Here's my number-one Parisian survival hack for days out with kids: always have a carousel ticket on hand. These are my current stash — six years' worth, collected from carousels all over the city — because a carousel is the fastest way I know to turn a tired, tipping afternoon back into a good one.
Over the years, I've collected these tickets from carousels all over Paris. Some came from afternoons in Parc Monceau. Some from walks through Saint-Cloud. Others from spontaneous stops when we were simply passing by and my daughter spotted a carousel before I did.
Looking at them now, I realise something. Adults remember cities differently than children do. We remember the monuments. The restaurant reservation. The museum we spent weeks planning. Children remember the carousel. The horse they chose. The ride they begged to do twice. The token they carried in their pocket afterward.
Adults remember the monuments. Children remember the carousel.
"Which is the best carousel in Paris?"
People ask me this all the time. Honestly? There are around twenty carousels scattered across Paris and the surrounding area, and I've learned that the best one is usually the one closest to where your day is already happening. But a few are worth knowing:
- The Eiffel Tower carousel — wonderful for photos if you stand close and angle your camera upward, so the horses and the tower stack together.
- Hôtel de Ville & Sacré-Cœur — both beautiful for family photos: the carousel gives children something playful to do while the backdrop still feels unmistakably Parisian.
- Jardin du Luxembourg — the classic, where little ones ride with a ring-game wand.
- Saint-Cloud — a lovely stop to fold into a park day just outside the city.
The real family rhythm
A little parent tip: there's almost always a treat stand nearby — a crêpe cart, or (like the one at the Tuileries) cotton candy and ice cream. So the real rhythm of a carousel stop usually goes like this:
- Carousel
- A treat — crêpe, cotton candy, or an ice cream
- One more carousel ride
- Then, finally, convincing everyone to keep walking
My practical tips
- If a carousel offers a multi-ride ticket, buy it. The rides are short — and in six years, I've never once successfully convinced my daughter that one ride was enough.
- A little piece of history. The word carousel comes from the French carrousel, an equestrian game of skill once played on horseback — centuries before the painted ponies.
- For the truly carousel-obsessed, Paris has a whole museum of historic fairground rides and vintage carousels — the Musée des Arts Forains, in the old wine warehouses of Bercy. There you don't just look, you ride: hundred-year-old attractions, including an 1897 bicycle merry-go-round that the riders pedal themselves. Visits are guided and need booking ahead.
These tickets are what's left of dozens of afternoons — playground stops, ice creams, crêpes, and "just one more ride" negotiations. Sometimes the smallest parts of a city become the biggest memories.
Sometimes the smallest parts of a city become the biggest memories.
Want a day with the carousel built in?
Every City Story Club day is shaped around the small moments your child will actually remember — with the crêpe stand, the run-around, and the rainy-day swap already sorted. Start with our free sample, The Sailboat & Left Bank Day.
See the free sample day