Hi There,
Wondering if it is better to buy tickets to museums and attractions on their sites in advance or do the museum pass, specifically wondering if it is better to have the ticket and time slot to avoid lines and ensure availability. I am not seeing where i can reserve a time without paying (assuming i purchase the museum pass). Note i already purchased Versailles tickets. To pass or not to pass that is the question! If i do get the pass, how do you use it at the locations? TIA
We always buy the Museum Pass in Paris( I think this is what you are reffering to) to give us much faster entry and to save money. There is usually a separate entrance line for passes.
Whether a tourist pass is a good value or not very much depends on your interests and TIME: how many sites the pass covers that you genuinely want to see, and how much time you realistically have to use it.
Pre-ticketing or passes doesn't entirely avoid standing in a queue: while they eliminate the ticket lines, they do not eliminate security-check queues. Those move along pretty well but, well, they're still queues, and probably shorter in winter than high season/ Passes are nice because they are FLEXIBLE versus time-slotted tickets, although tickets can also have 'open' timing. They also eliminate any online ticketing reservation fees, where applicable.
In the end, it's about making the math work for your specific trip. Write down the attractions you want to see - and have TIME to see - and their individual ticketing prices, and then compare that to the price of the pass.
As you seem to be referencing Paris, the Paris Museum Pass has been a worthwhile purchase for many of us. We had the 6-day (it comes in 2, 4 and 6-day amounts) and MORE than broke even on it during our week in the city. Unlike many tourists passes we've encountered, that one allows you to revisit attractions as many times as you wish during the life of the pass; really nice for the mighty Louvre! We did 3 separate visits there versus one VERY long day. It does not cover transport but buying carnets of 10 individual ride tickets was an economical way for us to get around (we walked more than rode).
Info on the pass is here, and you can buy them in Paris; no need to purchase in advance.
http://en.parismuseumpass.com
What is NOT a good buy is the Paris Pass. That one does include transport but is ridiculously overpriced, and I have never seen it recommended on this forum.
Having a ticket ahead or a pass means most places you use a special security line that is usually shorter. e.g. at the Musee d'Orsay you use a different door and the line ranges from 0 to 15 minutes whereas the main line is rarely shorter than 15 minutes and can be a couple of hours. At the Louvre it matters less; the designated pass line at the Pyramid is often longer than just entering through one of the other entrances. We have never waited more than 15 minutes for security at the Carrousel entrance and the ticket machines are numerous and so far we have never had a line for those. I am sure in high summer season, there would be lines. The pass or a ticket makes no difference at Versailles; the killer blocks long security line is for everyone. So either book a King's apartment tour which uses a different entrance or get there at least half an hour before the chateau opens.
The pass has several advantages if you are on a first trip and seeing many included things. You can go to the same museum repeatedly. I'd rather spend 3 hours in the Louvre 3 times than try to get my money's worth with a marathon 8 hour visit. It also means you can dip into a place you wouldn't spend the money for a full ticket on; I'd never spend money in Invalides but nipping in for a quick look at Napoleon's tomb would be tempting with the pass. Some people like knowing they can go to a small museum and use the restrooms although we have never had problems finding a restroom in Paris.
Figure out what you want to see and add it up and then get the Pass if the cost is close; as long as you come close to breaking even the convenience is worth having the pass.
If you love museums, I would avoid the museum pass, at least reconsider purchasing one. Those who really want to spend time in a museum do not want to rush through just to make a pass cost effective. Those serious about art could easily spend much of the day in le Louvre or the Musée d´Orsay and after having done so, are probably not interested in rushing off to another museum.
The pass can be an effective tool for many, particularly in winter when visitors spend more time indoors but for others, simply purchasing tickets in advance from a museum´s own website affords the same access as do pass holders have and may actually save money.
The other responses have laid out the key considerations in deciding whether the Paris Museum Pass will work for you. I would just add that if you are considering a pass that doesn't cover the full extent of your visit to the city, you should also think about what places you want to see that are not covered by the pass or are free. Making the pass pay off will probably mean packing the covered sights into your pass days. But what if there's a non-covered or free sight located very near a pass sight? No one ever has time to see everything he wants to do in Paris. Surely the most efficient thing to do is to see those two nearby places back-to-back. But now you're wasting part of a pass day. So: How many free or non-covered sights do you want to visit? Here are a few examples (which I hope are accurate):
Free: parks, typical Parisian neighborhoods, markets, many churches (may charge for towers, crypts, etc.), Petit Palais, Memorial to the Deportation.
Not covered by Paris Museum Pass: Eiffel Tower, Seine cruise, Catacombs, Jacquemart-Andre Museum, Marmottan Museum, Museum of Naïve Art, Museum of Counterfeiting, Museum of Romantics (Musee de la Vie Romantique). There are quite a lot of others.
