If you’re planning a trip to Paris, then there’s a decent chance you’re thinking of going to the Louvre. The most visited museum in the WHOLE world, the Louvre has a whopping 9 million visitors every year (and on some days, it feels like they’re all there at the exact same time).
Even as a Paris Travel Expert, I’ll tell you this – you don’t HAVE to feel obligated to go to the Louvre, and I’ve included some advice to help you decide if you should go or skip it below. But if you DO decide to go, this super-detailed guide to visiting the Louvre will be a real lifesaver. It includes EVERYTHING you need to know about visiting the Louvre, from when to visit to avoid the insane crowds to where to eat in and near the museum that isn’t mediocre and wallet-draining.
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(WA = Wheelchair Accessible)
What’s the Louvre?
Let’s start with some good ol’ basics, like what the Louvre actually is. The Louvre is France’s largest art museum and is one of the most famous museums in the entire world (if not the most famous). It displays over 35,000 works of art, from prehistoric sculptures to dramatic paintings depicting the glories of Napoléon. Oh, and it’s the home of the Mona Lisa, of course, arguably the most famous painting on the planet.
But it isn’t merely an art museum – the building itself is pretty spectacular. First built as a fortress in 1200, it was converted into a regal Renaissance-style palace in the 1500s and was the main residence of the French royals and emperors for centuries. They all seemed to add new wings and stunning decoration as well. This all makes it one of the key sites in Paris for tourists to grab a ticket for.
Should you include the Louvre in your trip itinerary?
At Love and Paris, we’re big believers in that you don’t HAVE to see something in Paris just because it’s a popular attraction or because people say it’s a “must-do”. Everyone’s interests and travel styles are different, so you should do what works best for you and your trip. So let me lay out some facts that might help you decide if you’ll actually enjoy it and it’s worth a visit.
First, as I mentioned above, other than the art, the Louvre is a totally gorgeous building. But you can admire much of its architecture from the outside, which you can do if you’re following the walking route on Day 1 of our Paris Itinerary. So you do have the option to just stay outside and experience it that way, plus the Tuileries gardens are right next door which are worth a walk through too.
As for going inside, if you’re on the fence about it, I suggest only going in if:
- You’re really into art
- You love history or architecture
- You don’t mind crowds
If these factors match you and your trip interests, then the following info will be super helpful to your visit. If not, It’s ABSOLUTELY fine to just see the outside and use your time for doing different things while you’re in Paris.
If you’re on a budget and you’re not sure if you want to pay for the expensive entrance ticket, the Louvre does have some free access options (see the entrance ticket section), or you could instead visit the Petit Palais, a great art museum that’s completely free and is kinda like a mini-Louvre and Orsay museum combined.
Where’s the Louvre?
The Louvre actually doesn’t have an address because it’s so GIGANTIC, but it’s located in the 1st arrondissement, between the rue du Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens.
The best métro station to reach it is Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, which is on lines 1 and 7, and as with anywhere you’re trying to get to in Paris, use apps like Google Maps or Citymapper to see the best transport route to take.
When’s the Louvre open?
The Louvre has pretty good opening hours:
- Open every day EXCEPT Tuesday.
- Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday: 9 am to 6 pm.
- Wednesday and Friday: 9 am to 9 pm.
- Closed on these public holidays: 1 January, 1 May, and 25 December.
The Louvre starts closing rooms in the lead-up to closing time, so you won’t want to plan on visiting your “must-see” artworks too close to closing time.
What’s the best time to visit the Louvre?
If possible, I HIGHLY recommend visiting the Louvre when it’s open late on Wednesday and Friday evenings. This is when the museum is MUCH less crowded, and you’ll honestly have a much better experience. You don’t even have to come super late, as most of the major groups will be gone by 4 or 5 pm. The museum is also free on certain Friday nights – more on this in the next section.
If you can’t come for the late opening nights, try to come during the week as it’s usually less busy than weekends. Also, try to avoid Mondays, because the museum is a bit busier since Versailles and the Musée d’Orsay are closed that day. So if you have a choice, Wednesday and Thursday tend to be the least busy and IMO, the best options.
Pictured above is Musée Delacroix courtesy of Musée Delacroix
What entrance tickets do you need for the Louvre?
The Louvre has a standard entrance price, then some guests can go for free:
- Tickets are €22 for adults, 18 years old and above.
- The museum is FREE for all visitors 17 and under, no matter your nationality.
- It’s also free for EU passport holders 25 years old and under.
- Free for ALL visitors from 6-9 pm the 1st Friday of the month (except for July and August).
- Free for visitors with physical disabilities and an accompanying guest.
Your Louvre entrance ticket is also good for the Musée Delacroix. This is a lovely museum within the former home and art studio of the famous French artist Eugène Delacroix. It’s a fantastic hidden gem that I really LOVE and suggest you visit if you have time. It’s situated on a super pretty square in the St-Germain area that you’ll pass by on the walking route of Day 2 of our Paris Itinerary.
