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La Grande Arche, Parvis de la Défense, 72400, T 01 49 07 27 57, http://www.grandearche.com Mon-Sun 1000-2000 (until 1900 in winter). €7, concessions €5.50. M La Défense.

La Défense is the Parisian equivalent of Canary Wharf or Manhattan. It is a conglomeration of futuristic skyscrapers arranged around a central plaza located discretely to the west of the city centre. The most awe-inspiring is the Grand Arch, which stands proud at the far end of the long, straight road out of town, a road whose other end is marked by the Arc de Triomphe. Photographs cannot prepare you for the sheer neck-numbing scale of the arch. For an outrageous fee it is possible to board one of its bullet-shaped glass lifts and be whisked at dizzying speed to the top. There’s nothing of interest up there, except for the view, of course. The area is alive with suits – more than 100,000 people work in the offices here – although at weekends they are replaced by the shoppers who descend on the shopping malls. In December there is a small open-air Christmas market in front of the arch, selling picture frames, woolly jumpers, hot wine and raclettes (gooey, stringy melted cheese).

75019. Géode, 26 ave Corentine Cario, T 01 40 05 79 99, http://www.lageode.fr M Porte de la Villette. Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, 30 ave Corentin Cariou, T 01 40 05 80 00, http://www.cite-sciences.fr Tue-Sat 1000-1800, Sun 1000-1900. €7.50, concessions €5.50, under 7s free. Planetarium supplement €2.50. M Porte de la Villette. Cité de la Musique, 221 ave Jean-Jaurès, T 01 44 84 44 84, http://www.cite-musique.fr Tue-Sat 1200-1800, Sun 1000-1800. €6.10, concessions €4.80, under 18s free. M Porte de Pantin.

A whole series of attractions await the visitor at La Villette, a former wasteland on the northeastern outskirts of the city that in the 1980s was regenerated as an extensive urban park. The 35-ha outdoor park itself features gardens, cafés, a canal and playgrounds with bizarre slides. There’s also the Géode, a massive mirror ball that reflects everything from the pool it sits in to the sky and the clouds. Inside is a giant 180° cinema where films about the oceans, animals, space or science are screened. Opposite the Géode is the Science Museum, which is crammed with models, shows and interactive games demonstrating different aspects of science. The sections Cité des Enfants and Techno Cité offer fun and games for young children (3-12 years) and older children (over 11s). At the music museum there are more than 900 musical instruments from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Versailles, 78008, T 01 30 83 75 05, 01 30 83 77 88, http://www.chateauversailles.fr Chateau, Tue-Sun 0900-1830 (until 1730 in winter). €7.50, concessions €5.30. Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon, Mon-Sun 1200-1830 (until 1730 in winter). €5, concessions €3. Gardens, Mon-Sun 0700-dusk (winter 0800-dusk). Free. All free first Sun of month Oct-Mar. RER C Versailles- Rive Gauche. SNCF Montparnasse station to Versailles-Chantiers, or Saint-Lazare station to Versailles-Rive Droite.

Difficult as it is for those on a short break to tear themselves away from central Paris, a trip to Versailles, royal court from 1682-1789, makes a strong case. This is a French national treasure, the crowning legacy of Louis XIV’s reign, and a monument to the ego and extravagance of the French monarchy. Louis XIV, the Sun King, wanted to convert his father’s hunting lodge into the greatest palace Europe had ever known. The project – when coupled with the lavish opulence of the Sun King’s court life and his aggressive foreign policies – added up to almost empty coffers. Hardly surprising that in 1789 the Revolutionary mobs attacked with such vengeance, making hostages of King Louis XVI and his detested wife Marie-Antoinette and virtually stripping the château bare. The bedrooms and glittering Hall of Mirrors are found in the State appartments on the second floor. The gardens – a symphony of box hedges, gravel pathways, pools and fountains – are the work of famous landscape gardener André Le Notre. If you have time, then take in the smaller châteaux in the grounds. The Grand Trianon was built in 1687. It seems even the Sun King needed a refuge from court life, as well as a quiet place to meet with his mistress, Madame de Maintenon.

Paris, 75012, T 01 40 67 97 00. Mon-Sun dawn until dusk. Zoo, T 01 44 75 20 10. Summer Mon-Sun 0900-1700, winter Mon-Sun 0900-1700. €8, concessions/children €5. M Porte Dorée. Parc Floral, T 01 55 94 20 20, http://www.parcfloraldeparis.com Summer Mon-Sun 0930-2000, winter Mon-Sun 0930-1800. €1.50, concessions/children €0.75, under 6s free. M Château de Vincennes.

