I want to make sure I’m understanding the Louvre process again. My ticket options are:
1) purchase tickets on the site and print at home
2) purchase 3rd party sites with time slot and skip the line (times all late in the day)
3)show up and stand in line
We wish we could print at home but we are not certain our apartment owner would allow us to use his printer. I read a few people on the forum just showing up. I’m a little tempted to just try that.
I booked my tickets from the Louvre site and chose my time at home and printed out.
I also received an email containing mobile tickets for phone
Buy them online and show the tickets on your phone. If you don't have data, either download to your phone or take pics of each code. Easy peasy.
No ticket purchase allows you to skip the line for security. Lines were much smaller at the Louvre when I was there in Sept/Oct although I did have a longer wait for security on a Sunday.
All tickets purchased ahead now are timed entry.
Any information you are reading in a guidebook about ticket purchases is “old” news.
I agree that I also bought my tickets online and did not print them. I used the digital QR code on my phone as the locals do. Do take s screenshot of the ticket so you can access without wifi or data.
On the actual Louvre sites there is only a “print at home” option, which blows my mind in 2021.
Once you get into it there is an option to have it on your phone. You screenshot the PDF from your email.
Ok we plowed ahead and bought tickets figuring we would just show our email if we couldn’t find a print shop but sure enough the mobile ticket option appeared after purchase. :)
Hi..just returned from Paris..bought tickets on phone..no printer at apartment.
Screen shot the tickets so I have in photos..emailed to myself so I have in folder.
All before I closed screen. I also downloaded but sometimes have an issue retrieving! Operator error I am certain. All worked well at Louvre..they are very helpful! Have a wonderful trip!
By the way we practically waltzed into the Orsay this afternoon. Our choice of times. No line.
It is not true that you have to print the ticket; we bought tickets in November and just showed the bar code on our phone at the entrances to the wings -- no issues at all; they do a pass sanitaire check at the security line. We had no real line at the Carousel in November for security.
Third party sites offer zero advantages and there is no such thing as a 'skip the line ticket' and third party sites have no special access to extra special tickets that offer special benefits. It is all hype for the gullible. Just buy tickets on official web sites and show them on your phone -- for pretty much every entry in Paris from the Carnavalet which is free but requires a reservation to the Opera. We didn't have to print a single ticket this fall. All the venues we visited had timed tickets we bought on line. You do need to book them a few days in advance in some cases.
The Orsay usually is a museum I would not approach without ticket ahead where you use a different entry door but I did notice this fall that the main ticket line was not very long - which is a real change from the before times. So apparently you can show up there and buy a ticket. I don't know about the Louvre -- we had to show our ticket as well as our Pass Sanitaire to get into the pyramid just to prove we had tickets; in the past you could buy them under the pyramid once you entered.
I also skipped into the Orsay two weeks ago, zero line. Same at the Rodin.
Gettting into the Galeries Lafayette, well that was another matter entirely.
Reminder that if you'd rather get your tix in hand first, the FNAC chain of stores has a ticket bureau inside that sells tickets for everything happening in Paris.
Like someone else above, I bought my Louvre tickets directly from the Louvre over the Internet (per the official Louvre website), and chose the day/time for entry to the museum. Also, like Rick Steves suggests, we entered using the side entrance on Rue de Rivoli, and got into the museum with practically no delay.
