Paris: 7 tips for surviving the Louvre
The most visited museum in the world boasts more than a few masterpieces. With over 35,000 pieces of art on display and a crush of visitors six days a week, the Louvre is anything but quaint and calming. It can easily be one of the most exhausting experiences possible in Paris — even if it is one of the most rewarding.
With an expansive Egyptian collection, some enormous French canvases, and one curious little Italian who gets a whole wall to herself, the Louvre can take days to appreciate fully. But who has the time or stamina to see it all?
Related: Cheap hotels near the Louvre
6 Louvre tips to save time and energy
If you’re heading to the Louvre for the first time, here are some tips to help you survive the experience and to come out still smiling, just like the museum’s most famous resident…
1. Book your tickets in advance
Here’s the thing: Even though tickets are €2 cheaper when purchased at the museum, entry is not guaranteed — and you may not be able to enter, due to overcrowding. So these days, we actually recommend booking your tickets in advance, with a timed entry, in order to guarantee admission.
Adult tickets are €17 when booked online with a timed entry. Closed Tuesday.
2. Pack accordingly
While you aren’t exactly trekking the Andes, going through the Louvre is physically taxing. Bringing a small snack or bottle of water in a bag can help subdue any irritation that may occur while struggling to find an exit, bathroom, or place to sit for a rest. It can also get warm in the Louvre at some points, so have a layer or two ready to remove.
There’s always a crowd around the famous Venus de Milo. Photo: Ming
3. Make a game plan
Take a map and take a moment to sit (emphasis on sit) and plan. The Louvre is big. Very big. Wandering it aimlessly can be enjoyable if you have no agenda, but if you want to see the major sights or any specific wings, make sure you plan a rough route first.
There are maps of the Louvre online that you can use to plan out your route before you enter the museum. Or, you can get a map upon entry and take a minute to devise a plan of action so that you don’t get lost.
Otherwise, you’ll be knee-deep in the Egyptian wing before you realize you want to see the kings’ crowns, the Venus de Milo, and the statue garden with no logical way to tie them all together.
4. See the “big three” while you have energy
See the highlights first while you still have the energy to fight the crowds, especially if traveling with children. The big three are the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory statue perched atop one of the majestic staircases. With signs pointing the way, it’s not hard to find them but plan on hitting them right away and then escaping to lesser-traveled galleries already feeling accomplished.
Keep in mind that the Mona Lisa is a tiny painting that is secured behind a bulletproof case and is separated by a physical barrier. If you’re dreaming of analyzing the brush strokes up close, you’re probably better off looking at high-resolution pictures of the painting online at home.
Enter through the Carrousel du Louvre to avoid lines. Photo: Guilhem
5. Enter through a different entrance
Know your entrance options. Most people enter at the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre, which is fine if there’s no line. But the safer bet is to enter into the Carrousel du Louvre, the underground shopping mall, toward an inverted glass pyramid (think Da Vinci Code) by the Apple store. At this entrance, the security line is often nonexistent.
Moreover, you can also enter through Rue Rivoli. This entrance links into the Carrousel du Louvre, and if you exit from Metro line 1 (Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre), you’ll only have to walk about a minute to enter the Louvre from Rue Rivoli.
But wait there’s more: If you already have a ticket (see tip #1), you can also enter along the Quai Francois Mitterrand. Check out this cool interactive map of the Louvre’s entrances for the latest information.
6. Consider the audio guide
While it sounds lame, be warned: Most of the signs in the Louvre are in French. So unless your French is up to snuff, you might not know exactly what you’re looking at. And with 35,000 pieces of art and no stories to go with them, this could amount to some quick frustration for you and your travel mates. The Louvre audio guide might be a good bet. This audio guide costs €5 to rent.
7. Save it for later
No one said you have to go to the Louvre immediately. If it’s a once in a lifetime trip that brings you to Paris, by all means, get in there. But if you’re already planning your next trip, then there’s no reason to rush inside. There’s no shortage of things to do in Paris, so either wait until you’ve experienced what you really want to get out of Paris or else wait for a drizzly day to appreciate all of the wonders this former palace contains.
Louvre Museum
Rue de Rivoli, 75001 in the 1st arrondissement
Hours: 9 am to 6 pm; closed on Tuesday
First Saturday of each month: the museum is open until 9:45 pm and admission is free starting at 6 pm
Admission: €17 (online), €15 (at the museum)
Also in our guide: Planning a trip to Paris right now? Head over to our Paris guide to read our hotel reviews. Our editors have visited, inspected and reviewed affordable hotels all over town, and recommended those we think are the best value. See advice on neighborhoods and discover our favorite cheap hotels in the City of Light.
