Mini Aventure: 2 courses aimed at ages 4-6 finding their footing
- Petite Aventure: 6 courses aimed at ages 5+ exploring 1-10 metre high structures
- Grande Aventure: 11 courses aimed at ages 10+ exploring 1-30 meter high structures.
6. Watch Movies Under the Stars at La Villette’s Open-Air Cinema
From 23 July to 17 August, Parc de la Villette spreads a giant screen across the Prairie du Triangle and invites cinephiles to sprawl on blankets, unfold deckchairs and picnic under the dusk sky. New for 2025, the programme splits into two daily sessions. There are family-friendly films screen at 6pm, while the main feature now starts at 9pm. This is a free event, subject to capacity limits. This year’s line-up spins around dance and music and the full program is available here.
Bring a blanket or your own chairs. Food trucks line the grass, but picnics are welcome. Even in July, the temperature can drop fast after sunset, so pack jumpers. Deckchairs can be rented for €6 and must be booked online on the same day. The deckchair ticketing opens at 4pm and closes at 10pm. Deckchairs are not issued for the 6pm children’s sessions, only for the later 9pm screenings.
July line-up
- Wed 23 Jul Ballerina (18:00)
- Thu 24 Jul Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages (18:00)
- Fri 25 Jul Sing 2 (21:00)
- Sat 26 Jul Happy Feet (21:00)
- Sun 27 Jul The Wizard of Oz (21:00)
- Wed 30 Jul Minuscule 2: Les mandibules du bout du monde (18:00)
- Thu 31 Jul Annie (21:00)
Address: Prairie du Triangle, Parc de la Villette, 75019, Paris
Dates: 23 July – 17 August 2025
Tickets: Free
7. Catch Summer Concerts at Jardin d’Acclimatation
For a perfect family day out this July in warm weather, head to Paris’s only amusement park, Jardin d’Acclimatation, tucked away in the Bois de Boulogne. Open year-round, the park features over 40 rides and attractions, including carousels, pony rides, a mini-zoo, puppet shows, a splash park, and some of the best playgrounds in the city. There is plenty to keep kids (and parents) happily entertained all day long.
From 11 June to 29 July 2025 the park adds music to the mix, hosting twenty open-air concerts by 1,500 young performers drawn from high schools and universities in the United States, England, Picardy and Paris. Entry to the grounds covers both the performances and all the usual park spaces. You can upgrade to a day wristband if the kids want unlimited rides.
July concert dates:
- Wednesday 4 July – Wisconsin Orchestra: fanfare pieces and contemporary music
- Saturday 12 July – Iowa Orchestra: American jazz standards
- Monday 14 July – Utah Orchestra: a blend of classical, jazz, and modern works
- Tuesday 29 July – Berkshire Juniors: orchestral favourites with harmony, jazz, and rock
Address: Bois de Boulogne, Carrefour des Sablons, Paris, 75116
Dates: The park is open all year-round. The music concerts run from 11 June to 29 July 2025.
Tickets: €7 entry fee gives access to the entire park (minus attractions) and the music concerts. A 1 Day Pass with unlimited access to the park and attractions costs €48 for adults and children taller than 80cm. Free for children shorter than 80cm. Buy your tickets here.
8. Go Fruit Picking at Ferme de Gally
Just outside Paris, Ferme de Gally lets families head into the countryside, grab a trolley and pick their own fruit, veg and flowers straight from the soil. July is prime berry season, so expect rows bursting with raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants and late cherries. There is also a vegetable plot where kids can tug up carrots and all sorts of vegetables. A separate flower patch invites you to cut stems for a make-your-own bouquet before you roll everything back to be weighed.
Check the farm’s website on the day; it posts a live “what’s ripe” list so you know exactly what to hunt for. Next door, younger children can meet goats, sheep and rabbits in the animal farm, while a huge garden centre sells indoor and outdoor plants, tools and even offers a crêperie for post-picking treats. Wear old trainers, aim for an early slot while the fields are cool, and let the kids discover where their snacks really come from.
Ferme de Gally runs three open farms—Saint-Cyr-l’École, Sartrouville, and Saint-Denis—so you can pick the spot closest to home. The flagship site at Saint-Cyr-l’École spreads over four hectares and mixes orchards with a barnyard full of donkeys, hens, cows, pigs, and sheep. Each farm adds extra activities for kids and there are regular workshops on farm basics like kneading bread, pressing apple juice, or churning butter.
9. Celebrate Bastille Day on 14 July
Bastille Day, known as “La Fête Nationale” (French National Day) or, more commonly, Le Quatorze Juillet (July 14) in France, is a really great day to be in Paris for. It marks the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison, a pivotal event that sparked the French Revolution. Read more about Bastille Day celebrations in Paris here.
The day begins with a huge morning military parade on the Champs-Élysées. Arrive at least an hour early if you want a spot along the route or a distant glimpse of the president. Festivities move to the Champ-de-Mars at about 9pm. A free orchestral concert sets the mood and at 11 p.m. the sky explodes: a 30-minute show of fireworks, lasers, and a drone ballet launches from the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro gardens. Best views are from the Champ-de-Mars or the Trocadéro steps across the river. However, you can also watch the fireworks anywhere along the Seine River in either direction from Trocadéro, or pre-book a river cruise.
Pack snacks, water, and a light jacket; July nights cool down fast. Expect heavy security and closed metro exits, so plan on extra walking. Note that the Eiffel Tower shuts all day on 14 July and usually reopens at 2pm on the 15th. With a little planning, you’ll catch Paris’s biggest party of the year – sparkle, boom, and all.
10. Catch the Tour de France in Paris on 27 July
Stage 21 of the 2025 Tour de France reaches Paris on Sunday, 27 July. The riders climb Montmartre three times before heading to the Champs-Élysées for the final sprint. For kids, the day is as much carnival as cycling. The publicity caravan floats tossing hats, key rings and sweets, rolling through Montmartre at about 2pm. Arrive earlier to grab pavement on rue Lepic or rue des Abbesses. The riders themselves should appear roughly two hours later, and you’ll see them flash past three times before they roll downhill to the Champs-Élysées circuits.
Once the racers leave Montmartre, hop on Line 12 to Concorde and catch the final circuits along the Champs-Élysées. If the crowds feel overwhelming, stay put and watch the sprint finish on the big screens set up near the Sacré-Cœur. Either way, you’ll witness the world’s most-watched bike race and give the kids a front-row lesson in French sporting culture.
What’s your favourite thing to do in Paris?
July is such a beautiful time of year to be in Paris. I hope these ideas inspire you to explore the city as a family. Share your favourite places and activities to discover in Paris this July in the comments below!
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