Those thirsting for some good old-fashioned greenery should head to the wood at Vincennes. Once a royal hunting ground, it was turned over to the public by Napoleon III in 1860. At 995 ha, it is the largest park in Paris. Trees (145,000 of them) and footpaths (100 km) abound. There are also four lakes and renting a boat is possible on Lac Daumesnil in the west of the park (close to Porte Dorée metro). Each year a massive funfair, le Foire du Trone, is held on the Pelouse de Reuilly, south of the lake, from April to May. East of the lake is the Zoo. At the Parc Floral (Château de Vincennes metro) there are free concerts, Punch and Judy shows, and an adventure playground of some 60 games for children, including a cutesy mini-golf course where the holes are prominent Parisian monuments.

Paris 75016. Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires, T 01 44 17 60 00. Wed-Mon 0930-1715. €4, under 18s free. M Sablons. Parc de Bagatelle, T 01 40 67 97 00. Mon-Sun 0900-1700. €0.75, over 60s and under 6s free. M Porte Maillot and bus 244. Jardin d’Acclimatation, T 01 40 67 90 82, http://www.jardindacclimatation.fr Summer Mon-Sun 1000-1900, winter Mon-Sun 1000-1800. €2.50, concessions/children €1.15, under 3s free. M Sablons, Porte Maillot and special train (€1.15, Wed, Sat and Sun 1500 and 1600 outside school holidays).

The major landmark on the city’s western boundary is Boulogne wood, which extends for 845 ha, with 150,000 trees, 35 km of footpaths and, like its larger brother Vincennes, four lakes. It also has a museum – the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires – dedicated to everyday objects that illustrate popular culture in pre-industrial France. When the roses are in bloom (June-October) the Parc de Bagatelle is a sweet-smelling must. Hire a boat on the Lac Inférieur in summer and go skating on the small skating lake in winter. Kids love the train ride and the Jardin d’Acclimatation, where there is a mini-farm and an adventure playground with merry-go-rounds, a hall of mirrors and trampolines. The park as a whole never closes, but the word is that activities become less salubrious after dark.

Marne-la-Vallée. T 01 60 30 53 05, http://www.disneylandparis.com Parc Disneyland, Mon-Sun 1000-2000 (sometimes 0900-2000). Parc Walt Disney Studios, 1000-1800 (sometimes 1000-2000). €38, children €29. RER A or TGV Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy (35 mins), by car take A4 exit 14.

Disneyland Paris will probably exceed your expectations: the thrills and spills, the technicolour imagination, the queues, the expense, the oversized Disney characters, the saccharine cheeriness, the cringing cheesiness. It need only be for one day, although the Disneyland operators would definitely have it otherwise (there are no less than seven Disney hotels to choose from). The free Fastpass system keeps queuing to a minimum for eight of the most popular attractions by issuing you with a specified ride time. These attractions include the Flying Carpets and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster with Aerosmith at Walt Disney Studios, and Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain at Disneyland Park. Space Mountain certainly separates the big kids from the scaredy-cats: a giant cannon catapults a space shuttle into the next galaxy at stomach-churning speed. Prepare to be terrified. Another white-knuckle ride is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. Little people shouldn’t miss Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Animagique, where the real world and cartoons melt into one cute fantasy world. Forming a triangle with Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland Park is the Disney Village, which promises to deliver ‘a taste of America’. It’s a mass of souvenir shops, neon bars and restaurants, live music and street acts, rounded off with the Hurricanes disco.

Giverny, 27620, T 02 32 51 28 21. Apr-Oct Tue-Sun 0930-1800. €5.50. Gardens only €4, 7-12s €3. SNCF Train from Gare St Lazare (direction Rouen) to Vernon (45 mins) then 5 km by taxi, bus or hire bicycle. 80 km west of Paris.

This unassuming pink-brick house was the last, and much-loved, home of Claude Monet, who lived here between 1883 and his death in 1926. Many years later the house and gardens were opened to the public, and swiftly became a place of pilgrimage for Monet fans the world over. The rooms of the house are decorated with Monet’s collection of rare Japanese prints. The Japanese water garden, with the famous green bridge arching above those immortal water lilies, feels wonderfully familiar.

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