Travel

It can get really hot in August so plan for that (sunscreen + sunhat & sunglasses for the kids at least, no kidding!) and if you're in the "south" (read south east) bring at least a bottle of water per person on day trips.

Paris can be wild with that small kids especially if you don't know your ways around, but it's definitely a place I'd recommend, but if so, plan ahead, you don't want to try to figure out what to do in the morning, if you don't like to wing things.

I'd avoid the south east, hot and not very tourist friendly. East is great, beautiful landsides in Nice and around. Bordeaux is beautiful and ypu can go to the wild ocean in an hour by car, or 2h to Dorfogne with its 1000 castles, cave paintings and more.

What do you usually like to do? Do you speak any French? Museums or the beach?

Plan for going max two places a day, and stick to strict meal times. 3 is possible but those days were much harder.

If you are staying multiple weeks, you may want to do North first as August is the hottest (you may get a 35+°C heat wave even in Paris), and go South then, as September should get less hot and less busy with roasted Northern tourists after school restarted. The Loire castles which are about 1/3 from the North could be spectacular for kids, you can go down the Loire river by bike over multiple days.

Hey there! We did a similar trip with our little ones a couple years back and it was honestly one of our favorite family adventures.

For that time of year, I'd definitely recommend the Alsace region. Super charming towns like Colmar and Eguisheim look straight out of a fairytale, and they’re really walkable even with a stroller. Plus, the pace is relaxed which is great with kids.

Provence is another one I’d look into. Lavender season will be wrapping up, but the weather is still warm and the little villages are super kid friendly. You can base yourselves somewhere like L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and do easy day trips.

Also, the Dordogne is underrated for families, castles, canoeing, markets with amazing food, and tons of space for the kids to run around. We even found a small farm stay where our kids could help feed goats in the morning!

And since you’re driving, I’d just avoid super long stretches in one day. We tried to limit drives to 2–3 hours max and added in fun roadside stops (like animal parks or picnic spots).