If you are planning to spend a weekend or a week in Paris, you are certainly looking for the fastest way to visit the Louvre Museum and the other interesting attractions to see in the French capital.
I understand, after I went inside the museum dozens of times, I can assure you that the Louvre Museum is absolutely one of the things you should not miss in Paris, because it contains absolute masterpieces, like Italian Vatican Museums or Capitoline Museums.
You’ll probably know it already, but the Louvre is the most visited museum in the world and, for this reason, you’ll probably have a big problem: the queue!
Yes, because to get inside the Paris museum, you could wait in line for more than an hour. Furthermore, the museum is so large that, once inside, you can have great problems seeing all the most important artworks of the Louvre. So you should make a careful selection and see only those that interest you the most!
But how to save time and avoid the queue at the Louvre?
Fortunately, there are some tricks that not everyone knows.
Are you ready to know more?
Let’s go!
Index of topics
Tickets and tours you can buy online
Skip the line ticket for the Louvre
Unfortunately, the queues at the Louvre have become to be very long and unsustainable in the last years. For this reason, they are thinking about limit the daily number of accesses. The problem, in fact, is not only the queue outside the museum but also the large crowds inside, especially near the most famous artworks such as the Mona Lisa.
My first tip, to avoid spending hours and hours in the queue, is surely to buy the Louvre ticket online. Thanks to this solution you can, in fact, print your ticket directly at home, show it at the gallery entrance and avoid a very long line.
But be careful because in the past it was not possible to show the ticket on your smartphone, so remember to print it on paper.
To book the Louvre ticket online, you can simply go to this link, select the day and time you are interested in, and choose the number of tickets to buy. The ticket guarantees you entry to the Louvre within half an hour of the time you have indicated.
Alternative entrance to Louvre
The entrance at the Louvre Pyramid is certainly the most famous, and also the most impressive, but it isn’t the only one you can use to go inside this famous museum. There are, indeed, two other entrances, one at the “Port des Lions” and the other at the Carrousel du Louvre.
As you can see from the photo below, I have reported all the 3 entrances but, in reality, there is also a quarter. If you arrive at the Louvre Museum by the metro, remember to get off at the “Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre” stop and follow the signs for the Carrousel. You can pass in an internal gallery full of shops, and you will arrive directly at the central ticket office.
But will you completely avoid the line?
Not really!
The entrance to the Louvre Pyramid is, in fact, the most crowded, but generally, the other 2 are also manned by hundreds of tourists in the queue. Anyway, you’ll probably save a good quarter of an hour.
Take a guided tour
As I said at the beginning of this post, another big problem with the Louvre is its size. Inside the museum, there are more than 35,000 masterpieces, collected in an area of about 60,000 square meters. Visiting it all in one day is simply impossible, that’s why I advise you to book an English guide for the Louvre, which can takes you to discover the most beautiful artworks.
The advantage of having a guide at your side is not just to skip the line. You will know, in fact, some curiosities and stories that you would never have imagined, without risking losing the most beautiful artworks of the Louvre.
After all, when will you have the chance to visit this museum again?
Use the Paris Museum Pass
As in all major cities, even in Paris, you can purchase a day pass that gives you access to over 60 attractions. With the Paris tourist pass, you can also enter inside the Palace of Versailles, the Musée d’Orsay, you can go to the top of the triumphal arch and, of course, get inside the Louvre Museum.
I think it’s a very smart solution if you plan to visit different attractions in Paris.
Please note that you can buy different passes, depending on the number of days you stay in Paris, from 2 to 6 days. The pass is valid starting from the first use.
How you can buy it?
Even if you can buy the Paris Pass online, at this link, to pick up the pass you must have to go to the Paris tourist office located at 23 Rue d’Aboukir, 75002 Paris, just a 10-minute walk from the Louvre Museum. The office is open every day, from 09:00 to 18:00.
Remember that the pass does not give you direct access to the Louvre, so you still need to book through this link
https://www.ticketlouvre.fr/louvre/b2c/index.cfm/pmpevent/eventCode/PMP
Visit the Louvre on less crowded days
If you are in Paris only for a weekend, maybe this advice is not for you. But if you’ve decided to visit the French capital for at least a week, you can easily choose the least crowded days of the week to visit the Louvre Museum.
But what are they?
The Louvre is open every day (except Tuesdays), from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. However, on Wednesdays and Fridays, the closing time is extended until 9:45 pm. I have taken advantage of it often because on Wednesdays, after 7 pm, there is almost no line and even inside it seems almost deserted.
Take free tickets
You should know that in France there are many advantages for young people and also the Louvre respects the same principles. In addition to the free admissions on the first Saturday of the month, the museum is free for all children under the age of 18 or for young people under 26, but residing in the European Union.
Free access to the Louvre is possible by showing only the identity card and you will not have to queue at the ticket office.
The museum is also free for art teachers or similar, and for all people with handicaps and their carers.
Did you know that?
Need help?
Are you planning to visit the Louvre and need some other advice?
If you are looking for a hotel in Paris, want to book some activities or tickets, please write to me in the comments about the budget you have available and the dates you are interested in.
I will help you to find the best solutions for your needs.
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