PARIS, FRANCE:
A 5-night Travel Guide for Families with Autistic Children

Paris is probably the last place you would think of taking your autistic child. It is a large, bustling and sprawling capital - it just screams overwhelm. That said, we managed to find spaces of quiet and peace among the noise, and you can too.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

I remember reading family itineraries for Paris on other travel blogs and bursting out laughing - these neurotypical parents and kids were getting through in one day what it would take my autistic children a week to cope with! 

I quickly discarded the idea of making an 'itinerary' and thought about how to achieve what it was we really wanted from the trip - which was basically to eat croissants and have fun.

(I had a feeling that shopping and art galleries were going to be out!).

When we worked it through together (using various forms of communication aids) we were able to make a list of what we and the boys really wanted to do:

- Walk around the Sacre Coeur at look at the view of Paris from the top of Montmatre - J

- Find Marionette's Bakery from Miraculous - Charlie

- Climb the Eiffel Tower - Fred & Charlie

- Visit Monet's House and Garden at Giverny - Me

- See the Louvre Pyramid - Fred

- Ride on a carousel - Fred & Charlie

- Have a coffee in a typically Parisienne cafe - Me & J

- Drink some wine and eat cheese - Me & J

With only two actual tourist sites on the list a trip to Paris began to feel like something we could actually do.  So although the main tourist attractions (and the streets around them) are horrendously busy and there were massive queues, our trip showed that as an autistic family you can pretty much avoid all this and still have a great time in Paris!  

This is a great map which shows you the locations of the Top 20 Monuments / Attractions in Paris, you should be able to find something that meets the sensory needs and particular interests of your family!

OPEN SPACES

We were pleased to discover that Paris has a number of open spaces where families with autistic children can go and enjoy being outside, including a lovely playground a few minutes walk from our apartment in the Pigalle district. We made good use of this space, as well as spending a wonderful afternoon in the Tuilleries Gardens which had a ornamental boating lake, playground, cafes, shady avenues, grassy banks and yes - a carousel!  

Another option is the free 600m long  Open Air Sculpture Garden situated along the banks of the Seine near Notre Dame Cathedral. Opened in 1980 in the Jardin Tino Rossi, the museum displays sculptures by famous artists including César, Constantin Brancusi, Nicolas Schöffer and Émile Giliolibut. On this trip the weather was against us and we didnt have time to visit - but it remains on our to do list.

When researching Paris's green spaces I used the official Paris Tourism website which was very helpful.

METRO TRAINS

I cover transport in more detail below - but will discuss the metro accessibility here. 

During our trip we deliberately chose to avoid the metro and instead used the bus network which we found straightforward and easy to use (once we worked out where to buy the tickets). Although in some circumstances the metro may have been faster, the boys were much more regulated on the buses, they always had a seat and they enjoyed seeing some of the sights they might otherwise have missed like the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysee. It was also a lot quieter.

These are the reaasons why I prefer the buses over the metro in Paris:

Paris Metro stations are often full of endless stairs, long walks between connections, and then more stairs. I know from personal experience that you can sometimes walk for a long way. This would not have suited the boys, or more widely, anyone with mobility issues.

There is limited (but continuously improving) access to elevators from street level - you can visit the RATP website for the most uptodate information on accessible lines. As we had the buggy with us on all our trips, this would have meant a lot more work for J carrying it up and down while I took the bags and looked after the boys.

A lot of the stations also have rather intimidating full height barriers which slam shut with quite a loud bang - quite scary and they could be very dysregulating for the autistic children. 

Currently only 44% of metro trains offer cool 'ventilated air' - although they are increasing this each year as old trains are replaced with new. In the summer or warm periods (we were there in a mini-heatwave) it can get dangerously hot and crowded. 

Like most underground networks many of the lines can be very loud and screechy which totally stresses the boys out even if they wear their ear defenders. We prefer to avoid using them if we can.