I don’t want to see the Mona Lisa. I get turned at museums after 2 hours. I know it’s massive and have seen a map. I think a tour guide is a good idea. Are the ones at the Louvre good, or is there another 3rd party tour group that you might recommend?
TY
What do you want to see?
There are smartphone tours for a variety of interests, and also for general exposure to various collections.
"My Visit to the Louvre" is the official app
Personalized Tours:
You can customize your visit by choosing specific categories of art, time constraints (e.g., under 2 hours, over 2 hours), and even specify what interests you.
Interactive Map:
The app includes a detailed floor plan that allows you to map out your visit and see exactly where each artwork is located.
Audio Guides:
You can download audio guides to learn more about the art, with options like the "Museum's Masterpieces" guide.
Information:
The app provides data on over 600 major artworks, and this database is constantly expanding.
Thank you! I’ll take a look. I would need something with a Bluetooth if I did a self guided tour, as I wear hearing aids and find the audio headsets offered don’t work for me.
Ok, I just went to find the app and don’t see that exact one. I see
Louvre Visit & Guide
Louvre Museum Visitor Guide
Louvre Buddy
Here’s the official Louvre guided tour with an English-speaking Louvre guide and headphones, so you won’t get lost or waste your time. Bonne visite. https://www.louvre.fr/en/exhibitions-and-events/guided-tours/welcome-to-the-louvre
You could also download the Rick Steves Europe app and use his audioguide to the Louvre. I used it and found it very enjoyable and about the perfect amount of time (a little less than two hours if I remember correctly).
I’ve not done a RS audio before. I’ve just read it’s such an incredibly huge building, that getting from point a to point b might be daunting! But you said you did it, did you find it easy to navigate using it?
I found it very easy to follow. He tells you where to start, then gives turn-by-turn directions to the end of the tour.
You can download the app to your phone, find the tour, download it, then read about what the tour covers. If it's not what you're looking for, you can just delete the app. There is a lot in the museum that the tour doesn't cover, but I really enjoyed what it did cover, as he weaves in the story of how art evolved through the ages.
I had not planned to visit the Louvre, as there were other things I wanted to do more, and like you I wasn't especially interested in the Mona Lisa. But I found myself with a rainy Monday afternoon to fill, so I waited until about 2 hours before the museum closed, loaded the audioguide, and went. I am so glad I did and I got so much out of it following Rick's guide. You would probably get a lot out of it with any guide - the museum is so huge it seems pointless to attempt without any kind of guide at all.
https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/visitor-trails
these are interesting. And do look ahead to see which galleries are open which days. I really wanted to see Rembrandt and Vermeer, but that area was closed on Thursday, so we saw them Friday.
I just got back from Paris with my 15 year old and we went 5 times, for 19+ hours total. We did get turned around to one degree or another but definitely got more familiar with the layout. Then again, we were not a time crunch so accidentally hitting an area twice or 3 x was not a problem.
Our last time was with the RS in person guide, and I couldn't believe how fast she moved through! But she definitely knew how to give an overview in 2 hours, and if you only had a few hours, an audioguide or tour guide might be best.
The Louvre has audioguides for rent, too. But then I think that clogs up all the places on the guide. If you don't care what in particular you see, maybe just wander around for as many hours as you have. There's nothing that's not worth seeing there.
Oh , and there are workers or volunteers in so many rooms, sometimes we just pulled up a photo on my phone and asked them how to get to see a particular piece of art and they pointed us in the right direction.
I love the Louvre but I have a personal limit of about 2-3 hours in there. I can go to 3 hours if I stop and have a coffee and croissant, hahaha. To me the key is figuring out what you might want to see and target those wings/floors instead of trying to just randomly hope to see stuff.
IF you don't want to see the Mona Lisa, those rooms are where most of the crowds are.
Do you think you might have an interest in the Napoleon III apartments? The Code of Hammurabi? The Egyptian rooms? What about the Old Dutch Masters - there are 2 Vermeer and several by Rembrandt. Or, as someone mentioned in another thread, the Medieval walls of the original Louvre fortress? The surprising room of Impressionist paintings? (Yes, there are works by Monet, Degas, Sisley on the top floor of the Sully wing!).
IF any of those strike you as interesting, we can route you there with the least fuss if you don't take a guided tour.
Paris Walks does a Louvre tour on Friday afternoons. I had a Paris Walks guide for the Louvre on a Rick Steves tour several years ago (pre-covid) and he was very good. I've done many of their regular walks and have enjoyed them.
I like to give a shout out to the mobilier rooms because they don't get much love in the guides or discussions.
