mini travel guide: paris & london
Alternate title: I took my toddler to Europe for a week and lived to tell the tale
There is a meme I love that goes like this:
Scene 1: A young, glowing couple and their serene baby appear in a montage of dreamy, luxurious settings. Sunset cocktails, first-class naps, (empty) tourist sites with a snoozing baby in a carrier. Cheerful music plays. Text reads: “Having a baby doesn’t mean you have to change your life.”
SUDDEN SHIFT: The music turns chaotic, off-key
Scene 2: The same couple, older, frazzled, in a series of toddler-fueled disasters: tantrums, spills, messes, mischief. Text reads: “... but having a toddler does.”
The comments? A mix of “where’s the girl with the list???!”, “DINK life forever” and young parents laugh-crying in solidarity.
I’ll hold your hand as I say this: it’s funny because it’s (a little bit) true.
Until last month, I was one of those smug, self-satisfied young parents who beatifically said things like “We’re going to just keep doing all the things we want to do and bring [the toddler] along! It’s a little harder, but so worth it.”. I had stories about all our adventures to prove it.
Then we took our two-year-old on a week-long trip to London and Paris in December.
Now… I’m still that person – but with a touch more humility, a few extra grey hairs, and the grizzled wisdom of someone who barely survived their own optimism.
Despite the jet-lagged fueled chaos, it was an absolute privilege to share the world with our little bear. The experience also shifted my priorities as a longtime content creator (aggressively planned, perfectly curated itinerary WHO?!) and truly pushed me to be more mindful and present.
A longer post with my hard-won tips for traveling with babies and toddlers is coming soon, but since so many of you asked for a London and Paris recap, I’m dropping the round up while I finish polishing up that guide.
In this post you can expect:
the mini-travel guide hits list for Paris and London:
Lodging, accommodation and transportation notes
The restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops I loved
The best of the shopping & tourism I found on my wandering
Plus the heavily researched google maps I create for all my travels to help you kickstart your own adventure
A deep dive on the reality of tips for managing toddler jet lag (including one that never would have occurred to me)
Xx
curious about the other worthwhile wandering travel guides?? check out a few of my faves!
I typically approach travel with one goal: optimize. Pack every moment of PTO with as much doing, seeing, and eating as humanly possible. Especially with international trips there’s a nagging sense of scarcity – what if this is my only chance? What if I never come back?
As a writer, photographer and part-time content creator that pressure is only heightened - trying to both capture everything and experience it fully. Over the past few years I have been actively un-training myself, learning to plan itineraries that make space for leisure and comfort, in addition to the check list.
My first real attempt? Paris in September of 2022: I was six months pregnant and exhausted. That trip was such a success that when we started planning our first international trip as a family of three, returning to Paris felt like a no-brainer.
Thanks to well-timed flight deals, we scored direct flights to London and Paris for less than a round trip to either city, so we decided to split our time. A toddler, two iconic cities and a whole new adventure for the three of us.
Itinerary & Logistics:
International travel:
Seattle direct to London Heathrow
Eurostar train from London to Paris - surprisingly easy and generally quite fun for our vehicle-obsessed toddler. Highly recommend purchasing tickets far in advance when tickets are much much cheaper.
Paris Charles de Gaulle direct to Seattle
In-location transportation: After researching (and hearing horror stories) about connector issues and US car seats not meeting European safety standards, we decided to skip bringing a car seat for our two year old and relied entirely on walking, metros and buses. It felt like a safe bet since we knew from experience that public transit in London and Paris was easy to navigate and often as fast as (if not as faster than) driving.
The biggest challenge was the abundance of stairs in many metro stations (and the lack of elevators). For some outings we folded up the stroller and left it behind and carried our toddler or just let him walk. It slowed us down a bit, but was totally manageable and overall worth it. Our little guy was obsessed with the trains and buses, and we saved a fortune on Taxis and Ubers.
Paris
Perhaps this isn’t a unique experience or perspective, but I genuinely love Paris, in a way that I never expected. It’s stunningly beautiful, and each visit has offered experiences and energy that perfectly align with my current stage of life - whether it was studying abroad in my twenties while staying in a questionable hostel and drinking 2 euro wine, a romantic trip in my late twenties while six months pregnant, or a sentimental family trip with my toddler in my early thirties.
I’ve found Paris to be laid-back and welcoming, with incredible food, and a city that’s both easy to navigate and surprisingly family friendly.
If you’re looking for a deeper dive or a full itinerary for a longer trip, I already have a comprehensive Paris recap I’d love to bump for you here. Because this guide exists, I’m sharing the Paris section first as an “update”, even though we visited second.
Lodging & Accommodations
We opted to spend our short visit to Paris in a neighborhood we had loved visiting the first time around– Le Marias. We booked our stay at Hotel Sookie, a charming boutique hotel with cozy but well designed rooms. (Our “spacy” room had not only an extremely comfortable king bed but also a sizable daybed that would have been great for an older kiddo). The hotel has a cafe on the ground floor with some excellent pastries, and I can’t say enough about the staff - we had to reschedule the trip from earlier in the fall and they were so helpful in making it happen!
