From outdoor activities to cultural discoveries and unusual and immersive experiences, keep your curiosity alive this back-to-school season and embark on some memorable family outings!
To get your fill of culture this autumn, head to the centre Pompidou to discover the immersive exhibition Tenir tête by illustrator Marion Fayolle, which lifts the veil on nomadic camps, in the galerie des Enfants. On view until 6 January 2025.
To invite children to explore Imaginary Worlds, visit the Espace Monte-Cristo until 15 December 2024. This cultural space, dedicated to contemporary sculpture, is just a stone's throw from the Père Lachaise cemetery gives carte blanche to some thirty artists - Françoise Pétrovitch, Eva Jospin, Laurent Perbos, Tadashi Kawamata, Andrea Bowers, Lorenz Estermann and Agnès Varda - transporting the whole family into a magical world of enchanted forest and paradise beach. Bonus: the exhibition is free... you'd be wrong to skip it.
The Musée en Herbe is a children's favourite, and it's easy to see why: it's specially dedicated to them and showcases art in a playful way. This season, it invites little ones to discover the mythological world of Chinese artist Wenna in the exhibition Oh my Gods, on until 5 January 2025. And for a further exploration of cultures from elsewhere, check out the Noli exhibition until 5 October 2024 at the Korean Cultural Centre, which highlights the universe of Korean games! On the same theme, Le Hangar Y, in Meudon-la-Forêt, is offering an exhibition on games of yesterday and today, until 22 September 2024. It's the perfect way to introduce your children to the games that lulled your childhood!
This season, l'Atelier des Lumières is offering a colourful, immersive digital journey with the exhibition The Egypt of the Pharaohs, from Cheops to Ramses II, which takes us back to mythical ancient Egypt, until 5 January 2025. And that's only part of the programme, since the Atelier des Lumières is also showing other immersions: Van Gogh/Japan Dreamed until 16 October 2024, and Foreign Nature and The Orientalists until 5 January 2025. The highly anticipated Astérix, le voyage immersif, opening on 18 October 2024, is also one of the highlights of this autumn!
To keep everyone happy, there's nothing like a family outing to the Musée de l'Illusion, the Paradox Museum Paris, the Musée des Arts Forains (only open during school holidays), the Musée du Chocolat, the Aquarium de Paris or the dedicated galleries of major museums such as the Studio du Louvre or the family area at the Musée de l'Orangerie, for example. There, they learn while having fun and enjoy going to places of culture!
For budding scientists, the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is a must! This season, it is organising the exhibition Dance, devoted to dance with a fun and educational trail until June 2026 and the exhibition Grotte Chauvet, l'aventure scientifique from 15 October 2024 to 11 May 2025, in which children are invited to take on the role of the scientists who have studied this historic treasure since its discovery in 1994! The Musée d'archéologie du Val d'Oise, in Guiry-en-Vexin, is revisiting a fascinating epic: that of the Héros Viking, until 29 December 2024.
Meanwhile, the Musée de l'Homme is transporting our little ones back to the Stone Age with its Silex and the City exhibition: a comic strip-style exhibition on prehistory from 11 September to 29 December 2024. This autumn, your children will be going back in time!
At Bercy Village, Science Expériences invites you to discover an 850 m² immersive play trail. Part museum, part amusement park, this unusual place offers a whole new perspective on science!
Children with a passion for history, the monarchy, architecture and gilding will love the History Gallery at the Château de Versailles, which tells the story of the creation of this iconic château, designed by Louis XIV, the Sun King!
In a different style, the free street art exhibition We are here at the Petit Palais is well worth a visit, until 27 November 2024. In Montévrain - a stone's throw from the Disneyland® Paris parks - Le Clos du Chêne, one of the biggest open-air museums of street art in France, is organising the Portraits d'artistes photo exhibition on the artists who have contributed to the renown of this art form that kids love.
The Jardin des Plantes is one of Paris's cultural and natural treasures that never ceases to amaze. This autumn, the famous garden - in which the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle is located - is offering Tropical Autumn, an exhibition of botanical drawings in its Grandes Serres from 17 October to 25 November 2024.
To discover Paris in a new light this autumn, try your hand at a treasure hunt or take part in one of the unusual tours offered by My Urban Experience. And if the weather isn't cooperating, take a panoramic bus tour through the streets of the city with Tootbus or Big Bus, on the Seine with Bateaux-Mouches® or les Bateaux Parisiens or by little train in the Montmartre district.
Not to be missed by Paris lovers: the immersive sound and light show Aura. The 50-minute experience takes place beneath the majestic Dôme de Invalides and tells the story of Paris - until 30 December 2024. Another lively, immersive sound and light show, at another of the capital's iconic sites: the show Paris Cœur de Lumières at l'église Saint-Sulpice, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. To be discovered from 16 October to 23 November 2024.
Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles, Fontainebleau, Rambouillet... Set off this autumn to conquer the castles of the Île-de-France region for a day. Often surrounded by parks and forests, it's possible to combine a visit to the monument with a moment of relaxation and a stroll in the countryside. Fontainebleau, for example, offers dog-sleigh rides as winter approaches and the Château de Rambouillet - and its Bergerie Nationale - organises surprising tours for Halloween.
The back-to-school cultural programme includes many shows to enjoy with the whole family. The Luis de Matos IMPOSSIBLE Sur Scène show, featuring five illusionists and magicians at the Folies Bergère from 7 November to 1 December 2024, is sure to leave you with a magical memory! The cultural season also sees the return of musicals to Parisian stages: once again on the bill at the Théâtre Mogador, the Lion King returns from 27 September 2024 to 31 January 2025. At the Zénith Paris - La Villette you can catch up with our favourite musical guests from the Disney movies - The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Snow Queen, Encanto, etc. - on 13 December 2024.
What would a cultural season be without a circus show? For example, the cirque Bormann will be presenting its new show Arbre from 5 October 2024, while the cirque d'Hiver Bouglione returns for a new season of its Spectacular show under its iconic big top!
A must-see and memorable family outing at any time of year, theme parks such as Disneyland® Paris and Parc Astérix are going Halloween time from early October. Thrills and spills guaranteed! As for the Jardin d'acclimatation, it's going Mexican with its Dia de los Muertos festival from 5 October to 11 November 2024.