FYI, to take advantage, you have to visit Musée Delacroix the same or the next day. All you need to do is show your Louvre ticket at the door and pop in for a visit.
How do you get entrance tickets to the Louvre?
I really recommend booking your tickets in advance. They come up for sale three months ahead of time, and you’ll want to get them at least two months before your travel dates if you’re visiting during peak travel periods, like over Easter, Christmas, and from June through August. Even outside of these time frames, who wants to wait in line when you can book ahead and have a shorter security line?
You can book tickets online up to three months in advance, and you need to reserve tickets for anyone who qualifies for free tickets. You’ll see these options for each type of visitor when you book.
If you haven’t booked in advance, you might still be able to get tickets the same day. You can buy these at counters and vending machines that are after the security check and beneath the Pyramid. BUT the Louvre has a maximum number of daily visitors, so if the advance tickets are sold out on the day you simply turn up, you won’t be able to get one.
The entrance line for visitors without tickets is much longer, too. A hack that might work for visitors without tickets is to try to come when the museum is open late on Wednesday or Friday evenings. Your chances of getting in are DEFINITELY better.
Image Courtesy of Take Walks
Best guided tours of the Louvre
You can certainly visit the Louvre on your own, but if you’d like to learn more about the history of the building, the key artworks, and to navigate around the crowds with an expert, I’d book onto a tour.
Your entrance ticket will also be included on a guided tour, so you won’t have to worry about securing those in advance. Visitors on tours get to access the museum through a special entrance, which is MUCH shorter than the lines for other visitors. So that’s another great reason to take a guided tour of the Louvre.
Here are some AMAZING tours that I think you’ll love:
Private Louvre tour: If you’d like to have a dedicated guide just for you, book one of these top-notch experiences by Boutique Tours. The guides are art historians, and as it’s a private tour, it can be customised to your interests.
Closing time at the Louvre: As I mentioned above, the best time to visit the museum is when it’s open late, and these excellent tours by Walks are timed to make the most of this. A small group tour led by expert art guides, since you’ll be visiting after most of the big tour groups, you’ll have the Mona Lisa almost all to yourselves.
Louvre Museum tour for kids: If you’re travelling with kids, you might want to book this fun tour. Designed as a treasure hunt, it aims to introduce younger visitors to the museum and its artworks in a fun and engaging way.
How to get into the Louvre: entrance options
There are four different entrances to the museum (which you can see on this map). As I said above, if you’re with a guide, you can enter via the special tour group entrance in the Passage Richelieu, so you don’t have to worry about figuring out which one to use.
Visitors without a guide can use one of these other Louvre entrances:
The Pyramid: I’d avoid this entrance if you can. It’s the busiest, and you have to wait outside, which isn’t ideal if it’s too hot, too cold or rainy.
The Carrousel du Louvre: There is an underground shopping mall hidden beneath the plaza that’s between the Pyramid and the Tuileries Gardens. It’s no longer a secret, BUT the line is usually shorter and protects you from the weather. You can get into the mall at 99 rue de Rivoli OR via two staircases found around 30 steps on either side of the Carroussel archway.
Porte des Lions: this is the “secret” entrance, BUT at the time of publication (Aug 2025), it’s currently closed. Check the Louvre’s website close to your trip dates to see if it’s reopened. It almost never has a line, but keep in mind that you can’t take this entrance if you’ve got a backpack or large bag because there’s no cloakroom on this side, where you’ll be required to check your big items.
Image Courtesy of Musée du Louvre via Facebook
What to see inside the Louvre
The Louvre is totally MASSIVE. It has three wings that contain 400 rooms and 35,000 pieces of artwork. It would take 100 DAYS to see every piece of art if you only spent 30 seconds looking at each one. I doubt that you have quite that much time, so you need to make a bit of a game plan if you’re visiting it on your own.
Here are the most famous masterpieces of the Louvre that most visitors want to see:
The Mona Lisa: Leonardo da Vinci’s world-famous painting of a woman with a terribly mysterious smile.
The Wedding at Cana: The largest painting in the Louvre and right across from the Mona Lisa, Italian artist Paolo Veronese’s masterpiece depicts the scene from the bible when Jesus turns water into wine.
Liberty Leading the People: Eugène Delacroix’s thrilling painting of the 1830 Revolution.
The Raft of the Medusa: French artist Théodore Géricault’s dramatic painting of the survivors of a shipwreck.
The Coronation of Napoléon: A monumental depiction of Napoléon I’s coronation at Notre Dame by Jacques-Louis David.
The Venus de Milo: A graceful Greek statue of the goddess of love.
The Winged Victory of Samothrace: Another gorgeous Greek statue that shouldn’t be missed.
Rebellious Slave and Dying Slave: Two amazing statues by Michelangelo that were meant for a Pope’s tomb.
