Louvre Museum

It depends of the time of day. The line outside the pyramid entrance varies from 5 to 20 minutes. This is a security purposes. Participants on all Context Louvre walks will not wait in line as we pre-purchase tickets and thus have access to a special line. Museum Pass holders or advance ticket holders can also enter this way (see our concierge service for purchase of non-walk advance tickets).

The Louvre has one of the largest art collections in the world and it would take weeks to see it all. To make the most of your visit, it’s a good idea to read up on the different sections (perhaps in your guide book) so you can have a better idea of what you would be interested in seeing. If you are deciding on a walk with Context, we recommend the French Masters walk, which introduces you to French art and compliments your Parisian experience. If you are visiting the museum on your own, try not to see everything, you will appreciate the works more by focusing on a few sections, pick up a map at the info desk which will help you navigate its vast wings.

While eating inside the collections is not advisable, bags are not searched for food, so you could bring along a snack, sandwich or bottle of water in your bag and have a break in the main foyer. There are numerous cafes throughout the museum and in the Carrousel du Louvre, the shopping centre attached to the museum, you can find a fairly good food court with world cuisine. For a more leisurely lunch or break, try the Café Marly which is on the North Side of the Cour Napoleon (part of the Richelieu wing), great for people watching.

The Louvre is wheelchair accessible and you can request a temporary wheelchair loan from the information desk. There are elevators throughout the museum as well and you can print a wheelchair accessibility guide from the site. We are happy to custom design visits to the Louvre for visitors with mobility issues.

The Louvre Museum is easily accessible. To get there by metro, you can take line 1 or 7, and get off at the stop Palais Royal/Musée du Louvre. This station allows you to get directly under the glass pyramid by going through the underground shopping centre of the Carrousel du Louvre. You can also take line 14 of the metro, and get off at the stop Pyramides.

To get to the Louvre by bus, you can take the lines 21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 67, 68, 69, 72, 81, 85 and 95. They all stop near the Louvre.

If you want to come by car, there is also underground parking under the shopping centre, and its entry is located on avenue du Général-Lemonnier. The prices of the parking is 4.40€ for an hour.

Once at your destination, you will have to go to one of the entrances of the Louvre. There are four: the Pyramid entrance; the Galerie du Carrousel entrance (at the 99 of the rue de Rivoli), the Passage Richelieu entrance and the Porte des Lions entrance.

If you don’t have a ticket and if you don’t benefit from the free admission (see below), you’ll have to go to the box office under the pyramid.

If you bought your ticket online, you can use the Passage Richelieu entrance, reserved for ticket holders and those with them.

If you’re a group (from 7 to 25 people) with your own guide, the person in charge of the group must go to the Porte des Lions entrance for the formalities, and then to the Passage Richelieu entrance to enter. If you’re a group with a guide of the Louvre, you will access the museum through the Porte des Lions entrance.

For visitors with disabilities and the person accompanying them, you can access the museum without waiting by using the Pyramid entrance or the Galerie du Carrousel entrance.

The Louvre Museum is located on the right bank of the Seine, between the Rue de Rivoli and the Seine, in the first arrondissement of Paris. It is easily recognizable by the large glass pyramid in the centre of the main courtyard (cour Napoléon). The equestrian statue of King Louis XIV, located near the entrance, marks the start of the Axe Historique (historical axis), that links the Louvre Palace to the Grande Arche de la Défense, going through the Tuileries Garden, the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe.

• Address: Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
• Established: August 10, 1793
• Tickets: €0–17 · ticketlouvre.fr
• Visitors: 9.6 million (2019): Ranked 1st nationally; Ranked 1st globally in 2018
• Architects: Pierre Lescot, Louis Le Vau, Claude Perrault