Last updated on December 21st, 2024
In this Louvre Museum Travel Guide Blog, we have put together useful information and our most precious Louvre travel tips to help visitors to this world’s largest museums. My visit to Louvre and how we arranged the day in the museum are included.
If you ever find yourself in Paris, don’t miss the Louvre Museum, one of the world’s largest museums and home to incredible artworks. At the Louvre, you’ll encounter the best and most eclectic art collection. From the world-famous Mona Lisa, Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, Venus de Milo, to the Psyche Revived by Cupids Kiss, there’s something for art lovers in the Louvre. A trip to Paris is incomplete without a visit to this world-famous Louvre Museum.
We are not frequent museum visitors but the Louvre is another exception. There are no words to describe a visit to the Louvre museum. The paintings are so magnificent and the sculptures were awe-inspiring. It is much more than a museum, but a journey through history via art.
Louvre Museum is vast and so massive. we had researched it a lot before we went but even then I did not realize how huge it was until I was there. That being said, it can take hours to see even the popular pieces.
To help you to plan for your visit to the Louvre museum, we have put together the Louvre Travel Guide to help visitors with the latest information, how to get there, and our most precious Louvre travel tips. Use this Louvre Museum Travel Guide to plan how to visit the Louvre and decide what to see before you go.
Louvre Museum Paris
The origin of the Louvre dates back to the 1200s. Once a royal residence, it opened in 1793 as a museum during the French revolution and now has been lauded as the world’s greatest art museum. This iconic structure has been recognized as the most visited museum in the world and received about 10 million visitors per year.
The Louvre Museum has over 38,000 artifacts in eight specific departments and is pretty well organized. It features exquisite masterpieces from antiquity to about the mid-18th century from various cultures across Europe. You will find thousands of French and Renaissance art masterpieces, also pieces from Rome, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
Things To Know Before Visit
Before you plan anything else, you need to know some of the important information about the Louvre museum, including the opening time, what is the must-see, the best time to visit, and much useful information is the part of Louvre Museum travel guide.
The Louvre Museum is open nearly every day of the year from 0:900 to 18:00. On Wednesdays and Fridays. it stays open until 21:45. Closed on Tuesday. Keep in mind that the Louvre is closed on January 1, May 1, and December 25.
Louvre Museum is probably the world’s greatest and most famous museum with a global reputation. The “Venus de Milo,” “Winged Victory of Samothrace,” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” are the start and must-see in Louvre Museum.
Generally speaking, we would definitely suggest you visit on a weekday if at all possible. Take note that Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and is expected slightly more crowded on Wednesday. Arrive early in the morning, before the museum’s opening. It gets really really busy with large tours as the day goes on.
The exhibits are so plentiful and over several floors that true art lovers will probably spend all day so do allow yourself plenty of time. You could spend 3 to 4 hours on a brief visit to see some of the top collections. But a minimum of one day is recommended to properly explore the museum.
Admission Prices For Louvre
Due to the current circumstances, the Louvre has reduced the number of daily visitors. This means that there are fewer Louvre tickets to sell each day. You can purchase tickets for the Louvre museum at the counter or online. The admission ticket costs you €15 at the time of visiting at the counter and €17 online.
We strongly recommended you buy your tickets online in advance. Standing in the scorching sun for one to two hours for a mere €2 extra? Together with the morning time slot, you will save a lot of precious time for your Paris trip.
When you buy the tickets online, you choose a specific date and time slot to ensure a quick entry to the museum. Get The Louvre with a priority access ticket to beat the notoriously long ticket queues outside.
Alternatively, you can buy the Louvre Museum skip-the-line guided tour and visit the museum hassle-free. The ticket includes an English-speaking guide who will bring you through the important rooms and explain some of the important paintings in the Louvre.
Visit The Museum For Free
Admission is free for all visitors on the first Saturday of each month from 18:00 to 21:45 and on Bastille Day 14 July. If you are under 25 years old and a resident of the European Economic Area (EU, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), you have free admission to the main museum year-round.
On Friday evenings from 18:00 to 21:45, admission to the museum is free for all visitors under the age of 26 regardless of country of residence.
How To Get To Louvre
There are a few ways to get to the Louvre:
- Metro: Stop at the Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre station (metro line 1).
- Bus: 21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, and 95 stop in front of the Pyramid du Louvre.
- Car: The most convenient parking is at the underground garage on Avenue du Général Lemonnier, open daily from 07:00 to 23:00.
To enter to Louvre, there are few entrances to enter the Louvre. The Glass Pyramid and Passage Richelieu are Louvre entrances that are always open and anybody can use them. While the other entrances to the Louvre may be closed depending on the public health situation related to the pandemic.
