The Louvre Museum is the most visited art museum in the world and one of the largest, so a little planning makes a big difference. This guide explains how to get there on the metro, how to book, which entrance to use, when crowds are lighter, and how to see the famous works without spending the whole day in queues.
About the Louvre Museum
The Louvre began as a fortress built by King Philippe Auguste around 1200 and grew over the centuries into a royal palace. It opened as a public museum in 1793, during the French Revolution. The glass pyramid in the main courtyard, designed by the architect I. M. Pei, opened in 1989 and now serves as the main entrance hall.
The collection is arranged in three wings: Denon, Sully and Richelieu. It covers Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities, Islamic art, sculpture, decorative arts, prints and drawings, and European paintings up to the mid nineteenth century.
How to get to the Louvre by metro
The nearest station is Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre, served by Lines 1 and 7. Its biggest advantage is an underground passage that leads straight into the Carrousel du Louvre shopping arcade and on to the museum's entrance below the pyramid, so you can arrive without going outside. Follow the signs for "Musée du Louvre" inside the station.
If you would rather enter through the pyramid itself, take the exit for Place du Palais-Royal and walk a couple of minutes across Rue de Rivoli into the Cour Napoléon. The Louvre–Rivoli station on Line 1 is another option, a short walk from the eastern end of the palace.
For other places to eat or visit around these stations, see our Paris neighbourhood guide.
Louvre Museum tickets and booking
The museum uses timed-entry tickets, and booking a slot in advance on the official Louvre website (louvre.fr) is strongly recommended. Slots for popular days and times can sell out, especially in spring and summer and during school holidays. Buying on the official site also avoids resellers who add fees.
Some visitors qualify for free admission, for example younger visitors and certain residents, but the rules and prices have changed in recent years, so check the official site for current prices, eligibility and opening hours. The museum is traditionally closed one day a week, so confirm the closing day before planning your trip.
Which entrance to use:
- Pyramid entrance: the most famous and often the busiest, though a timed ticket shortens the wait.
- Carrousel entrance: reached from the metro or from 99 Rue de Rivoli, usually a calmer option.
- Other side entrances open and close depending on operations, so rely on the instructions sent with your ticket.
Best time to visit the Louvre and how long to stay
The first slot of the morning and the evening opening, when the museum offers one, are generally the calmest. Midday is the busiest, and the room with the Mona Lisa is crowded almost all the time. Weekdays outside school holidays are easier than weekends.
Two to three hours is enough to see the main highlights. A full day only scratches the surface of a collection this size, so it is better to choose a theme or a wing than to try to see everything. Comfortable shoes help, as the distances inside are long.
Highlights inside the Louvre
The famous three
- Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, in the Denon wing. Expect a queue and only a short time in front of the painting.
- Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Hellenistic sculpture at the top of the Daru staircase.
- Venus de Milo, the ancient Greek statue in the Sully wing.
Worth seeking out
- The large French paintings in the Denon wing, including Géricault's Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People.
- The medieval Louvre in the Sully wing, where you can walk along the foundations of the original fortress.
- The Napoleon III apartments in the Richelieu wing, with lavish nineteenth-century interiors.
- The Code of Hammurabi and the winged bulls from Khorsabad in the Near Eastern antiquities.
- The Egyptian collection, including the Seated Scribe.
Pick up a free map at the entrance or use the museum's app to plan a route, as room closures happen and some galleries may be shut on the day you visit.
Nearby on the same metro stop
Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre puts you in one of the most central parts of Paris:
- The Tuileries Garden, which runs west from the Louvre toward Place de la Concorde.
- The Palais-Royal gardens and the striped Buren columns, just across the street.
- The Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in the same building complex.
- The Seine riverbanks and the Pont des Arts footbridge to the Left Bank.
See cafés, restaurants and other sights around the museum on the Louvre page on Around the Metro.