I was planning to purchase a Museum Pass upon arrival to Paris. I was also trying to plan ahead and reserve a time slot for museums that require reservations, and I was not able since the Museum Pass number is required to reserve a time slot. Am I right? It seems that I will need to purchase the Museum Pass online before my arrival if I want to make reservations for the Louvre, Versailles etc. I would like to know if anybody else has encounter this issue. Thanks!
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14738 posts
To me the Museum Pass has lost some of it’s value with the required reservations and limiting to one visit per museum. What museums are you planning and which pass were you considering? They come in 2 days(actually 48 hours so you might get admission over 3 days depending on timing), 4 days (48 hours) or 6 days (144 hours).
Posted by
Chicago
8554 posts
Just try putting in a string of numbers and see if that works -- others have reported it has -- you get the reservation and then just show it and the pass when you show up. Frankly it is a rare itinerary in which a museum pass is of value. Maybe if you are doing a lot of short visits over a couple of days, it will save money. But when they limited it to one visit per museum and moved to everyone having to have a reservation, the benefits of the museum pass pretty much disappeared. As you are discovering it isn't convenient now either.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
I will be in Paris for 6 days and will travel to Strasbourg and the Alsace region after Paris, therefore I was planning to purchase the 6 days Museum Pass. I am planning to visit the Louvre, Orsay, Versailles, Cluny, St Chapelle, Conciergerie and others
Posted by
la rioja
590 posts
The Musee de Cluny is closed until the spring.
Posted by
Chicago
8554 posts
Add up the cost of the tickets and see if the pass really saves any money.
Posted by
Upstate NY, USA
892 posts
Ok, see below - I was there the last week of October. I literally went to all of these:
Louvre - must go online https://www.ticketlouvre.fr/louvre/b2c/index.cfm/pmpevent/eventCode/PMP - multiple 0s worked for me
Orsay - you do NOT need a timeslot as a PMP holder; museum is open until 9:45 on Thursday, I went at 630 I think, no wait. https://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/articles/gratuite-307
Versailles - similar to Louvre; https://en.chateauversailles.fr/plan-your-visit/tickets-and-prices
Cluny - as mentioned, sadly closed
St Chapelle - must order online; similar to the Louvre and Versailles, I selected the I ALREADY HAVE A TICKET option https://tickets.monuments-nationaux.fr/en-GB/session-products
Conciergerie - same as St Chapelle
Expect heavy security at St Chapelle and Conciergerie.
I felt the PMP was well worth it - I also did the Rodin museum (no ticket in advance was required, either, same w the Pantheon).
You will HAVE to show your PMP as well as your timeslot ticket for all of the museums, so keep them available.
LMK if you have additional questions.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thank you so much for all the feedback. Very useful information. At this point, I am more concerned about the new restrictions for travelers entering France.
Posted by
4 posts
We just returned from a week in Paris. We assumed we would purchase the Museum Pass when we got to Paris and then make the necessary reservations on line. While we were in Paris we encountered many issues using various museum websites to make the necessary reservation times, without purchasing tickets. We just could not do it. I went down to the hotel's concierge and asked for help. He told me 'before Covid' the Museum Pass was a great bargain and easy to use to visit the museums. However, now 'with Covid' the museum websites don't work well with this strategy. They expect you to purchase the ticket and make a reservation time. So the Pass is not such a good 'deal'. We just bought tickets and made reservations the day before each planned museum visit. The exception was the Louvre. I would make that 2 days in advance, at least during this time of the year.
Posted by
Upstate NY, USA
892 posts
i had no issue with the museums i went to - what museums did you have issues with?
Posted by
Florida
276 posts
We just returned from Paris on Saturday. We purchased the 4-day Museum Pass for 66 euros, and visited the following museums. For us, the MP saved us money and saved us time. The museums we went to, if we had purchased individually, would have been 77 euros. Not a HUGE savings, but coupled with the time saved, made it more than worth it for us.
Arc de Triomphe - no advance reservation required, just walk up and show pass. We were able to bypass a LONG ticket-buying line (Monday mid-morning)
Orsay - no advance reservation required, just walk up. Same thing as the Arc - we bypassed a long ticket-buying line.
Rodin - no advance reservation required, just walk up. We were there right when the museum opened, so there was not a ticket-buying line.
Orangerie - made advance reservation online, which you can do for free without an MP in hand. This is where we purchased our MPs. There was no ticket-buying line when we went at 9:30 on Monday morning.
Lourve - made an advance reservation online (I entered my phone number as my MP number). I was able to book a timeslot two days before.
Sainte-Chapelle - made an advance reservation online, which you can do for free without an MP in hand.
For the Versailles chateau, I don't think you are able to book a timeslot online, so that you might want to purchase separately. Although given the low level of crowds right now, you MAY be able to just show up at opening and get in. We didn't go out there on this trip, so I can't give you any helpful info there.
Posted by
Savannah, GA
1382 posts
For me the Museum Pass has lost a lot of the value. I also don't frequent as many museums a day as I used to, especially in the winter when the museums are stuffy, overheated, and you have a mask to help catch your sweat. I would say price it out and see if it's worth it. Anymore it's just as easy to prepurchase your ticket.