How to Skip the Line at the Louvre
Being the largest art museum in the world it is busy, especially in the high season. But, there are a few ways you can get ahead of the crowds to save some time.
Book your tickets online: You can buy your tickets in advance with a time slot selected from the official Louvre Website. The admission ticket cost €17.
Get the Paris City Pass or The Paris Museum Pass and both passes allow free admission to the Louvre Museum. With the pass, you can skip the entry line at the Louvre. Take note that you still need to queue but the security checkpoint is much shorter than the usual line.
Book a Tour: If you don’t want to plan and a prefer hassle-free visit, you can consider following the experts with a Louvre Museum audio guide to see all the highlights. Get your Louvre Museum skip-the-line guided tour in advance, and you pick up the audio guide when you arrive at the museum. Remember to grab a map of the Louvre at the main hall.
Must-See in Louvre Museum
If you plan on visiting the Louvre, be sure to have a plan for what you want to see before you get there. It will take time to find all these masterful works of art.
The Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous painting in the world and is seen by millions of visitors every year. This is the world-famous work of the artist Leonardo da Vinci painted around 1503.
Other pieces of note include the Victory of Samothrace (or Winged Victory); the ancient Greek sculpture Venus de Milo; Antonio Canova’s “Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss” and Michelangelo’s Dying Slave amongst a whole host of others.
How To Plan Your Visit in Louvre Museum
The Louvre museum is huge and the collections are displayed on 5 levels (levels -2 to 2 through 0) in 3 wings, Richelieu, Sully, and Denon, clearly marked on the Louvre layout. The collection is so huge and diverse that it’s impossible to finish the visit in one day!
Originally the 3 wings are supposed to be interconnected, however, due to the astonishing craze for the Mona Lisa which was shifted from Room 711 in the Denon wing to a different room in Richelieu (level 2), certain rooms in the Sully wing were blocked preventing access to Richelieu wing.
But still, you need to walk so far to see everything. With its 35,000+ works of art and 670,000 square feet of gallery space over multiple levels, you’ll be forgiven if you feel “lost” and like you’re head’s about to explode because you don’t know where to begin.
As such, you should have a strategy set in place and pick out what you are most interested in and do that first. So the visit must be planned for a meaningful appreciation of the artifacts.
Mona Lisa
It is recommended that you get to know right away where the Mona Lisa is and see that first. We entered the Richelieu wing and raced to the Mona Lisa to beat the crowds. Climbing the many steps and race to the gallery housing the Mona Lisa.
The new queue system allows for less than 1-minute access to see the painting. We spend almost one hour on Mona Lisa including the queuing time. The room the Mona Lisa was in was very crowded and we managed to get a glimpse of it.
Next, we spent almost the remaining 4 hours taking in the rest of the splendor. We wandered around and explored all three wings of this massive museum, all the while admiring the architecture of the building, both its inside and outside.
Lastly, we left the Louvre when it was back in the afternoon.
Glass Pyramid
Last but not least, don’t forget to admire the Glass pyramid located outside of the Louvre Museum from all angles. The Glass Pyramid (which is also the entrance) was built by I.M. Pei and it is a great compliment to the original architecture of the Louvre.
Quick Louvre Museum Travel Tips
- Pre-purchase your tickets online to avoid the big lines. You can get through security and get started in no time at all.
- Always have your health passport ready (or if you have vaccination papers or negative test results documents, have them on hand).
- Getting an audio guide and interactive map is highly recommended. Take the map from the Museum, to know exactly where to go.
- Go to the cafe on the upper floor of the Denon wing where you have a good view of the Palais de Louvre and the pyramid at the Terrance.
- The Mona Lisa does have long lines. Try to get there very early or later in the day.
- Wear nice shoes because it is very much like walking.
- Bring water to drink and maybe some snacks and give yourself a chance to sit down and have a rest in a quiet area.
- The gift shop had some great souvenirs and all were reasonably priced.
Overview: A Travel Guide to Louvre Museum
All in all, if you are in Paris and are a museum lover, no way you can think of missing this world-famous museum. A visit to Louvre Museum is truly an experience to admire the Mona Lisa, to study more closely the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and to keep wondering about the story of the Venus de Milo.
Whether you are an art lover or not, you will be mesmerized by this beautiful museum with innumerable valuable masterpieces. You will be able to discover new things every time you visit this magnificent museum.
Planning for a trip to Paris? Check out the Paris travel blog here:
- Paris itinerary: 4 Days in Paris Travel Blog
- Day Trip to Versailles Palace: A Travel Guide Blog
- Where To Stay in Paris: The Best Areas and Hotels
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- Le Poulbot Montmartre: Adorable and Authentic Restaurant in Paris.