Streetlights flickered rhythmically outside the window, casting fleeting shadows over our faces as our train journeyed alongside the River Seine near Choisy-le-Roi. We had left Paris’s Gare d’Austerlitz around ten minutes earlier. Boarding the Intercité de Nuit at 9:40 PM, we were scheduled to reach the Spanish border just after 10:00 AM, with plans to connect to a Barcelona-bound train.

While it’s feasible to make the trip from London in a day, my husband and I decided to extend the experience. We wanted to offer our two daughters—aged six and four—a taste of Paris, complete with a busy afternoon in the French capital, a satisfying lunch, and a unique night spent on a sleeper train. Travelling with little ones used to be a tiring exercise filled with snack demands, but I’d since learned to turn these trips into foodie adventures—a fun way to keep everyone happy.

The day before departing, we checked into the quirky 25hours Hotel Paris, located conveniently across from Gare du Nord. From there, we headed to Montmartre, where the girls enjoyed a ride on the classic Carrousel de Saint-Pierre. After consulting the curated dining guide Le Fooding, we stumbled upon the perfect family-friendly spot for dinner just 15 minutes away. Boulom, a buffet-style restaurant where child diners are charged based on their age (€1.50 per year), offered a spread fit for royalty, with everything from roasted pork shoulder to marinated beef ribs, and even a medley of seafood including cockles and prawns. It was like enjoying a gourmet meal in a lively school cafeteria.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast croissants from Boulom’s bakery before visiting the Eiffel Tower, munching ice cream as the evening breeze set in. Waiting for a night train can sometimes be tough with children, but we filled our pre-departure hours back at the hotel, playing rounds of Uno and getting into our pajamas. By the time we pulled out of Paris, our daughters were comfortably asleep, eye masks on and water bottles wobbly in their racks. Our four-person cabin offered spacious berths, plush pillows, and cozy sleeping-bag-style duvets. We awoke to the golden glow of farmland stretching out before us. As the train climbed over 1,500 meters into the Midi-Pyrénées, it zipped past sudden snowy landscapes dotted with tiny station stops resembling quaint cottages. Upon reaching Latour-de-Carol, we switched to the R3 train—a scenic three-hour ride through the Pyrenees, which had us glued to the windows in admiration. The tranquil ride to Plaça de Catalunya became livelier as schoolkids joined us for the final hour.

Barcelona awaited, with our accommodation at the Eric Vökel Sagrada Familia Suites situated just steps from the buzz of Avinguda Gaudí. The place was modern, spotless, and ideal for a casual stroll towards the awe-inspiring yet unfinished Sagrada Familia or a half-hour meander to Park Güell. Despite recent local protests against mass tourism, our off-season visit meant a more tranquil experience as we aimed to explore lesser-known spots beyond the tourist-laden heart of the city.

On our first morning, we ventured uphill to La Salut, a peaceful neighborhood. A door set into a wall adorned with whimsical lettering caught our attention. After ringing the bell, a softly spoken lady with silvering hair greeted us warmly. "Would you like to see the secret garden?" she asked our girls. We followed her through a modest kitchen and into a patio under a canopy formed by the grand branches of an ancient ombú tree. Lights twinkled overhead, the air was scented with mimosa blossoms, and two vast paella pans lay waiting for our cooking class. This intimate experience was provided by La Salsamenta, a cookery school founded by Sara Casté Obiols, an interior designer who launched the school in 2012 to share her culinary expertise with more people than just her neighbors. Since lockdown, her younger sister Clara had joined as a co-instructor, maintaining tradition by teaching their grandmother’s recipes.

We were joined by a family from Florida and handed aprons and glasses of light white grenache wine. Clara expertly heated up the pans and introduced us to sofrito, a flavorful base of garlic, tomato, and peppers sautéed in oil. As my daughters played with grains of bomba rice, Clara explained how Valencian farmers centuries ago would throw whatever ingredients they had on hand into their paella dishes—rabbit, snails, garrofón beans—but never chorizo.

Divided into two groups, we set to work assembling traditional seafood paella and the rabbit-and-chicken version. Our girls enjoyed cooking up the calamari while adding simmering stock and rice, as the unmistakable aroma of saffron filled the air. “Don’t stir the paella,” warned Clara. “Stirring releases the starch. We want firm rice with socarrat, that coveted crispy crust on the bottom.”

We sat at a long table, savoring homemade tortilla de patatas, fresh salad, and pa amb tomàquet—the authentic Catalan take on pan con tomate, where garlic and tomato are rubbed over crunchy bread. The paella was extraordinary, both pans scraped clean within minutes and followed by fresh strawberries from the local market. "You must take your girls to La Boqueria market," Clara suggested when I asked about our next plans. “If they like tasting new things, they’ll love it. But my own kids? They’re obsessed with CosmoCaixa."

That afternoon, a short distance from the city center, near Mount Tibidabo, we explored the "Flooded Forest" exhibit at CosmoCaixa, a compelling recreation of the Amazon rainforest over 1,000 square meters. Despite being indoors, the heavy rainfall sounds and sight of piranhas circling in the water made it easy to forget where we were. The five-story museum, which only costs €8 for adults and is free for under-16s, was instantly a family favorite. Designed as a hands-on paradise, the museum encourages children to touch, explore, experiment—whether through scientific activities at the weather station, in the mathematics lab, or even at an Antarctic base. After three hours of watching the kids examine hair under microscopes, launch paper airplanes, and play with water jets, it was easy to see why Clara’s children were frequent visitors.

With such a packed day behind us, we sought out some quiet at La Terraza, the rooftop restaurant perched atop the Grand Hotel Central. As we sipped refreshing drinks and shared plates of the creamiest croquetas and crispy calamari, we admired the sweeping terracotta-tiled skyline stretching out in the mid-afternoon sun.

La Rambla is unavoidable for anyone new to Barcelona, offering both its highlights and its drawbacks. But the famed street is also home to La Boqueria market, where Clara had recommended taking the girls for breakfast. A marketplace that first started trading back in 1217, La Boqueria was bustling with locals buying their groceries. Our daughters snacked on smoky sticks of fuet sausage as we watched market vendors expertly slice jamón ibérico. They were wide-eyed with excitement at the vibrant colors of strawberries dipped in chocolate and exotic fruit smoothies made with dragon fruit.

Later that day, recharged from our food-fueled adventure, we stumbled upon a peaceful square called Plaça de Vicenç Martorell. The leafy oasis featured a quaint playground, complete with parrots squawking in the trees, an ideal place for a brief respite. Many Barcelona playgrounds are conveniently located next to cafés and bars, so parents like ourselves could sip on Mahou beers while watching the kids buried in the sand, knee-deep in play. This wasn’t about killing time before our departure—this was a moment to cherish. With our daughters playing nearby, the city felt almost magical, a peaceful contrast to our typically hectic lives in London.

Accommodation was kindly provided by 25hours hotels in Paris (doubles starting at €152, room-only) and Eric Vökel Boutique Apartments in Barcelona (two-bedroom suites from €255 B&B). La Salsamenta paella class: €62 for adults, €30 for children (ages 6-11).