Visiting the Louvre

I've done the Louvre on my own and it is overwhelming. Went with the teenaged kids and took the Paris Walks Louvre tour. Absolutely loved it. She even knew how to handle the crowds of pushy tourists.

Do you know more about some art historical periods than others? Are there some types of art you'd prefer to see over others? The Louvre is so big that you won't cover everything in a day, even with a guide. If you decide to wander around by yourselves, I'd suggest picking a few areas to look at in depth, instead of running around the museum trying to see as much as possible. I spent about 3 hours in the museum and focused on a few areas of interest: Egyptian art, ancient Near Eastern art, some European art, and the medieval foundations of the Louvre itself.

Read up on what's in the Louvre that would interest you -- identify your priorities, find them on a map and figure out your own tour. There's no way you can see everything. A guided tour is what somebody else thinks is important.

You can probably find a guided tour that will focus on your priorities, you can choose those by following previous postings. The Louvre is enormous and even though I love museums, I needed a break after 3 hours

First, try to go on either Wednesday or Friday in the late afternoon. The Louvre is open until 9.45 p.m. and there are usually few visitors.

I don't care much for guided tours because I like to go at my own pace. The official Louvre website has "Thematic Trails" - these are self-guided tours that you can download in pdf form, then either upload to a handheld device or print out. This gives you some information on the selected bits and helps guide you through a visit focused on your particular interest. I used the one called "From Palace to Museum" which walks you through most of the galleries (and past most of the highlights - though they aren't pointed out in the tour) while explaining the history of the building. You can also rent an audio guide. They are pretty good. You will have to leave photo id as a deposit (driver's license is fine). There are several places to rent them, so be sure to remember which one so you can get your id back. If the battery runs out before you are done (it happens) you can go to any of the stands to exchange it.

There is also a free tour from Rick that you can download on iTunes. I found it really hard to follow - the only one of his tours that I had a problem with. Either there was a map included that I didn't print out or the Louvre moved some of the exhibits.

By the way, there are other RS tours - the Left Bank and Notre Dame, maybe others I don't remember.

Oh, I forgot one other thing. As Zoe said, the Louvre can be tiring. You can go in and out on the same ticket on the same day.

Estella,

I did the DIY.

Its overwhelming because it its. But you will come out alive and better for it.

Happy trails.

In my experience the guided tours offered by museums are moderately priced and relatively brief, usually giving a quick overview of the place with several highlights picked out for more in-depth examination. Then you are on your own. I am put off by the price of commercial tours and the possible size of the group. Rented audio tours are my compromise, and generally worth the price. I can proceed at my own pace with decent though not complete commentaries on various themes and principal displays. Obviously there is no live guide to answer specific questions. But usually I am running out of steam before the gizmo runs out of disc space.
The Louvre, I see, is offering a smart=phone version which is undoubtely the way of the future. http://www.louvre.fr/en/museum-audio-guide
Conclusion: Each approach has a plus/minus equation. I've settled for proceeding at a moderate pace, refusing to be overwhelmed ("I'll catch that on the next visit.") and leaving enough time for the gift shop to find a souvenir of something I saw and liked.

Rent an audio guide and go at your own pace.. and yes.. skip areas that do not interest you and decide before hand what areas yyou want to see.

"leaving enough time for the gift shop"

Southam, such a good tip... I loved the gift shop.

We have hired a private guide or the day before and spent part of the day at the Louvre and part doing a neighborhood walk. The best part about a private guide is you can totally customize your tour to see EXACTLY what you want to see. He knows the museum layout and the best routes to encompass your choices and throw in a few of own along the way. The guide we used is from Philly and has lived in Paris for many years now.

The thing I enjoyed the most about having a guide at a museum is their knowledge brings the art to life. A good guide will have excellent knowledge of art, art history & European history. I enjoyed hearing about the events that led up what is depicted in a certain painting or hearing about the different artists. I am am not well versed in these subjects and the typical unguided tour is a lot of "Oh - that's nice" & "this is interesting" - the stories make what we see much more interesting & memorable.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I took the "da Vinci Code tour" through the Louvre through this company called the Paris Muse--it was one of the highlights of our time in Paris. Their organization is really well run with great tour guides, most of whom are studying art in Paris. Website: http://www.parismuse.com/index.shtml
Have fun!

This is a know yourself thing. I would never take a tour of a museum. I want to do what I want to do and at the pace I want to do it. Other people love the docent's patter and selection and feel they learn so much more from a tour. You just have to know which one you are. If you would use a tour of the MET or the National Art Gallery then you would probably want one of the Louvre. If not, probably not.

There are a lot of suggested itineraries for the Louvre if you feel overwhelmed so you can map your way if you don't decide on a tour.

I used the free audio tour that Rick Steves' offers, and it was a very good introduction to the "big" items. I then found the location of some very specific things I wanted to see (Persian stuff mostly), and headed to that. That was it. I wouldn't just show up to wander around as that will probably be tough. With the DIY audio tour from this website, we decided to go first thing when the Louvre opened, and headed straight to the Mona Lisa (there are signs everywhere). We spend time there with maybe five others, and then headed back to our starting point and made our way through the audio tour. When we got to the Mona Lisa maybe about 40-minutes later, it was unbelievably packed and maybe thirty-person deep. Glad we did it that way!