Hello,
My husband and I will be touring Paris in July (first week) for 3 days. Our main visits will be Louvre, Palace of Versailles, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Luxembourg gardens, Arc de Triomphe. We are thinking of buying the Museum Pass to avoid the ticket lines.
Thanks.
Also note that the museum pass covers the Notre Dame tower climb but does NOT allow you to skip the line, which is long and slow as only 25 or so are allowed up every 15 mins. If you want to climb it, get in line about 45 mins before opening times and hope the line is not too long. Definitely worth the climb if you're willing to wait in line.
Instead of shipping it to the US, the official site has a less costly option to have it shipped to your hotel in Paris, and it will be waiting for you at the front desk when you check-in. I did that my last trip to the city of lights and it worked out great. On another visit I has trouble getting finding anyone who had the 4 day cards in stock, and wasted a lot of time.
Or buy it at the CDG tourist desk. There is no reason I can think of to have it delivered.
Appreciate all the quick replies. This is so useful! I think I'll buy the pass at a small museum (closest to our hotel) or at the airport. Thanks again!
Good plan: there's no reason to buy them in advance as it's very easy to get them at one of the lesser-visited attractions in Paris. But do the math as, as mentioned, you don't need them for the Eiffel, Luxembourg Gardens or Notre Dame (except for the towers). And they don't allow you to skip security lines.
I think it's worth it to skip the ticket line. Sometimes that is the long line (d'Orsay and l'Orangerie); sometimes, the security line is the long line (Notre Dame towers and Versailles). Also, if you want to go back to a particular museum, you can just drop in again.
If you're there for 3 days and plan to hit many of the museums or hit some multiple times, get the 4 day pass. It's not much more than the 2 day and it will allow you to spread out the sights instead of feeling you need to cram it all into 2 days. You can give it to someone in a ticket line after you're done on Day 3.
I often buy at the Louvre by going in the Carousel underground security line if it's not too busy. Look for the Apple Store. Depends on the line up. But it's all very civilized with chairs to sit in, etc.
I just bought it at the TI Office at CDG, look for the red sign after baggage claim, they speak English.
Thanks much!
With a bit of planning you can get away with a 2 day pass by doing 'not included' sights on day 1.
Day 1
Eiffel Tower / Arc de Triomphe / Notre Dame / Sacre Coeur & Montmartre / Seine River Cruise
Day 2
St Chapelle / Conciergerie / Orangerie / Pompidou Centre / Louvre (open late Wed+Fri)
Day 3
Versailles / Musee Rodin / Musee d'Orsay (open late Thu)
Depending on how long you plan to be in Paris you might consider the Paris Pass http://www.parispass.com/how-it-works/ which in addition to all the sites on the Museum Pass includes other attractions such as monuments and public buildings, transportation options such as the hop on hop off busses, the subway and transit system and boat cruises on the Seine to name a few. May not be what you want but it's worth a look. I'm going back in September and plan to do it again.
