Kids top 10 things to do in France

If you and your kids love France, you probably already have a top ten list of your favourite attractions in France. Still looking? Then let us help guide to some the well known places to visit…and possibly a few you haven’t heard of!

We have decided to list here the top 10 things our children liked to do in France. In this totally unscientific process (as our kids tend to only remember the things they have done on recent holidays and obviously it is influenced by the child’s age and whether they are a boy and a girl), we list a few attractions that we have been to and enjoyed.

You may notice that we have not included the big attractions such as Disneyland Paris or Puy du Fou – let’s face it, they get enough press.

Anyway here goes….the list that follows was scored by giving 10 points for each child’s favourite, down to 1 point for their 10th favourite. So with 7 children there were a total of 385 points available.

In at number 10: The Aquarium at La Rochelle

Scoring 9 points, this was a memorable trip in La Rochelle, on the west coast of France, which the children enjoyed. The queue was a little long (we should have got there a bit earlier than we did!) and it really only lasted half a day which seems a bit expensive but it definitely has the wow factor.

Top tip – park outside of La Rochelle on the park and ride and catch the free bus in. It passes next to the Aquarium.

Number 9: Le Musee des Blindes, Dordogne

Ninth – Le Musée des Blindes (Tank Museum) in Saumur – 9 points

Number 8: Corn Maze, Dordogne

Eighth – the Corn Maze at Creysse in the Dordogne – 10 points

Number 7: Le Bournat Open Air Museum, Dordogne

Le Bournat Open Air Museum in Le Bugue – 10 points

Number 6: Pedalos in the Gorge du Verdon

Sixth – pedalos on the lake at the western end of the Gorge du Verdon – 12 points

Number 5: Train a Vapeur des Cevennes

In fifth place was the le Train à Vapeur des Cévennes in Provence, which earned 22 points.

Number 4: Le Pont du Gard

Next was le Pont du Gard in Provence with 34 points and in our opinion, well deserving of its placing. The Pont du Gard is a place where you make your own entertainment with swimming, fishing, walking……in beautiful surroundings.

Number 3: Le Grau du Roi Beach

In third place with 38 points was the beach at Le Grau-du-Roi in the Camargue, south of France. Quite honestly the beach may not be the best in France but it is the one we have visited most recently and it is helped by the additional attractions in the area.

Number 2: The Haribo Museum

The second on our list was the Haribo Museum with an un-surprising 59. Actually we expected this would come out number 1 but it was just pipped to the post by canoeing as that was so universally liked by everyone.

No. 1: Canoeing in the Dordogne

Number 1 on our list is canoeing – scored 62. The children couldn’t identify their preference for which canoe trip they preferred, although our impression was that the Dordogne was favourite followed by the Cèze…..however it is probably no coincidence that this was the order of our last holidays!

Sorry to labour the point – this is not a scientific survey, it is heavily influenced by the places we’ve been recently and the short term nature of children’s memories…after a holiday in the Lot-et-Garonne we would probably add attractions there to this list – we have created a dedicated section just for that region. And obviously as the children get older, their tastes change.

Read more about our favourites in France: