Louvre Museum

What it is

The former royal palace of the Louvre, now the most visited art museum in the world, holding everything from Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities to European painting up to the mid-1800s.

Why travelers go

Because the density of first-rank work here is not matched anywhere else, and because several of the best rooms are quiet. The crowd is concentrated in a handful of galleries, which leaves most of the museum genuinely pleasant.

What is genuinely good

Building and collection reinforce each other. The less famous wings are calm enough to actually look at things. Free and reduced categories for under 18s and EEA residents under 26 are substantial, and the official site publishes rates plainly, which many attractions this size do not.

Downsides and tourist traps

The two-tier rate means a non-EEA adult pays 32,00 euros where an EEA adult pays 22,00. The Mona Lisa disappoints almost everyone who queues for it. Wayfinding is weak, and people routinely leave exhausted having seen a corridor of a very large museum.

Best for

Anyone with a specific interest they can name in advance, EEA visitors under 26 who get in cheaply or free, and people willing to make two shorter visits rather than one long one.

Consider skipping if

You want a single unmissable Paris highlight and have half a day. The Musee de l'Orangerie or the Rodin museum will give you a better afternoon. Skip it outright if the Mona Lisa is the main draw.

Practical advice

Choose two or three rooms before you go and accept you will not see the rest. Use the Carrousel du Louvre or Porte des Lions entrances rather than the Pyramid, which has the longest queue. Go on a late-opening evening if your dates allow.

Tickets and reservations

General admission is 22,00 euros for EEA residents and citizens and 32,00 euros for non-EEA visitors. A ticket bought at the museum is 9,00 euros for the Louvre-Delacroix combination, guided tours and workshops carry a 12,00 euro supplement at full rate, and an audio guide is 6,00 euros. Under 18s and EEA residents under 26 have separate free and reduced categories.

Getting there

Palais-Royal Musee du Louvre on Metro lines 1 and 7 feeds directly into the Carrousel entrance, usually the fastest way in. Louvre-Rivoli on line 1 is a short walk.

Where it sits

The 1st arrondissement, on the Right Bank between the Tuileries and the Palais-Royal. This is the centre of tourist Paris, so the immediate surroundings are convenient, expensive and not especially representative of the city.

How long to allow

Three hours is a realistic focused visit. A full day is possible, but most people stop absorbing anything after about four hours. Two visits of two hours beat one visit of four.

Accessibility

The lobby beneath the pyramid is reached by escalator or by the central lift, known as the tube, and the museum lends accessibility equipment free of charge in exchange for identification: folding stools, wheelchairs, canes, multifunctional rolling chairs and sensory bags. Staff in the assistance area will plan a route for your visit, which is worth doing given the distances involved.

The RuinMyTrip verdict

Still the best museum collection on earth and still the easiest to visit badly. Decide what you are there for before you go in, use a non-Pyramid entrance, and if you are outside the EEA, know you are paying 32,00 euros and plan the visit to be worth it.

Sources

Every figure above was checked against these before publication. If one has since changed, tell us and we will correct it.

• General admission is 22,00 euros for EEA residents and citizens and 32,00 euros for non-EEA visitors. source
• The rate is published as a two-tier EEA and non-EEA structure. source
• An audio guide costs 6,00 euros. source
• Wheelchairs, folding stools, canes, rolling chairs and sensory bags are lent free of charge in exchange for identification. source

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