Please sign in to post.

Museum pass

Thoughts on the Paris museum pass.
A good value?

Are you always able to skip t lines?
Is it better to buy on line or in paris

Posted by
2537 posts

Anyone who prepurchases tickets or who has a pass can skip the ticket lines. Musée d´Orsay (and l´Orangerie) has a special entrance and security line for those which prepurchased tickets or passes.

Otherwise the museum pass is only a good value if you plan on seeing as many museums as is necessary to make the expense of the pass worthwhile. If you are serious about museums, you may not want to rush through just to get your moneys with for the pass. Just purchase a ticket in advance from the museum´s own website.

Posted by
7981 posts

there are two lines -- security and tickets. If you have a ticket, of course you don't have to stand in a ticket line, but you still have to go through security. That long long line you see at Versailles, the Louvre and d'Orsay are security lines not ticket lines. Some places have special security lines for people who have tickets already which are shorter. This is very helpful at the Musee d'Orsay, somewhat helpful at the Louvre and Orangerie and makes no difference at Versailles which just has one security line. for Ste Chapelle, everyone goes through the long security line outside whether they have a ticket or pass or not.

Posted by
922 posts

You have to go through the security line regardless, but you skip the ticket line.

Posted by
13809 posts

I'll just add - don't spend the extra money to buy it online and have it mailed to you. Just pick it up when you get there. You'll want to get it before you hit one of the big museums but there are many places to purchase it from tourist info booths at the airport to smaller museums that might be in your hotel's neighborhood to the local Tabac (tobacco shops - often sell the museum passes and Metro passes) that is probably down the street from your hotel.

Posted by
2349 posts

Don't skimp on it. If you'll be there for a week, get the 6 day pass. Avoid trying to dash around in 2 days to get all the museums in. Your time is valuable, and if you go all over the city to use up the pass, you've just wasted time.

The website is a great resource. http://en.parismuseumpass.com/

Posted by
274 posts

We've always found it a great value, simply because we can skip the ticket buying lines, and it exposes us to museums we might not otherwise have paid for, but popped into because they were included in the already purchased pass. I found my two favorite museums in Paris, the Rodin museum and the Orangerie, this way. We've purchased our passes at the Versailles TI (on the way from the train station to Versailles), at the Arc de Triomphe, and the Orangerie without issue.

Posted by
1936 posts

If you are staying more than a couple days it is worth it. We bought the 4 day pass and were able to split the Louvre into two day trips, see the Arc de Triumph and visit the Concierge(?), the building where Marie Antoinette was held during the French Revolution. I wouldn't have gone there without the pass but am glad we did as seeing her "cell" made me think that most French peasants would have loved to stay there.

Buy it in Paris.

Posted by
7981 posts

As Heather points out one of the great advantages of the pass is that you can visit the same museum more than once; 2 or 3 hours at the Louvre twice beats 6 hours once for most people. And the 6 day pass becomes very cost effective per day if you are a first timer and seeing lots of the monuments and museums included in it.

Posted by
72 posts

The pass is great because it allows you to enter, leave, and re-enter the attractions as often as you'd like. And it doesn't just cover the museums... the Arc De Triomphe is included. Want photos up there during the day AND at night? Want to guarantee getting up there as quickly as possible when the weather breaks and the sun comes out from behind the clouds? The Museum Pass lets you do that at a whim, whereas the ordinary admission for the ADT is 12 Euros per entry.

For the museums, just the idea that you know you can go back on a day when they're open until late to finish looking around (at no extra charge) is great. And if you DO decide to do that at The Louvre, take the Metro and enter the museum from that entrance. You'll be inside in no time.

There are plenty of places to buy it in Paris. At the museums themselves (but I'd choose one of the quieter museums like the Musée des Égouts (the Sewer Museum!) where the lines are much shorter), or in the Gare Du Nord concourse at the Paris Info booth (if you're checking out the Eurostar) or the Tourist Info place at Charles De Gaulle Terminal 2D... lots of options. The tourism board wants visitors to experience Paris, they want them purchasing these passes, so they're abundant.

Posted by
12172 posts

The pass is really good for people who want to see museums. As Janet said, being able to go multiple times without having to pay again each time is a benefit. It's also really good for quick visits to smaller museums that you might otherwise skip.

I think it's a good idea to look at what the pass covers; how many of those appeal to you? Figure out the price with and without the pass then you know whether it's a good deal for you or not. I usually leave a non-pass day to see the places that aren't covered.

Posted by
1362 posts

My last two trips to the Louvre I noticed 3 lines in front of the pyramid. One for those with the Museum Pass, one for Louvre tickets already in hand & one line for those needing to still purchase tickets. Everyone enters into the same security zone before heading down the stairs/escalator/elevator.
For Musee d'Orsay, it was line "C" for those with a Museum Pass.
Saint Chapelle does not always offer a separate line to go through the initial security entrance into the main compound, you may have to line up with everyone else who has an appointment at the Court House. For St. Chapelle itself, there was two lines, one for those w/a Pass/Ticket in hand & those waiting to purchase a ticket just before entering the doors. During my last visit, the line wrap around the gate/fence adjacent to the Chapelle, I walk past everyone up to the person at the main door, showed them my Museum Pass and walked in. After that folks that already had a pass/ticket saw what I did & got out of the the ticket line & formed the second line. Everyone had just formed one line to the ticket window.
Enjoy your trip.