If you're a fan of the Antiques Roadshow (either the British or the US versions) then you can pretend you're an appraiser and apply all the know-how you've learned from the twins et al in the mobilier/furniture sections -- I like to get the guards to smile by using a small flashlight and a notebook to stoop under the tables and behind the highboys to note the labels and markings, and maybe sketch the ball feet of the chairs so you can get to know the variations of ball-and-claw carving and guess what city a piece was made in.
This is what the google AI says to me about it (ymmv)
Scope of Collection:
The Louvre's "Mobilier" collection encompasses a wide array of decorative arts, including furniture, objets d'art, and period rooms, all dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Chronological Arrangement:
The galleries are organized chronologically, allowing visitors to trace the evolution of decorative arts through the reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI.
Period Room Recreations:
Spectacular period rooms recreate the wood-paneled interiors of residences and palaces, providing context for the exhibited objects and offering a sense of the past.
Intellectual and Material Context:
The exhibits are presented in their original intellectual and material context, allowing visitors to understand the meaning and beauty of these items.
Educational and Interpretive Elements:
The galleries include educational and interpretive elements integrated into the displays and wall texts, enriching the visitor experience.
Emphasis on Decorative Ensembles:
The presentation of the collections emphasizes the composition of decorative ensembles, creating an immediate visual impact.
Related Institutions and Collections:
Mobilier National:
The Louvre's collection is closely related to the Mobilier National, a French institution responsible for the state's furniture and textile collection. The Mobilier National was reorganized by Louis XIV and Colbert and provides furnishings for various state buildings, including presidential residences and embassies.
years ago on our second day in Paris jetlag made us sleep through our expensive and unrefundable private 4 hour tour of the Louvre. heartbroken we were able to wait on a long line and get entrance tickets for later in the day. a man at the information desk listened to our sad story and took a map drawing a brilliant tour route of the highlights that we were able to do without stress in the final hour the museum was open. i still have that map a bit worse for wear as I've returned to Paris a number of times since then and still use it to get around. this is a massive museum that requires some guidance or a guide just to avoid getting lost as busy times guarantee crowds and non-existant "stolls". if you have a must-see list or are looking for a first visit/highlights - see the info desk and ask for a marked up highlights guide. a tour and tour guide will always enhance your visit anywhere unknown, but Paris has so many museums worth visiting, spending an entire day at the Louvre is too much for most.
Pam, I’d be interested in the apartments (so sad the couture exhibit is over when I’m there).and Egyptian artifacts. Old masters. Impressionists. No interest in the Mona Lisa. 2 hours will be my limit.
For Egypt see also
Soc Des Amis Institut Du Monde Arabe.
https://www.imarabe.org/fr/musee-ima
and if you like the apartments in the Louvre also poke around in the mansion that houses the national archives museum and the rooms set up in the Carnavalet
“Pam, I’d be interested in the apartments (so sad the couture exhibit is over when I’m there).and Egyptian artifacts. Old masters. Impressionists. No interest in the Mona Lisa. 2 hours will be my limit.”
Ok, excellent!
Richelieu Wing:
Level 1 The Napoleon III Apartments
Level 2 The Old Masters - Dutch. Vermeer, Rembrandt, etc
Sully Wing:
Level 0 Egyptian
Level 2 (Rm 903) Impressionists
(Here’s one by Monet that is on display there. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010062675 )
Here’s how I would do it:
When you are in the big entrance hall (Level -1), look around at the escalators going up to the 3 entrances and you’ll see the names of the wings above. SKIP the crowded bathrooms on this level as there are some uncrowded ones on your route.
Choose the Richelieu wing. Go up those escalators, go thru the entry scanners and walk straight ahead til you come to the cross hall. Take a right and go to the escalators. If you get to the sculpture court you’ve overshot. Take the escalator up to Level 1. Go back around to the West side of the escalators and straight thru past the Angelina restaurant to the Napoleon III apartments. (You can divert to Rm. 502 down the Hall in front of Angelina to see my favorite item, the Vase of Alienor d’Aquitaine, lol). There are toilettes just past the Angelina Restaurant that I’ve never found crowded. See the apartments and circle back to the escalator bank.
Take the escalator up to Level 2. Walk in the same direction you did for the Napoleon apartments to see the Northern European Old Masters. Rembrandts are in a gallery at the far end of this wing. You’ll walk past the 2 Vermeers on your way.
Head back to the escalators but continue on this floor to enter the Sully wing. Look for the cross hall with signs pointing you to Rms 902/903. The first Room, I think, is an interesting exhibition on different frames. Then a little further on is the big room of the Impressionists.
Continue on in this hallway and find the stairwell and head down to Level 0 in this wing for the Egyptian collection.
There are, of course, many ways to do this but this makes sense to me, lol!!
Have a wonderful time!
