Visiting the Musée du quai Branly with kids

I spent six years walking classes round this plateau, and the pattern never changed: the children slowed down on the ramp to read the river of words, stopped dead at the first mask, and were lost to me at the feathers. Adults find the dim light atmospheric; children find it exciting. This is one of the Paris museums where I would take a seven-year-old without apology.

A plan that works. Arrive when the doors open at 10:30, or on a Thursday evening after the school groups have gone. Walk the ramp slowly. On the plateau, go to Oceania first for the tall carved poles and the Rapa Nui figures, then straight to Africa for the Dan masks and the beadwork, then to the Americas for the Amazonian featherwork and the Plains regalia. That is about an hour. Skip Asia and the mezzanines unless the “Plumes du paradis” birds-of-paradise show is on (12 May to 8 November 2026), which is the best exhibition for children in the 2026 programme. Then out to the garden, which is free and has paths through tall grasses that children treat as a maze, and a pause at Café Jacques.

Practicalities: under-18s get in free, so only the adults need the admission ticket. Strollers are welcome and the whole route is step-free. Small backpacks pass security; a folded scooter or a suitcase will not. Photography without flash is generally fine in the permanent collection, which keeps older children occupied.

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