Paris Museums tips

Paris is a treasure chest of great art but before you visit any of them, take time to learn about amazing works of art that were a part of French history a long time ago and today.

Museum Tips

Know the closed days

Most museums are closed one day during the week (usually Monday, sometimes Tuesday; Jewish sights are typically closed Saturday). If you've got only one day for the Sistine Chapel, avoid Sunday. It's either closed, or — on the last Sunday of the month — free and terribly crowded.

Arrive early (or late) at popular sights

If you show up by 8:00 in the morning you'll get in without waiting in line. Some museums are open late one or two nights a week and will give you the opportunity to explore a less crowded museum.

Have a look at our late night openings of Paris Museums.

Paris Museum Pass

Paris museums, owned by the City do not charge admission to their permanent collections.

Other Museums are usually free on the first Sunday of each month, but the major museums can get crowded during this time.

To save time and money, purchase the Paris Museum Pass that covers more than 70 museums and monuments in Paris and Ile de France, purchase it at any participating sights, major Métro stations, and tourist office branches. With the pass, visits are unlimited, which means you can revisit a museums such as the Louvre as many time as you wish as well as to skip the lines. The Paris Museum pass, for example, pays for itself in four visits and saves you hours by letting you skip long lines.

For an up to date list visit www.parismuseumpass.com

Be selective

Many museums in Paris are big and you should choose the art that you are interested in by visiting online the museum web site. With this selective strategy, you'll appreciate the best when you're fresh. If you have any energy left afterward, you can explore other areas of specific interest to you.

Audio guides Audio guide tours are getting more and more popular at museums (sometimes included in the entry cost, sometimes a few dollars extra). If you bring along a Y-jack and an extra pair of headphones, two people can save half by sharing the same audio guide. Unfortunately, this isn't possible with some new types.

Paris Museums Tips

The Louvre Museum

To avoid the lines at Louvre, purchase the museum pass in other less busy museums and enter Louvre from the Rue de Rivoli at the Arc du Carrousel entrance.

The Louvre contains one of the most important art collections in the world. As it's so huge it is divided into different wings, which are all color coded and labeled. You can't possibly cover everything — so don't try. Choose the art that you are interested in by visiting online the museum web site. With the help of a tour guide or guidebook, spend no more than two hours in a museum.

Nevertheless, it's easy to loose your way here. The Louvre may be the most avoided museum in Paris. Tourists, daunted by the sheer size and richness of the place often find the smaller museums much more inviting. But eventually most people do their duty and come, and most leave - overwhelmed and exhausted.

The Louvre palace houses three other museums in its northern wing. The entrance to the Musee de la Mode et du Textile, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs and the Musee de la Publicite can be found at 107 rue de Rivoli, where a combined ticket for the three can be purchased.