Since you've already bought tickets to Versailles, the calendar is a factor. You probably don't want a pass that covers your Versailles day, because there may not be a lot of time left by the time you return to Paris. Does Versailles fall in the middle of your stay in Paris? The museum pass is valid for consecutive days.
That said, it is difficult to quantify the value of being able to make multiple visits to the Louvre, or to pop into a museum just to see a few rooms.
That said, it is difficult to quantify the value of being able to make
multiple visits to the Louvre, or to pop into a museum just to see a
few rooms.
I don't know as I'd do multiple visits to the Louvre during the day but it was very nice to have the pass for late openings when a lot of attractions are closed. This applies to the Arc de Triomphe as well. Going to some things open in evenings, when possible (Louvre is open late on Wed. and Friday) helps stretch sightseeing hours. :O)
Since you've already bought tickets to Versailles, the calendar is a
factor. You probably don't want a pass that covers your Versailles
day, because there may not be a lot of time left by the time your
return to Paris. Does Versailles fall in the middle of your stay in
Paris? The museum pass is valid for consecutive days.
Agree; this is a factor.
Not to make this more complicated, but when is your visit and how long? And what is your crowd tolerance? It's not just the lines on the outside, but sometimes the crowd on the inside. A dedicated time may get you in more easily, but there is still the crowd factor once you're there. The pass does give you the freedom to work around that. Last August, the crowd at the Louvre from 11-3 was staggering, and then everyone left and the museum was quite enjoyable. So, even if you decide against the pass, do some research on when the crowds are lighter.
We purchased the 4 day Museum Pass and found it was perfect for our 5 days in Paris. Another thing we did was get the Batobus Pass for two days that allowed us to hop on and hop off along the Seine. We also purchased a
Carnet of 10 to share.
Thanks for everyone for the detailed info! I think from a cost perspective it will be about even, i was more wondering if it was an issue not to have a time slot by purchasing the tickets in advance.
We are going March 27-30 leaving on the 31st. Planning to do the Louvre on WEdnesday night already bought Versialles for Thursday planning to do that then Musée d’Orsay on the late night.
Wish i purchased it before i bought Versialles but such is life.
Thanks again
Planning to do the Louvre on Wednesday night already bought Versialles
for Thursday planning to do that then Musée d’Orsay on the late night.
A 48-euro, 2-day pass isn't economical for just the Louvre on Wed and d'Orsay on Thursday. If you were using for Versailles on Thursday, then you would have come just short of breaking even. If you used it for the d'Orsay on Thursday night, you would have to use it for 3-4 or so attractions on Friday to make it worth the price. Or buy a 4-day pass and try to squeeze in some of the attractions on Tuesday as well.
I've been to Paris countless times and have lived in France for the past four years and have never even considered purchasing a museum pass. I focus on the museums I want to visit on any particular trip, confirm their open hours, and then go. I suppose if you could structure your visits just so, you might be able to save a few euros on your visit. In the overall picture of things, if those few euros make you feel better about the economic value of your trip to Europe, then go for it.
But above all, I hope you're able to relax on your visit to France. Enjoy the atmosphere and charm, and don't worry about whether or not you're extracting every last centime of value out of each and every day. Maybe I'm frivolous, but that seems like a pretty empty objective.
It’s not about the economics of the pass, I’m looking for what allows for fastest entry and flexibility. I don’t want to waste time queuing, I would rather be enjoying the sights. If I purchase tickets in advance it eliminates a line but restricts our plans to a specific time slot. Wondering if the pass makes sense to skip lines and not have to specify a time for the visit. Does that make sense?
You still have to queue for security. Different sites do the security line differently. At Musee d'Orsay there is a different door and security set up for Museum Pass holders. At the Orangerie there are 2 queues set up outside but you wind up going thru the same door and line. At Sainte-Chapelle everyone goes thru security as it is also the Court of Justice so you are there with people entering on business. At the chapel you can skip the ticket line and go to the entry booth. Sometimes when I've been there if you hold up your pass to a guard or someone minding the line they will point you to a different lane. This does not always seem to happen. Other museums have different set-ups.
The reason I buy the museum pass is simply to bypass the lines. We will be going on our third trip to Paris in June and still plan on getting a 4 day pass to not have to stand in lines. Admittedly we go into some places just to walk around for a few minutes. Because it is part of the pass we don’t feel bad if we only visit for 30 minutes to see one piece of art or for my wife to retake pictures that we missed on our last trip. You still have to stand in line at the Louvre for security but you avoid the first line to get tickets. We get a four day pass so we don’t feel like we have to rush to see everything and our goal is to see one thing on the pass each day. We are going for 2 weeks this time so we still have time to stroll around but the Pass allows us to revisit the Louvre and our other favorite places.
It’s not about the economics of the pass, I’m looking for what allows for fastest entry
The reason I buy the museum pass is simply to bypass the lines.
No reason to buy a museum pass if the objective is fast entry or to bypass lines. Advance ticket holders use the same entrances as do pass holders.
