The Louvre Museum is one of the world’s largest and most famous museums in Paris, France.
It is housed in the Louvre Palace, a historic fortress and royal residence dating back to the 12th century.
Established in 1793, it has since grown to house a vast collection of art and artifacts spanning various periods and cultures.
More than 30,000 tourists line up to enter the attraction daily, bringing in around 10 million visitors annually from around the world.
Some famous works displayed here include the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, and the Code of Hammurabi.
The collection includes ancient Egyptian artifacts, Greek and Roman sculptures, European paintings, and Islamic art.
This article covers everything you must know before booking Louvre Museum tickets.
Top Tickets
# Louvre Museum Skip-The-Line Ticket
# Guided Tour
# Tour for families with kidsIt’s highly recommended to book your Louvre Museum tickets in advance. These tickets sell out quickly, so securing your spot early ensures you don’t miss out on this unforgettable experience.
Key takeaways
The Louvre in Paris is the world’s largest museum, with a vast collection of over 35,000 works, attracting around 10 million visitors annually. Highlights include the “three ladies” of Musée du Louvre along with other renowned pieces like The Raft of the Medusa and the Great Sphinx of Tanis
Visitors can purchase skip-the-line tickets to avoid long queues, join a guided tour to learn more about the art and history, or opt for a family tour designed specifically for children and adults
Individuals under the age of 18, EU residents aged 18-25, and certain professions, such as art teachers and artists, are eligible for free admission. It’s also free the first Friday of each month after 6 pm, excluding July and August, and on Bastille Day (14 July), unless it falls on a Tuesday
To avoid the largest crowds, visit after 3 pm or during Wednesday and Friday evenings when the museum remains open until 9 pm. It remains closed on Tuesdays. The Louvre offers several entry points. The Carrousel entrance is often less crowded, making it a good alternative for visitors arriving by metro
With over 70 rooms across three wings (Denon, Sully, and Richelieu), exploring using a map will help you locate all the exhibits and facilities like restrooms, cafes, and shops
What’s ahead
Related Reads
Things to know before booking tickets
You can buy Louvre tickets online or at the venue, but online tickets help you skip long lines, secure availability, and choose a preferred time slot in advance.
After the purchase, tickets are emailed to you, and you can enter by showing the e-ticket on your smartphone—no printouts needed.
Head to the guard at the Glass Pyramid entrance and look for the sign “Avec Billet” (Visitors with Tickets). Remember that a photo ID is mandatory for entry.
Why you should book tickets online
Check out this video by France 24, a French public broadcast service, to understand why buying tickets online in advance is much recommended.
On average, more than 30,000 tourists visit this attraction daily.
This crowd results in long lines (see pic below) outside the Glass Pyramid.

These lines are NOT for buying the ticket but for security screening.
When you haven’t already bought Skip-the-Line tickets, you join this line at the end and wait your turn for the security check.
During peak season (June, July, and August), these lines wind all along the courtyard, and the waiting time can be as long as 3 hours.
What makes it worse is that this waiting is out in the sun (and lines are longest during summer!)
During non-peak months, this waiting time is around 30 minutes.
Three Louvres? Is that true?
The Louvre opened an annex in Lens, a town in Northern France, in 2012. In 2017, another Louvre opened in Abu Dhabi as part of an agreement between France and the United Arab Emirates.
Louvre Museum tickets
If you plan to visit the Parisian Museum, here are some ticket options to consider.
You can choose skip-the-line tickets for budget-friendly access, join a guided tour to learn fascinating facts about the museum, or book a family tour for an entertaining and educational experience.
Skip-the-Line tickets
These are the cheapest and the most popular way to enter the art museum. They also get you access to both the permanent collection and the temporary exhibitions.
You’ll be able to see world-famous artworks like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, as well as treasures from ancient Egypt, Renaissance masterpieces, and more.
The museum itself is a fascinating piece of history, originally opening in 1793 with just 537 paintings and now home to over 20,000 works across eight distinct departments.
Admission is free for visitors under 18 years (or 26 for EU residents), disabled visitors and carers, and job seekers. But, if you’re visiting with someone who qualifies for free entry, make sure they book a time slot online in advance to enter with you.
Ticket Price (18+years): €25
Buy This TicketSome tourists visit the Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum on the same day. If you also plan to do the same, follow the link for directions – From Eiffel Tower to the Louvre Museum
Guided tour with reserved access

Book this guided tour, where your expert guide will take you on a smart route around the Louvre.
You’ll skip the lines, avoid all the crowd, and in 3 hours, you’ll explore the whole museum.
Here are some of the benefits of booking a guided tour.
