Paris with Kids for October Half-Term 2026: a Day-by-Day Plan

A week off school and children to keep busy: the good news is that Paris has seen it all before. For most schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the autumn half-term falls in the last week of October 2026 (Scotland breaks earlier, around mid-October; dates vary by school, so check yours). One thing to know before you book: the French school holidays run from 17 October to 2 November this year, for the whole country at once, so Paris will be full of French families too. The answer is not to avoid the city; it is to arrive with a plan and book ahead. Here is ours, day by day, tested on real children.

A day-by-day plan for October half-term 2026 in Paris: time travel on the banks of the Seine, a free-museums day, a science day at the Cité des enfants, a rain plan at the natural history museum, and Halloween on Saturday 31 October. One rule above all: book anything bookable before mid-October, because the French holidays make late-October slots scarce.

Day 1: the Seine, and Paris travelling back in time

Start with the heart of it: the île de la Cité on foot in the morning, Notre-Dame, the quays, the booksellers. In the afternoon, the walk becomes a time machine with The Origins of Paris: a one-hour guided tour along the riverbanks, virtual-reality binoculars over your eyes, watching Roman Lutetia, the construction site of Notre-Dame and the great flood of 1910 take their place exactly where they happened. Tours run in English, the visit is open from age 8, and it is the kind of outing where the children walk out telling the parents about history rather than the other way round. The low autumn light, golden from mid-afternoon, is the finest of the year for it.

Day 2: free museums, then the gardens

The next day, pay for nothing. The permanent collections of the musée Carnavalet (the history of Paris told through its objects, from shop signs to scale models) and the Petit Palais are free and rarely crowded; both close on Mondays. Our guide to Louvre alternatives explains why they often beat the giants when you have children in tow. On the way out, head for the nearest garden: this is the season of fallen leaves and crêpe stands.

The ideal end to a museum visit: a Paris garden, bubbles, and nothing to book.

Day 3: the science day

Head for the Villette. The Cité des enfants at the Cité des sciences runs two circuits, one for ages 2-6 and one for ages 5-10, in ninety-minute sessions where everything is meant to be tested and taken apart. During the holidays, booking online is not optional: sessions sell out days ahead. Closed on Mondays, like most Paris museums; the parc de la Villette, its dragon slide and its themed gardens fill the rest of the day.

Day 4: the rain plan

It will rain at some point. That day, the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution at the Jardin des Plantes is one of the most beautiful interiors in Paris: a caravan of life-size animals beneath a great glass roof, with a children’s gallery designed for ages 6-12. Open every day except Tuesday. If the rain settles in for the day, add the covered passages of the 19th century, glazed shopping arcades made for exactly this weather.

Day 5: Halloween, on Saturday 31 October

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. For younger children, the Jardin d’Acclimatation amusement park dresses up for the season every autumn, with pumpkins and age-appropriate shivers. For ages 10 and up, Paris does far better than plastic ghosts: the ossuary of the Catacombs (closed Mondays, about ninety minutes underground, online booking essential at this time of year), and the city’s true dark stories, from underground Paris to the place de Grève. In Paris, the shiver is historically accurate.

31 October in Paris: no set dressing needed, the Catacombs are real.

The right call for each age

• Ages 2-6: the Cité des enfants (dedicated circuit), the gardens and their carousels, the Jardin d’Acclimatation.
• Ages 6-9: the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, the Carnavalet, and The Origins of Paris from age 8.
• Ages 10 and up: the Catacombs, underground Paris, and our selection for teenagers for the rest.

Half-term questions, answered

Is October half-term a good time to visit Paris? Yes, one of the best: autumn light, gentler prices than summer, and a city in season. The one caveat is the French school holidays (17 October to 2 November 2026), which make booking ahead essential for the big attractions.

What can you do in Paris with kids when it rains? The Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, the Cité des enfants and the covered passages are the three safe bets, and most museums are quietest late in the day.

What is free in Paris with children? The permanent collections of the City of Paris museums, Carnavalet and Petit Palais first among them, plus the gardens and the banks of the Seine, not forgetting the fallen-leaf hunt, which has never disappointed anyone.

In short

Five days for October half-term 2026 in Paris: time travel on the banks of the Seine, the free museums, the Cité des enfants, a rain plan at the Jardin des Plantes, and a Halloween that does not cheat on Saturday 31 October. Book early whatever can be booked and keep one flexible day for the weather; the city does the rest. For the wider picture of the month, our article on Paris in October sets the scene.

Sources and practical links

• La Cité des enfants, Cité des sciences et de l’industrie (in French).
• Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, French national museum of natural history (in French).
• Catacombs of Paris, official site, practical information and booking.
• Musée Carnavalet and Petit Palais, free permanent collections, Paris Musées (in French).
• Jardin d’Acclimatation, autumn programme (in French).
• The Origins of Paris, dates and booking.