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Louvre Museum: tickets, hours and what to see

The most visited museum in the world, and the largest. Here is how to get in without the wait, what a ticket covers, and the works to walk to first.

  • The main courtyard of the Louvre on a sunny day, with the glass pyramid among the palace wings.
  • Looking up through the glass pyramid of the Louvre from the entrance hall below.
  • The Sully pavilion of the Louvre under a clear blue sky, with a fountain in front of it.
  • The Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of a woman with a faint smile, seated before a distant landscape.
  • The Galerie d'Apollon in the Louvre, its vaulted ceiling covered in paintings and gilded stucco.
  • The Winged Victory of Samothrace on the prow of its stone ship in the Louvre.
  • The Venus de Milo standing alone at the end of a gallery of red marble in the Louvre.
  • The Cour Marly in the Louvre, a glass-roofed courtyard filled with French sculpture.
  • The Louvre pyramid lit at night, with the palace on either side.
Gary Todd, CC0
Admission
€22 to €32 at the museum
Open
9:00 to 18:00, until 21:00 Wed and Fri
Closed
Tuesdays
Allow
3 hours for a first visit

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    What to see at the Louvre

    1. Mona Lisa

      Denon wing

      Leonardo's portrait hangs behind glass in the largest room of the museum, and it is smaller than anyone expects. Go at opening or on a late night, and give it a minute longer than the crowd does.

    2. The Wedding Feast at Cana

      Denon wing

      Turn around from the Mona Lisa. Veronese's banquet, painted in 1563, is the largest painting in the Louvre and fills the wall opposite, with more than a hundred figures at one table.

    3. Winged Victory of Samothrace

      Denon wing

      A Greek goddess of victory landing on the prow of a ship, carved around 190 BC and set at the top of the Daru staircase, where you see her from below as you climb.

    4. Venus de Milo

      Sully wing

      Found on the island of Milos in 1820 and in the Louvre the following year. The marble is over two metres tall and is shown in the round, so walk all the way about her.

    5. Liberty Leading the People

      Denon wing

      Delacroix painted the July Revolution in the year it happened, 1830. It hangs with the other great French canvases of the century, beside Géricault's Raft of the Medusa.

    6. The Great Sphinx of Tanis

      Sully wing

      A granite sphinx that guards the entrance to the Egyptian collection, one of the largest outside Egypt.

    7. The medieval Louvre

      Sully wing, lower level

      Before it was a palace the Louvre was a fortress. Its moat and the base of its towers are still there, under the museum, and you can walk around them.

    8. The apartments of Napoleon III

      Richelieu wing

      State rooms of the 1860s, all gilding, crimson velvet and chandeliers. They are the quietest of the famous rooms, and the best reminder that this was a palace.

    Tickets and tours for the Louvre

    • Sold by GetYourGuide

      Reserved entry with audio guide

      A ticket for a time you choose, with access to an audio guide, sold by GetYourGuide. You go in at your reserved time and visit at your own pace.

      Included

      • Reserved entry to the Louvre at the time you book
      • Access to an audio guide
      • Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
      • Reserve now and pay later

      From

      €55.20

      GetYourGuide's lowest price when read on 4 October 2026. It changes with the date; today's is in the booking box under Tickets and tours.

      Book Tickets

      Today's price

    • Official, sold by Musée du Louvre

      Guided tour with a museum guide

      A tour led by one of the Louvre's own guides, sold by the museum. It is booked in addition to admission, unless you are entitled to free admission.

      Included

      • A guide from the museum
      • A place on the tour only: admission is separate

      From

      €12

      €12 at full price, €9 at the reduced rate, on top of admission.

      See official tours

    The first link is an affiliate link: if you book through it, Museums.art earns a commission and you pay the same. GetYourGuide sets its price and its terms. The museum sells its own tickets too, from €22, at ticket.louvre.fr.