– You don’t waste your time trying to find the exhibits
– You don’t miss out on any of the masterpieces
– Expert guides share in-depth knowledge about the artwork, exciting stories, anecdotes, etc
For a more intimate experience, you can upgrade to a small-group or private tour, ensuring you get the most out of your visit.
Audio headsets are also included, so you won’t miss a word of your guide’s commentary, even in the bustling galleries.
This tour is perfect for travelers who want a deeper understanding of the Louvre’s history and its remarkable collection.
Note: The price varies at different times of the day and days of the week.
Louvre Group Tour
Adult (18+ years): €70
Youth (4 to 17 years): €65
Infant (up to 2 years): Free
Louvre Semi-private Tour
Adult (18+ years): €99
Youth (4 to 17 years): €94
Infant (up to 2 years): Free
Some art lovers prefer to book guided tours of the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay. And some tourists are confused between the two. If you aren’t sure which Parisian art gallery you want to visit, check out our analysis – Louvre Museum or Musee d’Orsay.
Tour for families with kids

This 2-hour tour is customized for kids and adults, and a special children’s guide will host your family.
This highly-rated tour starts with the Mona Lisa and then moves on to other exhibits that keep the kids excited.
Since this is a skip-the-line ticket, you only wait for approximately 10 to 20 minutes at the security checks.
You can choose your tours in English or French, with start times between 11 am and 3.30 pm, or opt for an early morning tour between 9 am and 10.30 am. Ticket prices vary based on your selected timing.
Ticket Prices
Adult (18+ years): €399
Child (up to 17 years): €25
Early morning Tour
Adult (18+ years): €499
Child (up to 17 years): €25
Hold on, Napoleon Museum?
The Louvre was once named after Napoleon. You heard that right. This was because, at the start of the 19th century, the museum’s collection grew significantly during his reign as he acquired numerous artworks during his conquests.
Opening hours
From Wednesday to Monday, the Louvre Museum opens at 9 am.
On Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, it closes at 6 pm; and on Wednesday and Friday, it closes at 9 pm.
The museum remains closed on Tuesday.
Day of the week | Timings |
Monday | 9 am to 6 pm |
Tuesday | Closed |
Wednesday | 9 am to 9 pm |
Thursday | 9 am to 6 pm |
Friday | 9 am to 9 pm |
Saturday | 9 am to 6 pm |
Sunday | 9 am to 6 pm |
Depending on the day, the employees start closing the rooms at different times.
The last entry is an hour before closing, and rooms are cleared 30 minutes before closing.
The attraction is closed on 1 January, 1 May, and 25 December.
How long does the tour take
At the Louvre Museum, visitors need at least 3 hours to explore masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, etc.
Tourists who have been to the attraction multiple times say that art fatigue sets in after approximately 2 to 3 hours of roaming around.
If you plan to stay longer, take a break at one of the many restaurants.
Did you know?
The world’s largest museum, The Louvre, houses 380,000 artifacts, of which 35,000 pieces are on display. To see all 35,000 items on display for at least 30 seconds, you will need 36 days.
Best time to visit

The best time to visit the Louvre Museum is after 3 pm.
Most guidebooks and websites recommend users land up early at 9 am to avoid the crowd.
So, it is better to avoid a morning visit to the attraction.
On Fridays, it is open till 9 pm, and by 6 pm, all group and school tours are dispersed, so you can consider visiting after 6 pm for a more peaceful experience.
Seasoned art enthusiasts prefer to visit the museum at night.
When NOT to visit Louvre Museum
Musee d’Orsay is just 1.5 km (.9 miles) from the museum. It displays French art from 1848 to 1914 and attracts more than 8,000 tourists daily.
It is closed on Mondays and thus diverts all the traffic towards the Louvre Museum.
The additional tourists mean longer waiting lines and bigger crowds.
That’s why staying away from Musee Du Louvre on Mondays makes sense.
Also, we don’t recommend visiting the Louvre on weekends.
Thirty percent of all tourists visiting the Louvre are residents of Paris.
Since the residents work weekdays, they line up at the attraction on weekends.
The best time to photograph the Louvre Pyramid is Tuesday when the museum is closed. If you visit after dark, you will only find locals and some tourists hanging around the beautifully lit Glass Pyramid.
A virtual tour of Louvre Museum
The Louvre Museum takes you back to the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greek eras, introducing you to antiquities and masterpieces by renowned artists such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and many others.
Wander through the paintings of The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, The Raft Of The Medusa by Théodore Géricault, and The Wedding Feast At Cana by Paolo Veronese, to name a few.