Food:
dinners:
Altro Frenchie: We were unable to secure reservations for any of the Frenchie family of restaurants during our first visit to Paris, something that haunted me for months afterward. The minute we decided we were coming back, I went in for a reservation at Altro Frenchie, the newer Italian restaurant that joined the others on Rue de Nil sometime last year. We booked for the earliest dinner possible, and the salads, pasta and paired cocktails were fantastic (they even made a kids pasta for little bear, 10/10).
La Cerise Sur La Pizza: While I wanted to be sure to get at least one dinner reservation during our trip, I also wanted to be sure to leave some flexibility to discover something during our explorations. We were delighted by La Cerise Sur La Pizza just a block from our hotel - pizza was fantastic, cocktails were crisp, and importantly for our jet lagged little man, service was quick.
My back-up choices for reservations: Bouche Paris and Le Mary Celeste. I also had a lunch reservation for Parcelles and ended up cancelling in favor of exploring.
cafes, coffees & lunches:
Caractère de cochon: I wandered out of the hotel on our first day while Little Bear took a nap in search of the classic french style ham, cheese and baguette style sandwich. I stumbled on Caractère de Cochon, a sandwich shop with a cult following (and a line out the door to prove it). You’ll have to wait, but it’s a phenomenal sandwich that’s well worth it.
CORTADO: Directly across from Caractère de cochon is CORTADO, a specialty coffee shop with Spanish influences. They have phenomenal coffee, tapas and natural wines. I liked it so much I went back twice - once for an afternoon espresso the day we arrived, and then we returned for breakfast the following day. Can say exxxxxxxxcellent things about the pan con tomate, the jamon baguettes and of course the namesake cortados.
Bel Horizon Coffee Roasters: I stopped into Bel Horizon while en route from some tourism to some shopping, and was extremely glad I did. The coffeeshop itself was beautifully designed, and the coffee was excellent (I just got a cappuccino and sparkling water). I also picked up a bag of coffee roasted in-house, and it was one of the best souvenirs of the trip.
I/O Cafe: I waxed poetic about I/O Cafe after my first visit in 2022, so I won’t belabor the point here. It’s excellent, and you should go!
Sights to See:
Since Paris was the shortest and last leg of our trip, we opted for a very low key tourism agenda. A primary objective? Ensure the toddler was Having a Good Time by building in activities for him throughout. A few great things we tied together:
Coffee + Breakfast at Cortado - 15 minute walk to this playground - Walk to/ Around the Louvre Pyramids (an activity in and of itself)
Musée d’Orsay (reserve your tickets in advance!!!!!!!!) + metro to the Eiffel Tower, walk across the bridge to the Trocadéro and a picnic lunch on the steps.
Coffee at I/O cafe, 5 minute walk to this playground (did I mention we spent a lot of time at playgrounds?)
The only thing I wanted to hit that I didn’t manage to fit in was the National Picasso Museum. Next time!
Shopping:
I managed some good shopping this trip, heading out for a solo adventure during Little Bear’s naptime. I tend to have the opposite of an impulse shopping problem while traveling:I overanalyze purchases so much that I am typically able to talk myself out of them, which I definitely did this trip. A few purchases that I planned and saved up for:
Longchamp Le Pliage Expandable Travel Bag: My one big purchase from my study abroad year in 2012 was a deep purple Le Pliage tote bag - which I carried diligently for nearly a decade (and still own). I had been eyeing the expandable version as a lightweight, packable bag or larger weekender. It’s already come in clutch carting home extras from this trip (and all the family gifts home from Christmas.
Took a small pilgrimage to City Pharmacy and joined (everyone else) in bringing home some classic french skincare. Brought home Biafine and A313 for a bunch of my girlfriends, as well as the Resveratrol Retinol Alternative Night Cream and Serum for myself (have been using for about six weeks at this point: huge fan). Finally, grabbed a few different B5 cicaplast balms for myself and friends – dry skin never quits!
Okay I didn’t make this purchase but Mark did on my behalf: I had mentioned wanting to visit some of the amazing vintage photo and video shops around our hotel, and while I was out shopping Mark and Little Bear picked out my Christmas gift: a vintage Super 8 Camera. I am absolutely tickled about it, and have been deep diving on tutorials while I figure out how to use it!
Otherwise, I took a quick pass through Le Bon Marche to see the holiday displays (beautiful, if overwhelming), and spent the rest of the time in and around Le Marais to hit up La Boutique de Cara, The Frankie Shop, and of course Merci (I cannot tell you how many homegoods I talked myself out of lugging home– definitely kicking myself about some of them!)
London:
I was excited to visit London over the holidays, and it did not disappoint. The city-wide holiday decor and markets were dazzling, and it was so energizing to be in a city with so much hustle and bustle. It had been a while since my last visit, and seeing everything through fresh eyes with my son was delightful – I still can’t get over how much our toddler loved the metro and the classic red double decker buses.