Your Louvre survival tips?
Do you have another piece of advice for visiting the Louvre without losing your sanity? Tell us about it in our comments section below.
About the author
Twice now we have joined ‘FRIENDS OF THE LOUVRE’ which gives you a pass on all security lines. It costs but we always go a few times so more than with it. Worthwhile cause too! Office by the security at main entrance. Ask….
your guide was so appreciated and welcome.
much appreciate it
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As of January 5, 2019, the Louvre is free for ALL visitors the first Saturday evening of the month. Here is the announcement from the official Louvre site:
On the first Saturday of each month, the museum is also open from 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. and admission is free for all visitors.
Rooms begin closing at 5:30 p.m., and at 9:30 p.m. on night openings.
https://www.louvre.fr/en/hours-admission-directions
Thanks for the update! We’ve added this new information to our article.
Paris Museum Pass. No brainer, skip the lines, and not all the superfluous trappings the Paris Pass brings. Pick it up at the airport on the way in, (along with a carnet of Metro tickets) activate at first use, spend hours NOT waiting in line.
yes, save it for later. While traveling you need to just relax and plan well then you start sorting things out. After everything is okay, then book your flight.
First, buy a museum pass which will let you see numerous museums and skip the line at the Louvre. Well worth it! There are so many groups and tour companies offering pricey guided tours of the Louvre. Consider doing a tour of the Louvre with one of the museum’s tour guides, followed by exploring on your own with an audio guide. After all, who knows the Louvre better than its own employees, who presumably have a background in art history? It’s easier than trying to figure out what the highlights are on your own on your own and gives you a better overview than staring at a schematic of the Louvre’s layout and trying to figure out a path.
It’s useful for the tallest person in the group hold up their arm so the rest can follow. The Louvre is so crowded, it’s easy to get lost even in a group, especially if you pause to take photos.
If you don’t get to see everything you wanted (and who does?) and you have a Nintendo DS, there is a guide to the Louvre created just for the DS. The museum rents these but you can always see if you can purchase one before or after you go to prolong the experience.
These are great tips (and the comments too.) My wife and I are headed to Paris for 3 days in June and I will use these tips as I’m always looking for a competitive advantage!
I prefer to take the bus to the Louvre instead of the metro. The metro lines serving the Louvre can be especially crowded.
Fantastic tips, Apsalar and Rob! Thanks for adding them!
Pete
1. Use the restroom before you go into the actual wings. Restrooms can be hard to find and distant once inside. An especially convenient one for women that is usually empty is in the Acceuil Groupes (Groups Center), a few steps from a restroom in the main hall that is almost always packed. Other useful ones are usually located just before the ticket check as you go into a wing.
2. Don’t count on going in the Cour des Lions entrance, as suggested by another reader. In the last few months, this has been closed to entrances more often than not, although it has been available to exit the museum. If you CAN get in here, it is the fastest way to access the Mona Lisa. It is always closed on Friday. Another little recognized entrance into the Carrousel is from the stairs on either side of the Arc du Carrousel. (On a sunny, warm day, this is a nice exit to grab a sandwich from the Paul Bakery sandwich stand right outside near the stairs and have a picnic in the Tuilerie Gardens. Or, if you are a real cheapo, grab something from the MacDonalds in the Carrousel food court and take it to the Gardens.)
3. Use the elevators. Let me repeat: Use the elevators. They will save you lots of time and even more energy. Very few visitors use the elevators. All the elevators are clearly marked and given a letter designation on the map you pick up at the information desk.
4. Check the closed rooms sign at the information desk or pick up a closed room sheet. Every day and every evening some rooms are closed on a rotating schedule. A big renovation project currently means some rooms are and will be closed for a long time. This can be a big pain if you are looking to see specific paintings or just planning to transit through a closed area. The “Big 3” the author cites will not be closed.
5. Remember, your ticket is good all day and for multiple entrances. Sometimes the fastest way to get someplace is to exit the wing you are in and to cross through the main entrance hall to the entrance for another wing.
For another way in, there is also the Porte des Lions, which is on the wing closest to the river, away from the Louvre courtyard. Just look for an entrance guarded by 2 lion statues. We couldn’t get in from the metro due to a strike of some sort that morning, but when we asked a security guard if there was another way in that didn’t involve waiting in line at the Pyramid, he very nicely pointed out the way for us. There was no queue at all.