You can check out the famous sculptures of The Venus De Milo, Sleeping Hermaphroditus, The Winged Victory Of Samothrace, The Dying Slave, and The Rebellious Slave by Michelangelo.
The museum also displays various personal collections of French kings. You can choose from various types of Louvre Museum tickets to tailor your experience.
How to reach: The Grand Louvre is located next to the Seine River in central Paris.
Address: Musée du Louvre, 75058 Paris – France. Get Directions
Must see at The Louvre
There are many exhibits to see at the Louvre – 35,000 items in total.
Before we list out the must-see items, check out how the exhibits are classified and laid out.
Classification of items
The exhibits are divided into eight different departments depending on the artwork/exhibit.
1. Paintings
2. Egyptian Antiquities
3. Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities
4. Near Eastern Antiquities
5. Sculptures
6. Decorative Arts
7. Islamic Art
8. Prints and Drawings
Every exhibit belongs to one of the above departments.
What to see in The Louvre Museum
The exhibits belonging to these eight categories are displayed across the three wings—Sully, Richelieu, and Denon.
Each of these wings has more than 70 rooms.
Sully Wing
The Sully Wing is the oldest part of the Musée du Louvre.
In this wing, you can see remnants of the medieval castle of the Louvre and learn about its history.
On its ground floor, you will find one of the most beautiful sculptures—Venus of Milo.
Another must-visit artwork in this wing is the erotic Turkish Bath, painted in the late eighteenth century by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.
One of the sculptures in the Sully Wing proves that artists can also pull a cruel joke.
If you would see the ‘Sleeping Hermaphrodite’ in Room 17 of Sully Wing, you’ll know what we mean.
Don’t miss out on the 12-ton Great Sphinx of Tanis.
This Sphinx was sculpted sometime between 2,600 and 1,900 B.C. and has a lion’s body and a human head.
Richelieu Wing
You can see the art museum in all its glory at the Richelieu Wing.
On the first floor of this wing, you can see the highly decorated Napoleon III apartments as they were when he lived there.
Don’t miss out on Vermeer’s ‘The Astronomer’ and ‘The Lacemaker.’
The four Rembrandt self-portraits are also on display in this wing.
If you are into decorative arts, visit the first floor for a treat of clocks, furniture, chinaware, tapestries, showpieces, etc.
Denon Wing
Denon Wing attracts the most number of tourists to the Louvre in Paris.
After all, it houses the most famous works—the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory of Samothrace, etc. Find out everything about the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum.
Some of the most exquisite French paintings are exhibited in the Denon Wing. The Mona Lisa enjoys a special place in the Louvre, displayed in the Salle des États to accommodate huge crowds.
Don’t miss Jacques-Louis David’s ‘The Coronation of Napoleon’ and Delacroix’s ‘Liberty Leading the People.’
The two sculptures in this wing, which we highly recommend, are ‘Psyche Revived by the Kiss of Love’ by Antonio Canova and ‘Dying Slave’ by Michelangelo.
Mona Lisa’s Tale of Theft and Triumph
The Mona Lisa, one of the “three ladies” of the Louvre alongside the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace, is protected by bulletproof glass and armed guards—a legacy of her 1911 theft, after which she was missing for two years.
Visit the Tuileries Gardens
The Tuileries Garden, situated between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, lures numerous visitors as well.
Some tourists come in early and spend time at the garden before walking to the art museum.
It opens for the public at 7 am all through the year.
From the last Sunday in September to the last Saturday in March, the garden closes at 7.30 pm.
From the last Sunday in March to the last Saturday in September, the garden closes at 9 pm.
The garden opens from 7 am to 11 pm every day in June, July, and August.
The evacuation of the public begins 30 minutes before closing time.
Audio guide
If you don’t want to spend the extra money on a guided tour, the next best thing is to book an audio guide.
To get a sense of how this Louvre-Nintendo audio guide works, check out this video below.
Using the audio guide on the New Nintendo 3DS, visitors can learn about the palace, its artworks, and its history.
The audio guide also uses geo-location to direct you to the most relevant information about the artwork.
It is available in nine languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.
The audio guides are available for rent for €5 per person at the museum.
Louvre entrances
The Louvre has four entrances—the Pyramid entrance, the Porte des Lions entrance, the Carrousel entrance, and the Porte de Richelieu entrance.

Download this map. Image: Louvre.fr
Each of them serves a different purpose.
Louvre Pyramid entrance
The entrance through the Glass Pyramid is the main entrance to the Louvre Paris. It is also known as the Le Pyramide entrance.
This 21-meter-high structure makes for great photographs, so most tourists prefer to enter from here.
Architect IM Pei built this structure.
