Hello,
My husband and I will be traveling to Paris in July. I have read multiple posts about whether or not to buy advanced tickets to the Louvre before we arrive. Is there a trustworthy website to purchase the tickets from if we should purchase before we leave the states?
Ashley
One possibility, depending on how long you are in Paris and whether you want to see other museums, is to get a Paris Museum Pass. (Go to http://en.parismuseumpass.com/ to see what the prices are and which other museums are included, but you don't need to buy it in advance.) The advantage of this is that you can make multiple visits to the Louvre during the period of pass validity, and you don't feel pressured to see everything in one go.
The current prices for the PMP are 42 euros for two days, 56 euros for four, and 69 euros for six. This compares to 12 euros for a single Louvre entry.
If you decide to use a PMP, you can buy it at various sites, including FNAC stores and tourist information desks at both airports. However, one of the easiest ways to get it is at one of the smaller museums that it covers, where there will rarely be long queues.
Were in paris last sept. My wife and I took the subway and warn we got off walked along the corridor from the subway and walked right into the main area where we bought tickets at the counter with no line up and bypassed the line up on street level . We were there in the morning and had no problem at all
A Paris Museum Pass really is a handy thing, if you have time to see more. The tickets that you pre-purchase online (http://www.louvre.fr/en/advance-tickets) have to be picked up at a specific store location in Paris, so that does not sound especially convenient. If buying in person, try the entrance through the Carrousel du Louvre underground shopping mall.
Be advised that there is currently (as of the end of May) major construction work going on at the Palais Royale/Musée du Louvre Métro station on the #1 line (the "alternative" way of accessing the Louvre referred to in a previous post and by Rick in his Paris guide). This means that the availability of said access to the Carrousel du Louvre entrance route (the so-called "underground shopping mall") can change several times in a single day. I would like to think that this upgrade will be finished by July, but perhaps not-- anyway, check to see whether you can get in that way before you try (there will be announcements on the trains on the #1 line). You can also access the Carrousel du Louvre via its entrance off the Rue de Rivioli, and bypass the Pyramide entrance that way. However, there are sometimes lineups down at the Carrousel entrance point as well, so be prepared.
In July I would by the Museum Pass before I ever got near the Louvre. There are automated machines but they were 20+ people deep at each one in June and i think you have to have a chip and pin card to use them. Plus the Pass allows you to use the group security entrance in the Richleau wing (follow the instructions in Rick's book). The 2 day museum pass is worth the price just to use that entrance and you can use it the next day or that evening.
When you go in the Carousel du Louvre shopping entrance on the rue de Rivoli, there is a Relay magazine shop off to the side downstairs that sells single tickets, the Museum Pass, etc. Just watch for the sign that says Louvre Tickets for Sale. With the Museum Pass you have fast entry upstairs at the Pyramid but no jump-the-line privileges downstairs. I don't know if already having a ticket gets you into the fast line upstairs through the Pyramid.
On the internet, look for Louvre tickets at fnac.com. You can browse this site in English. You have to go to one of their stores (there are a lot in Paris) to have the tickets printed out. If you have many tickets to buy for different places and events, this could be worth your time.
US credit cards work in the Louvre machines. You do have to leave them in European style not yank them out US style for them to work. This is one of the rare sites in Paris where the machines are set to accept US style magnetic credit cards.
