Paris Museum Pass

You could never skip the line with a PMP -- you could use the dedicated security line for those with TICKETS or Passes. Before COVID this often was very short. e.g. we usually just walked into the Orsay with tickets we bought at the newsstand out front while people who didn't know about that waited in a long ticket line. But none of the museums that had this special line differentiated between PMP holders and those with tickets.

The pass used to allow multiple entries -- it is better to spend 2 or 3 hours in the Louvre twice than 6 hours once. But that benefit was taken away a few years ago when Chinese tour groups abused it. (sure they could have fixed this easily but instead they took the benefit away from everyone.)

The Louvre also has limited slots for PMP holders so you might have a situation where those without passes can buy tickets but they are sold out for pass holders.

Thus I don't see an advantage anymore unless it will save money. If you want to do a museum marathon and if you want to dip in and out of a number of smaller places for half an hour or so, then it might work for you. We don't do it anymore.

I don't think the list of museums and monuments is shorter than it once was -- but I am not sure about that.

It used to be kind of magic to just walk in on the spur of the moment but now the major museums want PMP holders to make reservations. (FWIW. I think you can still just walk into the Musee d'Orsay using the lines on the right)

The Paris Museum Pass used to be a much more powerful tool in the past because it used to allow the buyer to go multiple times. Today, you must get reservations with timed entries and the shorter line advantage is gone. It can still be a good value if you plan to visit enough sites.

I was just in Paris for a week and bought the pass because I planned to visit enough sites and was able to save money (went to Versailles, Louvre, Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle, Arc de Tromphe, Conciergerie, Orangerie, Pantheon, Cluny, Centre Pompidou, Picasso, Armee, Rodin). Crowds were light and so I didn’t need advanced reservations except for Versailles and the Louvre. That said, it was also nice to be able to pull out the pass and then walk in without going to the ticket counter and pop in to the museum and see what I wanted to see without being overly concerned about whether or not I had obtained value for that specific museum.

The month of May might be different. There will certainly be larger crowds and it will be harder to pop in to museums.

Good luck and enjoy!

I would book sites that you are interested in most as soon as you can, although when you do, you lose schedule flexibility but you do gain peace of mind that you will see sites that you want to see.

Thank you for your replies. It's much clearer now. I guess the question now is how far ahead to get the reservations? I'll keep checking their websites and see when they start filling up.