Must Know Tips For The Louvre: How To Prepare For Your Visit

The Louvre is stunning. It’s the quintessential example of the museum idea: that you can go into one place and confront the the finest things ever created.

The Louvre is the largest, busiest, most visited museum in the world. It has 35,000 works of art from the 6th century BC to the 19th century AD.

It’s a sumptuous Renaissance palace itself, with a lavishly decorated interior and beautifully painted ceilings. Plus it holds the world’s most famous painting — the Mona Lisa.

A visit to the Louvre is a visually rewarding experience. But it can be exhausting, an intimidating overcrowded madhouse.

golden equestrian sculpture of Joan of Arc by Emmanuel Fremiet in the square of Louvre Museum Palace
golden equestrian sculpture of Joan of Arc by Emmanuel Fremiet

The Louvre is filled with masterpieces at every turn. It can be overwhelming, especially if you’re not an art buff. It’s important not to just show up without a plan, or you might end up feeling frustrated.

It’s much better to do some background research before your visit. This way, you’ll know what to expect and what you want to see, allowing you to enjoy the art without feeling confused, stressed, or like you’re missing out.

Here are my tips for making the most of your Louvre visit.

These essential tips, tricks, and hacks will help you navigate the Louvre more efficiently and enjoyably. You’ll also find out what you can do beforehand to prepare for an amazing visit to this iconic museum.

the Louvre Palace and the I.M. Pei Pyramid in Paris France
the I.M. Pei Pyramid at the Louvre

Essential Tips For Visiting the Louvre

With these Louvre tips, you can plan your visit down to the last detail, if you’re so inclined.

1. Identify and Educate Yourself On the Must See Masterpieces of the Louvre

First, read up on what to see at the Louvre. You can’t see everything in the Louvre on one visit. The Louvre is best experienced by going back repeatedly.

But if you only have one day, figure out your priorities in advance. And perhaps determine which specific pieces of art you want to see in each wing.

Theodore Gericault, Raft of the Medusa, 1818-19 -- one of the Louvre's best and most dramatic paintings
Theodore Gericault, Raft of the Medusa, 1818-19
Johannes Vermeer, The Lacemaker, 1669-70
Johannes Vermeer, The Lacemaker, 1669-70

If you want to know more about the history of the Louvre, click here. I’ve also written an extensive guide to the underrated masterpieces of the Louvre, with tips and tricks for visiting.

Hint, the world’s most famous painting Mona Lisa is highly overrated. You’ll be lucky if you get near the small painting cordoned off behind glass.

The Mona Lisa only became famous when it was stolen in the early 20th century. In an adjacent room, you can saddle up to two equally good Leonardo masterpieces for a much closer look, the Annunciation and The Virgin and Child With St. Anne.

I also have a guide to what I think is the best painting in the Louvre, Gericault’s Raft of the Medusa, a then-scandalous painting based on a true story.

You can also study sixteen 1:30 minute thematic trails for visiting the Louvre on the museum website.

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503 -- the most popular painting in the Louvre
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503

2. Learn the Louvre Layout

The Louvre is huge, really massive. Even with a map, you may get lost.

The Louvre is U shaped, divided into three wings: Denon, Sully, and Richelieu. Each of the wings has four floors. Click here for an interactive map of the Louvre.

Denon Wing: home to the Louvre’s best known paintings, including the Mona Lisa.

Sully Wing: known for its statuary and antiquities, including the Venus de Milo.

Richelieu Wing: houses the lavish apartments of Napoleon III and some famed Dutch art works, including Vermeer’s The Lacemaker.

You can’t really do all three wings in one day without severe museum fatigue and sensory overload. Ideally, do one wing per day. But if you can’t, and you want to see the most famous masterpieces, they’re in the Denon and Sully wings.

Venus de Milo, 101 BC, attributed to Alexandros of Antioch
Venus de Milo, 101 BC, attributed to Alexandros of Antioch

3. Learn Out Loud: Listen to Free Louvre Podcasts

Learn out loud before you go! Here are some of my favorite Louvre-related podcasts, which serve as handy primers for visiting the Louvre.

If you’re interested in more podcasts for art lovers, here’s my to read guide to the best art podcasts.

