Louvre Museum Tickets 2026: Prices, Free Entry & How to Book

The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world — 9 million people a year, over 30,000 on a busy day. The building was designed for about 25,000. That gap explains most of the complaints you'll read online: crowds, queues, confusion. But the problems are solvable if you know the entrance, the timing, and what to skip. If you're still deciding whether to commit to the €22 ticket, our is the Louvre worth it honest guide covers who loves it and who leaves disappointed.

Tickets cost €22 for EEA residents, €32 for everyone else. Under 18 always free. Under 26 with EU/EEA nationality free. Timed-slot booking is mandatory for all visitors, including those entering free. Book at ticket.louvre.fr up to 90 days ahead. During summer, slots sell out days in advance.

How much are Louvre tickets in 2026?

Standard adult ticket: €22 (EEA residents/citizens) or €32 (non-EEA visitors). Audio guide: €6 extra, available in 9 languages.

Free entry: under 18 (with ID), under 26 EU/EEA citizens (with photo ID), disabled visitors plus one companion, ICOM members, accredited journalists, and EEA art teachers. First Friday evening of each month (6–9 PM), free for everyone — except July and August.

The Paris Museum Pass (2, 4, or 6 days) includes the Louvre permanent collection but not temporary exhibitions. If you're visiting 3+ museums in Paris, the pass saves money and time. The Louvre alone doesn't justify it.

How to book Louvre tickets online (step by step)

Go to ticket.louvre.fr, select your date and time slot, choose "Individual ticket" (not "Guided tour"), and pay. You'll receive a PDF with a QR code. Show it on your phone at the entrance.

Slots open roughly 60 days ahead. From April to October, popular morning slots sell out a week in advance. Evening slots (Wednesday and Friday) stay available longer.

The markup to watch for: Search "Louvre tickets online" and most top results show prices of €39-50. Those aren't standard tickets. They're guided tours or audio-guide bundles marketed as entry tickets. The standard timed-entry ticket already includes priority access — there is no separate "fast track" at the Louvre. A €22 official ticket and a €45 "skip-the-line" package get you through the same security line at the same speed.

When to book through a third party: If official slots are sold out, or you want a guide pulling together the must-sees in 2 hours, GetYourGuide's skip-the-line small group guided tour (€63, 4.3★, 4.6K reviews) is the cleanest option. Avoid any site not in our booking box above.

Which entrance should you use?

Three entrances, very different experiences.

The Pyramid is the main entrance. It looks spectacular and the queue is usually the longest. If you booked a timed slot and arrive on time, the wait is 15–20 minutes. Without a booking, expect an hour.

The Carrousel du Louvre is underground. Take Metro Line 1 to Palais Royal – Musee du Louvre, exit 6, and walk through the shopping gallery. No outdoor queue. Open from 7 AM. This is where experienced visitors enter, especially between 11 AM and 2 PM, when the Pyramid queue can exceed two hours in peak months and the Carrousel is often the only entrance moving at a normal pace.

The Porte des Lions (south side, facing the Seine) is the quietest but closes at 6 PM and is shut on Tuesdays. Ticket holders only.

When is the best time to visit the Louvre?

Wednesday and Friday evenings (open until 9 PM) are the least crowded period. After 6 PM, visitor numbers drop by roughly 70% compared to midday. The late light through the galleries is better too.

Morning at 9 AM is the next best option. Arrive at 8:40, enter through Carrousel du Louvre, and you'll have 60–90 minutes before the main crowds arrive around 10:30. Thursday 9 AM beats Monday 9 AM — Monday absorbs the spillover from Tuesday's closure, while Thursday is genuinely quieter.

Avoid 10 AM to 1 PM — the universal peak every day. Avoid weekends in summer. The quietest months are February, March, October, and November. For the full timing breakdown (hour, day, month, free nocturne calendar), see our best time to visit the Louvre guide.

A warning on ticket scams: only book through louvre.fr, GetYourGuide, Tiqets, Headout, or Viator. Google Ads often show resellers with names close to the official site (louvretickets.com, louvre-tickets.net) that charge 2–3× the real price. If a link isn't in the list above, check the URL carefully before paying.

The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.

What should you prioritize at the Louvre?

The Louvre has 35,000 works across three wings. Nobody sees it all in one visit. If you only have one day in Paris, see our Paris in One Day itinerary for when to slot the Louvre into the day and where to go after.

For a focused 2-hour visit, prioritize: Winged Victory of Samothrace (Denon Wing staircase), the Mona Lisa room (Denon, Room 711 — and turn around to see the Wedding at Cana, the largest painting in the museum), and Venus de Milo (Sully Wing). These three are the anchors most first-time visitors want.

The Richelieu Wing is where experienced visitors go. Napoleon III's apartments, Northern European paintings (Vermeer, Rembrandt), and the Mesopotamian collection (Code of Hammurabi). A third of the crowds, twice the space. If those Dutch masters leave you wanting more, the Rijksmuseum is where you go next. Wondering how the Louvre compares to Paris's modern art flagship? See our Pompidou vs Louvre comparison.

The Egyptian Antiquities section in Sully is underrated — many visitors rank it higher than the paintings.

Sully wing partial closure (ongoing 2026) — the Campana Gallery (nine rooms of ancient Greek ceramics, first floor south) closed indefinitely in November after a structural survey flagged fragile beams above. The rest of Sully — Egyptian Antiquities, Greek and Roman sculpture, the medieval Louvre — remains open. No reopening date announced.

What do most visitors wish they knew about the Louvre?

