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Louvre Timing - Lesser of Two Evils

Posted by (Michigan) on

I'm working on our Paris itinerary for late September. We fly into Paris from Detroit at about 8am on a Saturday morning. With other things we have planned we'll need to visit the Louvre on Sunday if we decide to include it. I'm inclined to book morning tickets to avoid the worst crowds but am afraid we might sleep through it due to jetlag.

I'm thinking the other option would be after lunch, maybe around 2pm. There's a semi-private tour at that time I've been looking at, but we're not averse to just downloading a map and going it alone. I am concerned that mid-afternoon crowds on a Sunday might make it not worth visiting at all. We have no interest in the Mona Lisa, but would like to see some Greek and Roman statues. Outside of that there are other areas of the museum we'd be happy to check out that might not have peak crowds, so maybe it would be ok?

This is our first trip to Europe so I'm really not sure what to expect with the time adjustment. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Posted by
14540 posts

I would guess you will be awake early and slump by afternoon. I’d go for the AM visit. Get the audioguide when you purchase your tickets and pick up a map in the lobby area under the pyramid.

Here is a link to the Louvre website where you can take a look at the map of the museum ahead of time.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/map-entrances-directions

BTW, I had good luck last year using the Timeshifter app to work with getting my circadian rhythm in sync. The app uses NASA science to build a plan for you with recommendations on when to get and avoid light and caffeine. The first RT is free. Download ahead of time as it starts a few days ahead. I had no jet lag either going or coming and with my flights originating from the Mountain West have longer flight times.

Posted by
576 posts

I will tell you that they have recently redone the Greek in Roman areas and I thought it was very well done and loved it and there’s nobody there. Because they’re all at the only piece of art in the museum LOL

I’m on a campaign to get them to take Mona move her to a separate museum and charge €25 for if you want to stand in front of her and get a selfie. Let’s get all the selfish selfie crowd out. Then they will not be wandering around trying to act like they wanted to see something because, they feel like they have too when only reason they came was Mona

Posted by
9 posts

Thanks, everyone. I actually feel much less stressed about this now. And thanks for the tip about the time adjustment app.

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