Winged Victory of Samothrace, 190 B.C.
Winged Victory of Samothrace, 190 B.C.

4. Listen to the Smarthistory YouTube Videos About Louvre Masterpieces

And there’s more ways to learn out loud about Louvre art!

Check out these 12 super informative YouTube videos, which make Louvre art come to life. They explain and analyze specific master art works at the Louvre:

Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830
Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830

5. Take a Virtual Tour of the Louvre

One of the best ways to prepare for a Louvre visit is to take a virtual tour of the Louvre, wing by wing.

In this curated tour, you can see all the must see masterpieces via 360 video tours, YouTube videos, or online tours from the Louvre website. For a lengthy overall YouTube tour of the Louvre, click here.

In addition, you can take a virtual 360 tour of the Louvre’s Grand Gallery, which houses much of the Louvre’s Italian art. If you’re a Mona Lisa fan, the Louvre is offering the museum’s first virtual reality experience, which brings to life the story of the enigmatic portrait.

You can also take a virtual tour the Louvre’s Roman Antiquities here, the famed Egyptian Antiquities here, and walk around the Medieval Louvre here.

detail from the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre
detail from the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre

6. Book Tickets To the Louvre In Advance

Adults tickets are €17 and children under 18 are free.

Admission is free for all visitors on the first Saturday of each month from 6:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m, and, for those under 26, on Friday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.

But the free hours are extremely crowded.

It’s essential to buy tickets for the Louvre online at least a month in advance. This saves you waiting in both a ticket line and a security line.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814

If tickets on the Louvre website are sold out, you may be able to get a ticket on Get Your Guide, Viator, or Tiqets. These reseller tickets sell out quickly too, so book as far in advance as possible.

You also have skip the line entry to the Louvre with the Paris Museum Pass.

As of 2023, Louvre tickets will be even harder to come by. To provide a better viewing experience, the Louvre has decided to limit daily attendance by about a third, to 30,000 people.

Even if you have a ticket, you’ll still need to go through security. This may take about 30 minutes.

If tickets are sold out, another option is to book a guided tour. They vary in length from 1-4 hours.

Antonio Canova, Psyche Revived By Cupid's Kiss, 1787
Antonio Canova, Psyche Revived By Cupid’s Kiss, 1787

7. Know the Right Entrance To Use

Another important Louvre tip is to make sure to go to the right entrance. Don’t go in the I.M. Pei Pyramid entrance, beautiful as it is.

Use the Carrousel du Louvre entrance.

This is the underground entrance to the Louvre, which you can access if you take Metro Line 1 to the Palais Royale-Musee du Louvre stop. You can also access it from 99 Rue de Rivoli (go down two sets of escalators to the inverted pyramid).

At the Carrousel du Louvre entrance, the security line is often nonexistent. There are numerous ticket machines in the main lobby, make buying your ticket a breeze if you haven’t already purchased one online.

If you don’t have a ticket, you’ll have to use the pyaamid entrance. There are four lines:

Orange Line: Visitors without tickets
Green Line: Visitors with a ticket or the Paris Museum Pass
Blue Line: Priority Access for disabled visitors and staff members
Yellow Line: Visitors with Membership Cards

Jaques Louis David, Oath of the Horatti, 1784
Jaques Louis David, Oath of the Horatti, 1784

Practical Information for Visiting the Louvre

Address: Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France

Hours: Closed Tuesdays. Open other days 9:00 to 6:00 pm. On Wednesday and Friday, the Louvre is open until 9:45 pm. However, from July until September 2020, the museum will only be open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Entry fees:

Adults € 17

Admission is free for all visitors on the first Saturday of each month from 6:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m, and, for those under 26, on Friday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. But the free hours are extremely crowded.

Metro: Palais-Royal Musée du Louvre (lines 1 and 7) and Pyramides (line 14)

Telephone: +33 (0)1 40 20 53 17

Napoleon III Apartments in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre
Napoleon III Apartments in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre

Pro tip:

The least crowded months for visiting the Louvre are November and January. The best time to visit is on Thursday or during nighttime hours, especially Friday night.

You’ll have to check everything except a small handbag.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my must know tips for visiting the Louvre. Here are some of my other Paris travel guides and resources:

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