Fun and interesting facts about Paris for kids: Paris facts for children to help them learn about the capital of France or to get them excited while planning a trip to Paris, France!
Do you have a child who is learning about Paris? Or maybe you are planning a family trip to Paris and want to turn it into a learning opportunity?
Then you will love these facts about Paris for kids, fun and interesting facts about the capital of France that will help answer your kids’ questions.
Facts about Paris for kids: an overview
- Paris is the capital of France
- Paris Population: 2.5 Million in central Paris, over 12 million people in Greater Paris
- The language spoken in Paris is French
- Paris is crossed by the river Seine
- Paris is one of the most visited cities in Europe and receives over 30 million tourists each year (pre-2020)
More interesting and fun facts about Paris for kids
Paris is the biggest city in France
Paris covers an area of 105.4 km² and has over 2 million inhabitants (2.161 million in 2019)
Paris takes its name from the Parisii, the population who originally lived in this area
Between 58 and 50 AD, Julius Caesar led the Roman army here and conquered the city and the surrounding area, which the Romans called ‘Gallia’.
He renames the city ‘Lutetia’.
The Lutetia Arena, the ancient Roman theater is still visible in Paris today and it is open to visitors.
You can see how to include a visit to the arena (free) in this Paris itinerary.
The oldest house in Paris dates back to 1407
While we can see a Roman theater, we cannot see Roman houses in Paris. The oldest house in Paris however is very old!
It dates from 1407 and it is at number 51, rue de Montmorency, in the 3rd arrondissement (see below).
The river crossing Paris is called the Seine (La Seine, in French)
The Seine starts in the Burgundy Region of France and ends in the English Channel between cities of Le Havre and Honfleur, in Normandy.
The Seine divides Paris in two halves called ‘the Left Bank’ and the ‘Right Bank’ or ‘quay’ (Quay is the French word for bank and where the English language takes it from too!).
The left Bank is considered the birthplace of Paris and is now UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Paris neighborhoods are called arrondissements
When giving an address in Paris you always give the name of the street and the name of the area it is in, which in Paris is called an arrondissement.
The name arrondissement means neighborhood and there are 20 of them in Paris. If you look at a map of them, you will notice the numbers follow the shape of a spiral or a snail.
This is they are called arrondissements: arrondis, in French, means rounded!
Paris has an oceanic climate
Paris is in the north temperate area and has an oceanic climate that sees 4 different seasons (winter, springs, summer and fall) with hot summers, cold winters and mild springs and falls.
The maximum temperature ever recorded in Paris in summer was 42.6 degrees Celsius(108.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and the coldest temperature ever recorded is -23.9 Celsius (-11 Fahrenheit), recorded in 1879!
This was exceptionally cold however, there is no doubt that if you want to visit Paris in winter, you must wrap up well!
You are reading this while planning a trip to Paris, this is our packing list for Paris city in all seasons!
Paris has many green areas
Paris is a very green city with lovely green spaces inside the city limits and an even bigger one on the edge of the city, the Boi de Boulogne.
Famous parks in Paris are the Jardin du Luxembourg, the gardens of the Tuileries, the Parque du Butte Chaumont and the Boi de Boulogne and Parc Monceau.
Paris also has a lovely botanical garden, called ‘Jardin the Plants’ (The Garden of Plants, in French)
Paris fun fact for kids! In the Luxembourg Gardens, there is a pond where you can float boats! You can bring your own or rent one for a while and join the fun!
Paris has over 400.000 trees
Precisely, Paris has 484,000 trees: they are regularly counted and recorded officially so the city can protect them at best.
Paris has many famous landmarks
Paris has many famous landmarks that have become official on unofficial symbols of the city. Among the most famous there are:
- The Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel)
- Notre Dame Cathedral (you may have seen the movie with Quasimodo?)
- The Arc de Triomphe (triumphal Arch)
- The Sacre Coeur, the church on top of the hill of Montmartre
- The Pantheon, a large monument with the tombs of important French personalities
- The Louvre, one of the most important museums In Europe
- Versailles, the elegant kings’ palace just outside of Paris City
Paris has its own Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty in NYC was given to the USA as a gift from the French and they also made one for themselves that can still now be seen in Paris.