Most of the Louvre’s most famous works are in the Denon Wing, so if you’re strapped for time, head straight to this one and follow the signs or grab a free map at the info desk to guide you to the art you’d like to see.
The Louvre also has an incredible collection of ancient art, including Egyptian, Babylonian and other Greek and Roman art besides the works mentioned above.
I personally also love the Richelieu wing, which contains the Napoléon III Apartments, a series of dazzling rooms created in the mid-1800s that have massive crystal chandeliers, gilded mirrors and glamorous red velour seats, and the Marie de Medici Cycle paintings, 24 paintings by Peter Paul Rubens. It’s also usually a LOT less busy than the Denon wing. So if you’ve got extra energy, I’d make time to visit these too.
As I said earlier, the building also has so much history, so I love walking around the old moat of the fortress, which was rediscovered in the 1980s and the Salle des Caryatides, a Renaissance ballroom. The Galerie d’Apollon, where the former State jewels are displayed and which is covered in stunning paintings, is also AMAZING.
Image Courtesy of Café Mollien
Can you eat inside the Louvre?
Yep, if you’re feeling peckish or plan to stay inside the Louvre the whole day, there’s a range of food available without having to leave the museum. Under the Pyramid, there’s the Boulangerie du Louvre, which sells takeaway sandwiches, snacks and drinks. There’s also the Café du Pyramide, which is a sit-down café serving hot meals. Both of these options are fine, if not a tad overpriced.
After you go through the ticket controls, there are a few options scattered in the different wings. There are snack counters in each wing, then for a sit-down meal or takeaway snack, there’s the Café Mollien, on level one of the Denon wing (near to the French paintings rooms), and there’s also a branch of Angelina, known for its famous hot chocolate (and super long lines at its historic branch), which is found near the Napoléon III Apartments in the Richelieu wing.
Outside of the museum but nearby, a lot of people go to the Café Marly, which is on a terrace overlooking the Pyramid. Honestly, though, it’s REALLY over-hyped, the food is overpriced and isn’t great, AND the waiters are super rude, so I do not recommend going there.
LouLou is another popular restaurant that’s only a few steps away from the Louvre’s entrance. It’s overpriced too, but the food is decent and it has a huge terrace away from the crowds that has fantastic Eiffel Tower views, so if you don’t mind forking out a lot for your lunch, then you could book a table here.
Alternatively, a few minutes’ walk away are these more affordable and less touristy options:
- Café Kitsuné – Louvre: A cool modern café that serves brunch and lunch fare with a contemporary twist and excellent coffee.
- Louise Café: A traditional cafe near the Palais Royal that’s got really great hot goat cheese salads, duck parmentier, and my favourite– baked cheesy ravioli.
- BO&MIE: For a sandwich or snack, this bakery on the corner of Rue du Louvre and Rue de Rivoli is a good option. It also has a bunch of tables, so you can rest your feet a little before heading off to do more sightseeing.
I’ve also included LOTS of additional dining suggestions in the area in our Paris Itinerary.
Louvre tips for visitors with accessibility needs
The Louvre has some great programs and services that have been designed to make the museum accessible to all visitors. These include special mobility tools, audio guides and other facilities, which I sum up below.
But in general, entrance to the museum is free for all visitors with disabilities and a guest accompanying them. A supporting document proving the disability might be requested. Visitors with accessibility challenges don’t have to wait in the long line. Just go up to one of the security attendants, and they’ll help you inside.
Visitors with mobility issues:
Despite being an old building, the Louvre actually has some great facilities and services for visitors with mobility difficulties:
- Most of the museum is wheelchair accessible.
- Present yourself to a ticket attendant at the Pyramid entrance, and they’ll help you through security and to the elevator that’s just inside this entrance. There’s also an elevator via the Carrousel entrance, but I think the Pyramid entrance is the easiest.
- They loan out wheelchairs for free (ask at the info desk once inside).
- The museum has a special accessibility map that shows you where all the elevators are and the best ways to get around for visitors with mobility difficulties.
Visitors with hearing impairments:
- If you’ve got your own listening device, you can get hearing loops at the Information Desk beneath the Pyramid.
- The museum has an audio tour adapted for visitors with hearing impairments. The audio tour can be used via Nintendo 3DS™ XL terminals that they also loan out.
Visitors with visual impairments and sensory challenges:
- There are a few hands-on, tactile learning centers inside the museum that have been designed for visitors with hearing impairments. You’ll find these in the Medieval Louvre and Islamic Art sections.
- For visitors who are sensitive to light conditions, the Louvre has also created this map showing the different lighting around the museum. It’s only in French, but it could still come in handy.
- You can also get SensoryBags at the info desk, these include noise-cancelling headphones, eye bands and other useful material to help you have a great visit.
There are plenty of staff throughout the museum, and many speak English. So don’t be shy to ask them for assistance during your visit, and they’ll be happy to help you out.
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