London and Paris with Toddlers

I just did that exact trip with my 6 and 7yo
They've been all over the place this past year as very experienced travelers and it was still a challenge - so be warned

The morning arrival in London is rough. You want to use that day but kids that can't do anything make it tough.

The Eurostar to and from Paris was nice.
Biggest problems with traveling around in London and Paris is the luggage.
We packed very light and it was still difficult getting around. Ubers and taxis are helpful but more expensive than the subway.
We did not bring a stroller and while I'm glad we didn't, it made all the walking difficult.
It's also difficult to find 4 person occupancy hotel rooms in Europe, so note that.

We did a day at Disney Paris, which the kids loved. Don't expect to do (or enjoy) any museums.
In London we did a Peppa Pig double decker bus tour tea and Tower of London which was nice. Weather will be hot for you and everything will be crowded, but the boat rides could be nice.

After all of that, honestly I wouldn't do it because of the ages of your kids.

To add onto the comment about strollers... get cheap umbrella strollers. Do NOT bring the American monstrosities so many of the fairer sex demand. And for all that is holy, no double strollers (side by side or front to back.) Yes, there will be streets made of stone that will be bumpy, but it's not worth dealing with the all terrain stroller.

For the 1 year old, try a Baby Bjorn or similar. No, it's not going to be cool and pleasant, but it could be more convenient.

Especially if one of your kids is a girl, you can't completely avoid Paris. You could just walk from patisserie to patisserie and a 4 year old will remember. Have a picnic on the Seine. Watch the Eiffel tower get all sparkly at sundown. Take a boat ride on the Seine after dark (we had one booked that launched from next to the Notre Dame.)

Parisian underground is something we avoided, we just walked everywhere. My 8 year old walked 15mi in one day without complaint, while my younger daughter dove into the stroller if she thought we were walking more than five steps.

I've booked the room the day before in order to be able to get into my room after landing in the AM. However, *every* time I've tried this, the night auditor flagged me as a no show and canceled me before arrival.

And that's even when I put my flight number, time of arrival, etc., in the reservation with notes explaining that I know I'm paying an entire day's rate to get into a room six hours early.

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Sounds like pure hell.

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This is travel, not the OT, so I won't say what the problem is. You have a child that can't fly 3 hours and one time zone over (assuming CST to Mountain.)

"Monster time change?" He's not flying to Japan, and even then it isn't bad if you manage it.

Toddlers will sleep when they want to sleep. Parents fail when they land in Europe in the morning and "take a nap" for six hours.

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I can’t remember the name, but there’s a great ice cream shop on the island.

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Good call! It's Berthillon.

And there is a cafe right across the street OP can eat at first. Anthony Bourdain loved it too. It was featured in an episode of The Layover from 2012.

We've done London and Paris with a <1 year old and other European cities with toddlers. We've used a stroller with air-filled tires and even a double-stroller to great effect. They were must-haves for the cobbled streets in many cities. On at least one occasion, we used a less robust stroller that did not absorb bumps and we ended up having to carry it on uneven streets and the like. The highlight of our Italy trip for our 8-9 year olds was just about any random playground we came across.

Not sure London is a destination for a 1 and 4 year old

We did Kent, England and London with our 18 month old and 5 year old. We did Paris for 17 days (mostly in an apt) with our 4, 7, and 9 year old. We just did Italy in November when they were 7, 9, and 12.

The only reason we did London so early is my father in law did a home exchange in Kent for a couple of weeks and we got cheap flights.

I would do the big cities as little as possible with little kids. Its just too much. Definitely bring a stroller or buy one. The kids can't walk and need to nap when you are on the move.

Being in the country with a rental car is SOOOO much better with little kids. There's tons to see and do outside of the cities: castles, landscapes, estates, etc. Its just insanely more easy to have a rental car with a cooler, snacks, and a nap spot, then be 3-4 miles across town and have to take public transportation back when they are exhausted. My kids love to go to the grocery stores in other places now and buy snacks, candy, etc.

Or just consider doing something like 3-4 days in London and take some trains to some smaller towns maybe? Just like the US, there's not a ton of stuff for little kids in the big cities, but there are tons of stuff for kids in medium and small towns.

Have you been to those cities before? As said, its really difficult to feel productive with kids. Like one major sight a day at most. The problem is most things in big cities open at 10 especially Paris, so by the time they open its damn near lunch time for kids. Then you have nap time. Plus just being out and about and walking everywhere in the big city, just wears them out.

ETA: Also consider July in both of those can be VERY hot like anywhere else. So you add the heat, lack of bathrooms, etc. and that's a big ask for little kids and parents to be happy

The MSY to London flight has a great departure and arrivals time. Depending on time of year, you depart around 930 pm and land about noon London time. Which means your kids should be able to get a decent amount of sleep on the flight and “wake” at a relatively normal hour.

Plus when you arrive, London is awake and vibrant, you can check into your hotel or at least get lunch while you wait. Way better than a 6 am arrival to an asleep European city. All of this is to say don’t worry about booking a hotel for day before. You will be fine and your kids will also.

You could easily spend 7 days in London with kids that age and not get bored. So many parks, free museums (so you won’t feel guilty if a kid is a mess and you have to leave), the London Eye, etc…

But if you do get the envie for Paris it is a quick train ride away. However with kids that age, it might be the best idea to stay in one city, maybe rent an apartment and put down temporary roots.
It’s awesome you are taking your kids and hope it’s the start of years of fun travels with them.

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But I don't know what is interesting in Kent, etc.

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I wasn’t suggesting Kent was a top place to visit, though we had a great time. That’s just where my father in law did the home exchange. To be fair, it was a 12 acre estate that had a rose garden and live in care taker in a garden house. Kent is known for their gardens. It’s a nostalgic region for my FIL for unknown reasons.

Here is what we did, just an idea of stuff to do outside of the big city.

1.) arrival day: Anne Bolin’s house- Heaver Castle- awesome place kids loved it
2.) Hang at estate- walked around country. Went into Maidstone town for groceries and fish and chips lunch. Walked to dinner at Pub down the street
3.) Canterbury Cathedral and town and Dover road trip. Canterbury in the morning and lunch, Dover castle afternoon and dinner. Again both awesome for kids and adults. Dover castle was awesome. Tons of history for adults, amazing views, and kids can be kids with loads of space to run and act a fool.
4.) Hop Farm Kids Park- little European amusement park, kids had a blast
5.) we went to one other town that had a cool castle. Almost all towns have a castle. Just a nice relaxing day

Then we went to London for 5 nights. I would suggest the opposite. Do the big city, then get outside of the city and relax. It’s just damn near impossible for me to relax in the big city with kids.