Louvre tour question

You really do need to plan what you want to see before you go, otherwise, it can be frustrating. My very first visit to Le Louvre was with our Globus tour guide. She knew exactly where to go and how to get from Point A to Point B in record time. She was a wealth of knowledge. So, a human guide can be invaluable.
I have "Rick Steves Paris" 2022 Edition and downloaded his free tour for my last few visits. It takes about two hours. Greek statues, Venus de Milo, Parthenon Friezes, Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, the Marriage at Cana, the Raft of the Medusa, Liberty Leading the People, and the Code of Hammurabi are the main events on his tour. You can also get the self-guided audioguide for @ 5 Euros which is more detailed than RS free download. If you use it, make sure you have a plan. I've done both and both were well done. It's supposed to be fun, not a day of frustration. Don't forget to sit for lunch or a drink in between the art. I especially enjoyed a glass of champagne inside the Louvre but outside on a terrace (I don't remember the name) Have fun!

We booked a tour with Dayin Paris and absolutely loved it.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187147-d23964627-Reviews-Dayin_Paris-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

We too were interested in the palace itself and its history, along with some art highlights. They scheduled a call with us before our trip to discuss our interests and top priorities and I felt like they delivered 100% on what we were hoping for. Our guide, Vincent, was really knowledgeable and fun.

Thank you both! I really want the experience not to be frustrating and overwhelming.

I typically don’t like audio tours as I wear hearing aids and find it cumbersome. But I think Rick’s audio is Bluetooth friendly, which might work. Since there are 5 of us, I might look to see what the Louvre itself charges for tours. Price is a consideration.

But I will start on a plan.

We had an excellent private tour with an art history expert. Please private message me and I'll share her contact info. I communicated with her on WhatsApp.

Does your son have a particular era he's interested in?

A good thing to know is that once you get inside under the pyramid, there are 3 wings to access the collections. You have to scan your ticket when you enter each wing. You can ONLY go thru the scanners for each wing once so you can't keep going back out to the Main entrance hall area BUT you can also go from wing to wing inside the scanned area.

Here is a link to the floor plan. You will be able to pick one of these up in the main entrance area.

https://api-www.louvre.fr/sites/default/files/2024-06/Web%20-%20EN%20%20LOUVRE_PlanG%20-%2004-2024.pdf

For you and the building, lol....if you decide to do on your own, start with the medieval building which is on Level -1 in the Sully wing. Napoleon's apartments are on Level 1 in the Richelieu Wing. You can get between these wings on Level 0 where you can also find the Venus di Milo and the Code of Hammurabi. There are escalators in the Richelieu wing so to me it's easier to go over to Richelieu to go up, lol. As you walk to the Napoleon apartments, I love to go into Room 501 in front of the Angelina Restaurant and see my favorite object....the Vase of Alienor d'Aquitaine! If you continue up to Level 2 Richelieu with the escalators, you can also get to the Old Dutch Masters...the 2 Vermeer's and a handful of Rembrandts are here.

The regular rate adult ticket is €22.00. The combined ticket with the Welcome to the Louvre museum guide (90 minute tour) is €31.00. I recently bought my ticket for this April, so I can’t comment on how good the tour is yet, but the price was right.

Thanks Pam! I’ve copied that link. I’m already finding it overwhelming!

I’ve taken plenty of Louvre tours, Lulu. They are excellent for a Museum overview.

If you haven't already found it, Rick Steves Audio has a really good (free) audio tour of the Louvre (and tons of other places) that I've used. I'm a huge fan of his audio tours because you can pause it when you want or 2x the speed if you are running short on time. It's basically like having a Rick narration from the TV shows in real life. Highly recommend.