Start in the Denon Wing while you have energy. It has the highest density of famous works and the densest crowds. Leaving it for later means fighting fatigue and people at the same time.

The Mona Lisa is smaller than you expect (77 x 53 cm) and the room is packed. The painting directly opposite — Paolo Veronese's Wedding at Cana — is the largest in the Louvre and gets almost no attention. Look at both.

Download the official Louvre app before you arrive. The map alone saves 20 minutes of wrong turns. The museum is confusing — even for locals.

Bag check is free but there's a size limit: 55 x 35 x 20 cm. No suitcases. Leave large bags at your hotel.

Booking requirement: Until April 19, 2026, timed-slot reservations are mandatory for all visitors at the door. After this period, walk-ups may become possible again — confirm on the official site when you plan to visit. This is peak Easter week season, so book early regardless.

Current and upcoming exhibitions (2026):

• "Martin Schongauer: The Beautiful Immortal" (8 Apr – 20 Jul 2026) — the Renaissance engraver's influence on printmaking and painting. Separate ticket required.
• "Michelangelo and Rodin: Living Bodies" (15 Apr – 20 Jul 2026, Hall Napoleon) — major exhibition comparing two masters across 500 years. Separate ticket required. Neither included in standard entry or Paris Museum Pass.
• "Primeval Waters: Lessons from Mesopotamia" (20 May 2026 – 15 Mar 2027, Sully and Richelieu wings) — the Louvre holds one of the world's largest Mesopotamian collections; this exhibition contextualises it within the broader history of the ancient Near East. Confirm ticket requirements at louvre.fr.

Frequently asked questions

How much are Louvre tickets in 2026?

€22 for EEA residents and citizens. €32 for non-EEA visitors. Under 18 always free. Under 26 with EU/EEA nationality free. Timed-slot booking is mandatory — reserve at ticket.louvre.fr up to 90 days ahead.

When is the Louvre free?

Under 18 always free with ID. Under 26 EU/EEA citizens free with photo ID. First Friday of each month from 6 PM to 9 PM, free for everyone (except July and August). Disabled visitors plus one companion free.

What is the best time to visit the Louvre?

Wednesday or Friday evening (open until 9 PM) — 70% fewer visitors than midday. Morning at 9 AM is next best. Avoid 10 AM to 1 PM, the peak window every day. February, March, October and November are the quietest months.

Do you need to book Louvre tickets in advance?

Yes. Timed-slot booking is mandatory for all visitors, including those with free admission. Book at ticket.louvre.fr. During peak season, slots sell out days ahead — book as early as possible, up to 90 days in advance.

Which Louvre entrance has the shortest queue?

The Carrousel du Louvre entrance (underground, from Metro Line 1 exit). It bypasses the Pyramid queue entirely. Open from 7 AM. The Porte des Lions entrance is also less crowded but closes at 6 PM and is shut on Tuesdays.

Why did the Louvre raise prices in 2026?

In January 2026, the Louvre introduced dual pricing for the first time: €22 for EEA (European Economic Area) residents and €32 for all other visitors — a 45% increase for non-EEA guests. The museum cited rising operational costs and the need to fund ongoing renovations and climate control systems. EEA residents saw no price increase from the previous €22 rate. Under-18 and eligible EU/EEA under-26 visitors remain free.

Are "skip-the-line" Louvre tickets a scam?

Not a scam, but often misleading. Every standard Louvre ticket (€22/€32) includes a timed entry slot — that is the skip-the-line system. Third-party sites sell "skip-the-line" tickets for €39-50, but the extra cost buys a guided tour or audio guide bundle, not faster access. If you want entry only, book at ticket.louvre.fr. If you'd rather have a guide pull together the must-sees in 2 hours (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory), GetYourGuide's skip-the-line small group guided tour is the cleanest third-party option.

Is the Sully wing of the Louvre open?

Most of Sully is open. The exception is the Campana Gallery — nine rooms of ancient Greek ceramics on the first floor of the south wing along the Seine — closed indefinitely after a November structural survey flagged fragile beams above the gallery. No reopening date has been announced. The rest of Sully (Egyptian Antiquities, Greek and Roman sculpture, the medieval Louvre foundations) is unaffected. If you're going specifically for the Greek vases, check the Louvre's room availability page on the day of your visit.

Is the Mona Lisa moving?

Eventually. In January, President Macron announced a €1.15 billion New Renaissance of the Louvre plan that includes a dedicated Mona Lisa room about three times the size of the current one, with its own separate ticket and entrance. The new gallery is targeted to open by 2031. Until then, the painting stays in Salle des États (Room 711, first floor, Denon Wing), included in standard Louvre entry — no separate booking required.

The Louvre deserves two visits. On the first, see the Denon Wing highlights and the Egyptian collection. On the second, lose yourself in Richelieu. If you only have one shot, enter through Carrousel at 9 AM, do Denon first, and leave by 12:30 before the worst crowds. Still deciding between the €22 entry, the €63 skip-the-line guided, the €93 guided tour, or a private guide? Our Louvre ticket decision guide sorts the fourteen versions into five visitor types. Looking for free options? See our Louvre free admission 2026 guide for booking rules and whether free Fridays are worth the crowds. For more ticket comparisons, see our Vatican Museums tickets guide or Uffizi Gallery tickets. Ready to book? Skip-the-line small group guided tour on GetYourGuide (€63, 4.3★, 4.6K reviews) — guide pulls together Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory in 2 hours, free cancellation 24h.

Last verified: May 2026