One thing that struck me was how much busier (okay, and more crowded) London was than Paris – like the difference between New York City and Boston in the states. Both are lovely cities in their own right, but the energy (and the strategy needed to experience them) is decidedly different. If I were to plan the same trip again, traveling with our two year old, I would probably opt to take the same strategy we took in Paris, choosing a quieter, more family friendly neighborhood and largely staying in that neighborhood with one or two smaller excursions that largely omits the biggest tourism areas.
Lodging & Accommodations:
In an attempt to stay out of some of the more crowded tourist areas, we booked a stay at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Hyde Park. We took advantage of a holiday rate deal which put the luxury hotel upgrade at about the same cost as comparable “regular” hotels or an airbnb - something I didn’t fully appreciate until we used just about every amenity they had in a few short days.
The only downside was that the majority of places we wanted to eat were at least one metro stop or bus ride away - something that in our previous lives was no big deal, but made meals more of a production with the little one. We quickly learned that having more walking distance options would have been helpful, especially in the first few days as we adjusted to the time change.
Food:
dinners:
JUNK Soho: My only priority for dinner our first night was to stay awake longer than 4 pm after a semi-excruciating international flight with a two hour delay once the plane had boarded. We hit up JUNK for smashburgers and fries and they were quite good (although I’d be lying if I said they would have been a bit better after 2 or 3 pints…). I wouldn’t say the crowded, night-lifey scene in Soho was entirely vibing with our jet lagged toddler, but you do what you have to do.
Aline Lebanese Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese food is some of my favorite, and we loved this shared-plates style dinner. I had a fantastic orange blossom negroni, and the “taste of Lebanon” prefixe had a perfect amount of food for two hungry adults and one toddler. The Baklava was excellent, as was the Pumpkin Kibbeh.
The Pelican, Notting Hill: I’ll be honest with you: I don’t love most pub food! (I know, I know, my Scottish and Irish ancestors are rolling) but I didn’t want to miss at least one pub-esque visit. All I have to say is: if I lived in London, I think I would want to be a regular at The Pelican. Food was good, Vibes were high.
breakfast, lunch, tea & coffee:
The Royal Lancaster: You think I was kidding about the complimentary breakfast? I was skeptical and ready to head out to find a fancy coffee shop, but the all inclusive breakfast spread was exquisite (and they even had a very fancy Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair for our toddler??! incredible).
Paul Rothe and Son: Stopped into the classic family run deli in Marylebone to pick up old school English sandwiches (including coronation chicken, ofc) and soup, plus some souvenirs for family and friends.
TING at the Shard: One of our only “fancy” events of the trip, we headed to TING, the Sangri-La Restaurant at The Shard building for Afternoon Tea as a belated outing for my birthday. We got an unexpectedly clear day and had great views of London. Service was a bit slow (although that could be expected considering the holidays), but overall it was a really lovely experience – they had gorgeous holiday decorations, the tea was excellent, and I personally love a good tea sandwich.
Nostros Coffee: Nostos is a craft coffee shop in Westminster, and I think this was the best coffee of the entire trip. Beautifully designed, meticulously crafted, an absolutely perfect pitstop on the walk from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben (especially in December).
Chai Guys Bakehouse: I’ve been on a chai kick this fall, and couldn’t resist stopping in during our afternoon exploring Notting Hill. I grabbed a Kashmiri and it was really, really excellent.
editor’s note: while there is excellent shopping in London, I really didn’t do much at all. The exchange rate from the Euro to the Dollar was stronger, and I mostly opted against many souvenirs beyond a few personal momentos like a Christmas ornament and a double decker bus for little bear.
sights to see:
Due to the deadly combination of jet lag and a two year old, I can’t say that we “made the most” of this leg of the trip when it comes to checking off things to see. Mistakes were made and lessons were learned, and the TLDR is that toddlers just don’t give a shit about the big, important building, and if you spend the whole day dragging them around to look at them everyone is going to have! A! Bad! Time!
A few things that worked well and we enjoyed:
Buckingham Palace - St. James’ Park Playground intermission - Westminster Abbey + Big Ben:
Kensington Gardens, Buckhill Playground intermission- Princess Diana Memorial Fountain (I fought hard to visit the Serpentine Gallery and we just didn’t have it in us. Next time!)
Notting Hill - I went out to explore Notting Hill and Portobello Road solo during nap time, and had a great time perusing. If I were to plan again, I would likely aim to stay in Notting Hill to make walking out
Unexpected Toddler Gems:
Train Stations: We had gotten Little Bear a Paddington Book prior to the trip and he was OBSESSED with the actual Paddington Station (and you know.. Anystation that could have been Paddington Station). So much so that we added in additional time to our transit through the stations to give him some time to just run around and look at all the trains.
DOUBLE DECKER BUSES: I cannot explain to you how much our little guy enjoyed the buses (and for some reason, how this had not occurred to me as an “activity” in and of itself. It very much was.). We grabbed seats up top in the front and let the little man admire all the sights and holiday decor. Took longer than the metro, but was well worth the delight.
for paid subscribers below: sharing the best part of any travel guide: *the* google map! and the hard fought tips for overcoming toddler jet lag that aren’t what you’d expect.