    Visiting the Louvre: hours and admission

    Opening hours

    Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
    9:00 to 18:00
    Wednesday and Friday
    9:00 to 21:00
    Tuesday
    Closed
    • Last entry is one hour before closing, and the rooms are cleared thirty minutes before.
    • The museum is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.
    • Any exit is final: once you leave, the ticket does not let you back in.

    Who gets in free

    • Under 18s, of any nationality.
    • Residents of the European Economic Area under 26.
    • Everyone, on the first Friday of the month after 18:00, except in July and August, and on 14 July.
    • Disabled visitors and the person accompanying them.

    Getting there

    Metro
    Palais-Royal / Musée du Louvre on lines 1 and 7, or Pyramides on line 14.
    Bus
    Lines 21, 27, 39, 67, 68, 69, 72, 74, 85 and 95.
    Boat
    Batobus, Louvre stop, on the Quai François-Mitterrand.
    Car
    The underground car park at 1 Avenue du Général Lemonnier leads into the museum through the Carrousel entrance.

    Address

    Musée du Louvre
    Rue de Rivoli
    75001 Paris, France

    Entrances

    There are four entrances: the Pyramid, the Carrousel, Richelieu and the Porte des Lions. Which one to use depends on whether you hold a ticket, and they are not all open every day, so check the museum's entrance map on the morning of your visit.

    A fortress, a palace, a museum

    The Louvre began as a fortress, built around 1190 by King Philip II to defend Paris on its western side. In the sixteenth century Francis I had it rebuilt as a royal residence, and successive kings went on extending it until Louis XIV moved the court to Versailles in 1682.

    The museum opened in the palace in 1793, during the Revolution, with the royal collections at its core. It has grown ever since. The glass pyramid in the main courtyard, designed by I. M. Pei, was inaugurated in 1989 and is now the principal entrance.

    Today the Louvre shows around 35,000 works across three wings named Denon, Sully and Richelieu, from the antiquities of Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East to Islamic art and European painting and sculpture up to the middle of the nineteenth century. Nobody sees it all in a day. Choose a wing or a handful of works, and leave the rest for the next visit.

    Before you go

    • Book a time slot before you travel. Tickets are sold at the museum only when attendance is low.
    • The two late nights, Wednesday and Friday, give you three more hours and thinner crowds in the evening.
    • Decide what you want to see before you go in. The museum is too large to wander and still find the works you came for.
    • Free admission still needs a booking: the Louvre recommends a time slot for every visitor.
    • Some rooms close on certain days for renovation. The museum publishes the schedule of room closures on its site.

    Louvre Museum: common questions

    How much is a ticket to the Louvre?
    €22 for citizens and residents of the European Economic Area and €32 for all other visitors. Under 18s and EEA residents under 26 go in free. These are the rates in force since 14 January 2026.
    What are the Louvre's opening hours?
    9:00 to 18:00 on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and 9:00 to 21:00 on Wednesday and Friday. The museum is closed on Tuesdays, and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.
    Is the Louvre ever free?
    Yes. Admission is free for everyone on the first Friday of the month after 18:00, except in July and August, and on 14 July. It is always free for under 18s and for residents of the European Economic Area under 26.
    Do I need to book the Louvre in advance?
    You should. The museum recommends booking a time slot for every visitor, including those who enter free, and sells tickets on site only when attendance is low.
    How long does a visit to the Louvre take?
    Allow about three hours for a first visit that takes in the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo and one department at a slower pace. The collection is far too large for a single day.
    What does a Louvre ticket include?
    A ticket bought from the museum covers the permanent collections and the temporary exhibitions, plus admission to the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix on the same day or the next. Guided tours and the audio guide are extra, at €12 and €6.
    Which metro station is closest to the Louvre?
    Palais-Royal / Musée du Louvre, on lines 1 and 7. Pyramides, on line 14, is a short walk away.

    Hours and prices checked on 4 October 2026 against Hours and admission, louvre.fr, Louvre Museum Reserved Entry With Audio Guide Access, getyourguide.com, Map, entrances and directions, louvre.fr.

    What visitors say about the Louvre

    Rating from Google

    4.7

    378,984 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 4 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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