Paris has over 130 museums
Paris has over 130 museums within its city limits.
Among the most famous museums in Paris is the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay, the Centre Pompidou and La Villette which is a fun science museum for kids and one of the best places to visit in Paris with children!
The Louvre is the most visited museum in Europe.
In 2019 it received approximately 9.6 million visitors!
Among the most visited works of are in the Louvre there is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci and the ancient Greek statues of Venus from Milos and the Nike from Samotracia.
In the central yard of the Louvre Museum, there are modern pyramids that work as museum entrances.
They were rather controversial when built as they are a super modern creation in an otherwise ancient building, but the result is beautiful.
Paris is famous for large streets called boulevards
Paris city center has some very large streets called boulevards (this is a French word the English language also adopted).
These were imagined and designed by architect Haussmann, who had a vision of Paris as a monumental city.
The most visited of all boulevards and one of the most famous is called Boulevards des Champs Elysee.
It leads you to the Arc de Triumph and it is famous for being home to many of the most famous fashion houses and fashion shops in the world.
Paris is a fashion capital
Paris is considered one of the fashion capitals of the world. Important fashion houses such as Chanel, Vuitton, Dior call Paris home.
Paris is a food capital
Paris is world-famous for its amazing food here you find many cafes, the oldest of which dates from the 1600s, and restaurants, including the highest number of Michelin star restaurants in the world, over 100!
Do you know what you can eat in Paris? Crepes, macaroons, Croque monsieur and much more: find lots of foods you can try in France here.
Paris is also called the ‘City of Light’
Paris was home to many personalities from the Enlightenment era, and this gave it the nicknamed City of Light or La Ville Lumiere, in French.
Paris has an extensive metro system
Under Paris runs an extensive metro system with 244 metro stations! The metro stop Chatelet – Les Halles is one of the biggest in the world.
Paris has 200 miles of underground tunnels
The metro is not the only thing running under Paris.
From the 13th century, the city also acquitted miles and miles of underground catacombs, underground cemeteries now open to the public!
The city also has a sewage system so interesting, it is considered an attraction and you can take tours of it!
Paris is the place where the French revolution started
The French revolutions started with the assault to the prison of La Bastille.
The Bastille doesn’t exist anymore but a large square called Place de la Bastille commemorates it.
France national day is the 14th of July
The Bastille fell on the 14th of July 1789 and France still celebrates that day.
The 14th of July is called Bastille Day and it is France National Day, a public holiday with huge celebrations around not just Paris but the whole of France.
Artists love Paris
Paris was home to very many artists: writers and painters, in particular, adored the city and wrote extensively about it and how much it inspired them.
You can read quotes about Paris written by them here.
The Eiffel Tower wasn’t meant to stay
The Eiffel Tower was built as a temporary exhibit for the World Fair of 1889 which was held in Paris.
It was supposed to stay up for 20 years and then it would have been taken down. Instead, part for its use as a metro tower and part to the fact that it became a popular attraction, it stayed!
The Eiffel tower is unique and it was the first monument of its kind: there are so many interesting facts about the Eiffel tower, we created an article just about them which you can find here.
Find facts about the Eiffel Tower here
Paris has 37 bridges
Paris has 37 bridges: funnily enough, the oldest bridge in Paris is called Pont Neuf which means ‘new bridge’!
Paris has a sundial so big, it is a square
Paris has many famous squares but there is one that is unique as it operates as a huge sundial!
It is called Place de la Concorde and uses the obelisk in the center of the square to calculate to project the shade of the sun and therefore indicate the time.
The first photo of a person ever taken was taken in Paris
It was the year 1838 and was taken by Louis Daguerre.
The photo wasn’t of the person as such rather, you spot someone in one of the corners of the photo of the city.
However, this was a first as no human form has been captured in a photo before!
Paris has a ‘syndrome’ named after it
if you hear that someone suffers from the ‘Paris syndrome’, don’t worry, they are not actually sick!
This is a name given to a particular state of mind that visitors to Paris may experience: if the expectations of the beauty of the city are too high, some feel let down.
We sure did not experience the Paris syndrome: we love the city every time we go and consider it one of the best cities in Europe to visit with kids!
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