Help Visiting The Louvre Please

[Jules1212]

We are going into Paris to do most of the usual 'touristy' things next Wednesday (6th June). My DS (13) has set his heart on seeing the Mona Lisa at The Louvre and we are perfectly happy to take a quick visit for him to do this.

I know it is open late on a Wednesday and i am sure years ago it used to be a little cheaper to get in after 6pm, but can no longer find any mention of this. Have they stopped doing this? I know both kids will get in free anyway, but always looking to save a few euros.

I also keep hearing horror stories about how long the queue is to get a ticket there. Is it worth me buying them online and printing at home (if that is available)?

It is not worth us getting any of the Paris or museum passes as we have vouchers for the other things we are doing and I am not really a museum kind of person, we just want to forfill his dream of seeing one exhibit!

Thanks for any tips or advice.

 

[Hipster Meg]

A quick google told me that you can buy the tickets in advance in a few places, one of them being Fnac (kind of like a French HMV) which would cost 11.60 euros per person. They have a number of delievery methods, including picking them up in store, I'd imagine that the closest one to Disney would possibly be Val d'Europe.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

There's no lower rate now on late night openings unfortunately. You get in free on the 1st Sunday of the month now but that's not much help to you

As Meg says you can book a ticket on line either at Fnac or via Ticketnet. None of them are e-tickets though so you'd have to go to Val d'Europe and pick them up either at the Fnac or Auchan for Ticketnet.

You can avoid all the queues by not entering through the Pyramid in the main court yard.

If you enter from the rue de rivoli via the Carousel du Louvre shopping arcade (Galerie du Carrousel) you get through really really fast.

If you are coming on the metro (line1 ) and get off at Palais Royal you come out in the shopping arcade anyway.

If you are coming on line 7 and come out at Palais Royal just cross the road and you'll see the entrance

If you are coming on foot through the Tuilleries, when you get to the smaller Arch you have on either side 2 entrances that bring you out in the shopping arcade. You go down the steps and past the medieval walls.

There are ticket machines and ticket desks on your way in where you could also buy your ticket.

 

[DLPDreams]

Ooh how nice - I can't wait to take my DDs to places like that. DD1 is becoming an art buff so we must do it on one of our trips! It's embarrassing when people ask if we 'do' Paris as part of our DLRP trips and I say no!

Enjoy - great tips there from Carrie as usual .

 

[BadgerGirl84]

If you want to do a quick tour and see Mona Lisa and the highlights, I would highly recommend downloading the Rick Steve's audio tour of the Louvre. You can search for his name under Podcasts on iTunes or download it free on his website.

He takes you turn-by-turn through the museum and explains the most famous pieces, including the Mona Lisa. My DH and I used this on our recent trip and thought it was great. We were in and out in about 3 hours and had a great time.

 

[Jules1212]

Thank you for all the advice. I think based on Carrie's tips we will just 'busk' it and buy tickets on the day then. Who knows? I may get lucky and DS will decide he doesn't want to go after all! LOL

 

[Ware Bears]

If you want to do a quick tour and see Mona Lisa and the highlights, I would highly recommend downloading the Rick Steve's audio tour of the Louvre. You can search for his name under Podcasts on iTunes or download it free on his website.

He takes you turn-by-turn through the museum and explains the most famous pieces, including the Mona Lisa. My DH and I used this on our recent trip and thought it was great. We were in and out in about 3 hours and had a great time.

I'd recommend his audio tours too - I used them along with his book when visiting Rome last year and they were excellent.