Five Paris Picnic Spots That Work Even With Toddlers in Tow

Paris was made for picnics. The city has more green patches than a checked tablecloth, and yet when you’re hauling a backpack full of compotes, rice cakes, and an inexplicably heavy stuffed animal, the stakes change. You need space, shade, a little whimsy, and preferably somewhere a tantrum won’t echo like a Wagner opera. After trial, error, and several juice-box-related meltdowns, here are my top five spots where both adults and toddlers can picnic in peace (well, relative peace).

1. The Playground at the Trocadéro (South Side)

Let’s begin with the obvious: Eiffel Tower views. But instead of jockeying for a patch of grass with influencers practicing their best “candid laugh,” head just south of the Trocadéro, where there’s a shady playground discreetly tucked away. Here, the tower looms like a benevolent babysitter while your child hurtles down slides that defy most safety manuals. You can sip a Perrier, arrange your chèvre on a baguette, and pretend you’re that Parisian parent—until someone asks you to fish sand out of their shoe.

2. The Tip of Pont Neuf, Under the Willow

Square du Vert-Galant is a picnic spot masquerading as a secret garden. At the western tip of Île de la Cité, a weeping willow drapes over the Seine like it’s auditioning for a perfume ad. Toddlers love the ducks and boats, parents love the fact that you can pretend you’re in an Impressionist painting. The only catch: steps. Many of them. Strollers here are less “convenient conveyance” and more “upper body workout.” Still, once you arrive, spreading a blanket by the water is pure Parisian bliss.

3. Champ de Mars

Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, the grass is slightly crisp in August. But nothing says “we live in a postcard” like tearing into a jambon-beurre while the Eiffel Tower looms overhead. Toddlers can toddle freely—there’s simply so much space they can zigzag for hours without hitting anything breakable (except, occasionally, you). The playgrounds dotted along the park are a bonus: you can bribe with a carousel ride after your last bite of tarte aux pommes.

4. Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

If Haussmann’s Paris is all symmetry and order, Buttes-Chaumont is the drunk cousin who wandered in from a Romantic landscape painting. A suspension bridge, a grotto, even a fake temple perched on a cliff—toddlers consider it one big treasure hunt. Bring a blanket near the lake, unpack your feast, and watch as your kid throws pebbles with the dedication of a 19th-century poet tossing away drafts. Warning: the hills here are not stroller-friendly. Pack light or prepare for calf day.

5. Jardin du Luxembourg

This is the ultimate family-friendly Paris picnic ground. There are puppet shows, a pond for sailing toy boats (the closest you’ll get to Madeline in real life), pony rides, and playgrounds that charge admission but are worth every centime for the sheer toddler joy factor. Parents can lounge under chestnut trees, half-listening to a brass band, while children whirl themselves into a croissant-fueled frenzy. It’s civilized chaos—and isn’t that the definition of Paris with kids?

Final Crumb of Advice

Bring a blanket, sunscreen, and at least one more baguette than you think you need. Toddlers have a way of eating their body weight in bread while steadfastly ignoring the cherry tomatoes you lovingly halved.