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Free Day at Louvre

Is it true that in October-March there is free admission to the Louvre on the first Sunday? We are Americans traveling there in October.

Posted by
14 posts

Thank you. You indicated that the Mona Lisa would be at the Louvre till mid-October. Is that right? We will be arriving 10/18/19 for about 8 days.

Posted by
12172 posts

I'd recommend not going for free admission. The museum gets too crowded and the line to get in too long to really enjoy it. As a general rule, it's true of any free admission times at any museum/art gallery in Europe.

Posted by
13934 posts

"You indicated that the Mona Lisa would be at the Louvre till mid-October. Is that right? We will be arriving 10/18/19 for about 8 days."

It's not that the Mona Lisa will be leaving the Louvre. It has been placed in a different gallery in a different wing of the museum while they refurbish the place she normally is hung.

From the Louvre website:

"The Grand Louvre project and the Pyramid were completed 30 years ago. Since then, museum attendance has surged to unprecedented levels, with visitor numbers more than doubling. Major renovations are once again required in order to:

Improve reception of the growing number of increasingly international visitors
Bring the Louvre in line with new security, accessibility, and conservation standards
Refurbish spaces whose overall condition has deteriorated over time
Upgrade the working conditions of Louvre staff

Fourteen years after its complete refurbishment (2001–2005), the Salle des États—the Mona Lisa’s customary home and the museum’s most visited room—is currently undergoing a new round of renovations"

If you plan to visit, definitely do yourself a favor and either purchase a timed ticket or if you are going to try to use the Paris Museum Pass, get a timed entry for that.