Pei chose glass because he wanted it to be least intrusive and intended for the light to enter the foyer below. Directions to Pyramid Entrance.
Louvre Carrousel entrance
If you reach the museum by metro, it is best to get there from the Carrousel entrance.
The Carrousel du Louvre is an underground shopping complex situated next to the museum.
The -2 floor of this shopping complex has an entrance to the Louvre.
Once you have taken two sets of escalators to the -2 floor, walk past the line of underground shops, and you will spot the inverted pyramid.
Look around, and you can’t miss the Carrousel entrance.
This is also known as ‘the mall entrance’ and ‘inverted pyramid entrance.’
Interestingly, this doorway also leads to the same part of the museum as the Pyramid entrance. Directions to Carrousel entrance.
Note: On Lines 1 and 7, the Metro stop for the Louvre Museum is ‘Palais Royale-Musee du Louvre.’
Porte De Richelieu entrance
The Porte De Richelieu entrance is reserved for visitors on a group tour or those with an annual museum membership pass.
Individual ticket holders and groups of family or friends are not permitted to use this entry.
This entrance is between the courtyard (the area with the Glass Pyramid) and Rue de Rivoli Street. Directions to Porte de Richelieu entrance.
Porte des Lions entrance
While researching, you may have encountered many visitors suggesting Porte des Lions.
Until mid-2016, this access was a great way to beat the crowd. However, now, it is closed.
Paris being Paris, this may open again.
If you want to check this entryway, it shouldn’t take long because it is near the Pyramid entrance.
Look for the first set of Lions (closest to the Glass Pyramid) marking the entrance to the museum. Directions to Portes Des Lions.
Louvre Museum map
The trick is to stay aware of the masterpieces.
You don’t need the Louvre map if you have booked a guided tour.
But if you are on your own, we suggest you carry the floor plan.

The map helps you locate the exhibits and spot visitor services such as restrooms, cafes, souvenir shops, and visitor assistance booths.
Food and drinks
Visiting the Louvre Museum can be tiring – there is so much to see and so little time.
So, we recommend regular snack breaks in between to keep your energy high.
There are 15 restaurants, cafes, and takeaway counters inside the premises.
If you are looking for a sit, relax, and eat experience, opt for one of the three restaurants given below:
1. The Bistrot Benoit
Location: Under the Pyramid, Hall Napoléon. Get directions
Opening Hours: Breakfast is available from 9 am to 11.30 am and lunch from 11.30 am to 5 pm. On Wednesdays and Fridays, it is open till 9.45 pm.
2. Le Café Marly
Location: Cour Napoléon. Get directions
Opening Hours: Open daily from 8 am to 2 am
3. The Café Richelieu-Angelina
Location: Richelieu wing, 1st floor Between the Napoleon III Apartments and Decorative Arts galleries. Get directions
Opening Hours: 10 am to 4.45 pm and until 6.30 pm on Wednesday and Friday. In July and August, it is open till 8.30 pm.
If you want to grab a quick bite and move on, we recommend the following cafes as well –
1. Café Mollien on the first floor of Denon Wing.
2. The Comptoir du Louvre, located below the Pyramid.
3. Denon and Richelieu takeaway counters located in the mezzanine entrances to the Denon and Richelieu wings.
FAQs about the Louvre Museum
Here are a few questions visitors usually ask before visiting the attraction in Paris.
Is the Louvre Museum open on French holidays, and what are the timings?
The museum is open on most French public holidays, including Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Pentecost Monday, Bastille Day, Assumption Day, All Saints’ Day, and 1918 Armistice, except if its on a Tuesday. On such holidays, the attraction opens at 9 am and closes at 6 pm.
Are there lockers at the Louvre Museum?
Yes, a locker facility is available at the museum.
Does the Louvre Museum offer free entry?
The museum allows free entry for everybody on 14 July, the French National holiday, unless it falls on a Tuesday. Admission is also free on the first Friday of each month after 6 pm, excluding July and August. EU residents under 26, non-EU residents under 18, disabled visitors and carers, and jobseekers with a valid ID are also eligible for free entry. Even if the admission is free, booking a time slot online is still required to ensure access.
How many glass pyramids are in the Louvre?
Totally, there are five glass pyramids at the Louvre—the large Pyramid entrance and four smaller pyramids around it.
Can I take photos and videos at the museum?
Guests can take photos and videos of the permanent collections and not of temporary collections. Selfie sticks, flash, and lighting are strictly prohibited.
Can I re-enter the Louvre with the same ticket and on the same day?
No! Once a visitor makes an exit, he/she won’t get re-entry.
Is the statue of David at the Louvre?
No, Michelangelo’s David is located in the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy.