When we think about a Disney theme park, most Americans conjure up images of Orlando or Anaheim. When you live in Europe, there’s an additional option to add to the list, Disneyland Paris (often referred to as Euro Disney).

We visited Paris Disney over New Year’s weekend to celebrate our son’s 8th birthday. After living in Switzerland for 5 months, we all wanted a dose of something familiar. Admittedly, I don’t associate a Disney visit with …

I asked two Paris local travel experts for suggestions on the best holiday activities in the City of Lights. The first selection of ideas is from from Marlys and Michael Schuermann, the team behind @ParisBuff. Parisians by adoption, they offer budget tips to Paris and beyond. Michael is the author of the book Paris Movie Walks.

The second selection is from ParisKid, a family-focused tour company offering guided walks for non-French speaking children ages 6-12 and their families.

This is a guest post from Camille Spanjaard, founder of baby’tems, a baby equipment rental and supply company in Paris, France. Camille is a French mom with two small children who has lived in Paris for more than 10 years.

She decided to start baby’tems after traveling with her children and realizing that baby equipment rental and supply services existed in many cities, but not in Paris! Odd for one of the most visited cities in the world …

It doesn’t matter how many times I visit Paris, each time I arrive in this glorious city I’m blown away by the sheer beauty and grandeur of everything around me.

Our last experience in Paris was last weekend and the weather was perfect. The best first stop on a gorgeous Sunday morning? The Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden). This meticulously manicured garden is always a top ‘things to do’ in Paris with kids.

I recently took the four kids and my mother to Paris for 4 days. Katherine, the 4-year-old, spent much of the time asking, “Are we where we want to be?,” which I think sums up perfectly the joy of bringing children, or anyone for that matter, to a city as beautiful and interesting as Paris.

The answer was and will always remain: yes and no. What makes a city like Paris so much fun is that no matter how carefully you research and plan …

I can’t tell you how many times people have told me they can’t wait to take their kids to Europe. “A few more years, and she’ll be able to appreciate Paris,” is how the conversation usually goes. “It would just be a waste to go now.” How Paris could ever be a waste is beyond me. When we travel, we learn, we grow. It doesn’t matter whether we’re 8 or 80.

Traveling with a child is a different, not impossible. Check out my recent post on getting creative when sightseeing with kids.

Most people think of Paris as an ideal city for a romantic weekend, a quick gastronomic getaway or a ten day cultural odyssey. It’s not a destination that particularly screams “6 week family vacation”. However, last summer my husband, 4 and 6 year old daughters and I had the enviable opportunity to park it in Paris for most of July and August.

We exchanged homes with a French family and got to live like locals in a chi chi Parisian apartment on a quiet street a short stroll from the hustle and bustle of the Champs Elysées.

Let me first say that of all the cities that we’ve visited with our kids, Paris is my favorite and the easiest to explore. Yes, I love Rome and London, and the many other cities for that matter, but Paris is what I always recommend to families looking to go to Europe.

Because Paris is better known as a romantic adult destination, it shouldn’t be dismissed as a family vacation venue. Actually, Parisian families have quite a nice thing going.

Paris is famous for romance and culture, not necessarily as a child-friendly city. I remember when I first moved here, I wondered how I would be able to bring up two kids in a city where the only places I found to take them were small parks for smokers where kids were not even allowed to walk on the grass!

In fact, with a little bit of research there are tons of things to go with kids of any age. For the older children, the museums and children’s theaters are fabulous.

I LOVE Paris and have been traveling there since I was 20 years old. Now that I have a daughter, my goal is to introduce her to the city of light, and hope she falls in love with it just like I have, and these locations and events have helped me cast a spell on her so she’ll want to come back again and again.

Le Parc de la Villette

On the Eastern side of Paris, this park is chalk full of wide-open space for toddlers …