Paris: Orsay and Louvre museums in PM versus AM?

I prefer to go to both of these museums in the AM and yes, I'm one that makes a timed entry for the Louvre for the first entry time. To me both museums get very hot in the afternoon. I guess they have AC but I can never feel it especially in the more crowded galleries. I am pretty sensitive to heat so it's just uncomfortable for me to be there when it's hot and stuffy (as there never seems to be enough air circulation either). In early Sept you may still have some afternoon heat to deal with.

As to the museum pass, do look to see if there are timed entries for Museum Pass holders for the Louvre for your day. What a number of people found out was that when they went to select a time for a museum pass entry, they were all spoken for while there was still availability for folks who were paying for a timed entry. *** OK, I looked a the Louvre ticket site and the earliest Museum Pass ticket is 1130 while the earliest paid admission is 9A on Sept 6.

Also...is there another day besides a Tuesday you can do Orsay? It is usually very busy on Tuesdays since it's the Louvre closure day.

I also no longer feel the Museum Pass is worthwhile. This changed in Summer of 2019 when they quit allowing multiple entries to a museum as some nationality tour groups were abusing this (not American). Also with the timed entries being needed for Louvre and Orangerie I'd rather just go ahead and pay so I can get in when I want. How many days were you going to get the pass for? Which Museums were you considering? It might be as inexpensive to get individual timed entry tickets which you can buy from most museums online or at the door (Cluny you an get at the door).

Thank you for your reply. Regarding Tuesday being very busy for the Orsay museum, would it be smarter for us to go to Versailles on Tuesday, and do the Louvre and Orsay on Wednesday and Thursday when there might be smaller crowds?

I haven't been to Versailles for years and that was way before the pandemic and the move to timed entries for big museums. Hopefully someone who goes frequently will answer on which days might be best. Rick used to recommend Thursday for Versailles as a lower crowd date but again....not sure if that actually still holds true!

The ground has shifted a lot for museum days/entries since the advent of timed entries!

In January of this year, I found the Louvre unbearably crowded in the afternoon. We had 9:30 entry (the earliest is 9 am but couldn't get that with the Museum Pass) and stayed all day. In in the morning, it was full, but in the afternoon it was so crowded that it almost wasn't worth it. We saw a special exhibition after lunch around 1:30 and it was so packed we could barely move through the galleries. We went again about 4 or 4:30 and that exhibition was bearable.

Admittedly, this was a Saturday. But Saturday was the only day none of the galleries had scheduled closings, so that's when we went.

I would advise going in the morning.

My husband and I visited the Louvre pre-pandemic and dropped in on the late evening with a plan to return later in the trip. This was in late September and crowds were non-existent; to the point that we were able to see everything on our must see list within a few hours. It was delightful. We are returning in a few weeks and I’m concerned about crowds but we are still planning a late afternoon and evening visit.

Both museums have late hours (until 21:00/9pm) if I recall one night a week. If you are going to be in Paris on those nights, much better to visit then. Much sparser crowds. I had the Mona Lisa to myself on the late night hours -- albeit this was in Feb.

I can only comment on my recent experience of visiting the Musee D'Orsay three weeks ago on a Thursday as soon as they opened. The topmost floor with the most famous paintings got crowded pretty quickly, especially with Chinese tour groups who felt the need to take 100 selfies with the most famous paintings (the Monets, Van Gogh's, etc.). That said, once I got out of that area, it was fine. The art nouveau galleries on the mezzanine levels I had pretty much all to myself. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. By the time I got down to the two bottommost levels (around noon or so), it was moderately busy, mostly with school groups, but nothing too annoying. Huge line for the cafeteria though and the gift shop was crazy crowded. I would recommend visiting on a full stomach as I was absolutely starving by the time my visit was over. I don't know if things get better or worse later in the day.

The Louvre mandates time slot reservation for Paris Museum Pass holder. Musée d’Orsay does not require a time slot reservation for PM pass holder.

Personally I prefer the morning hours; I think it is less busy.

Your title asks about the Orsay in the evening… they’re open late on Thursdays and the last several times i’ve been there then (in Sept or Oct) it was still very crowded.

For me, personally, museums have to be a first thing in the morning event. I have often thought while planning trips that I'd like to visit d'Orsay when it is open for evening hours but I know myself -- I am too beat by then to enjoy it. Same for afternoons. I don't think I could face a large museum in the afternoon. Perhaps take your stamina into consideration :-)

Crowds aside, the Louvre is huge, so I'd aim for the morning in case you want to spend longer than planned!
Orsay is much more manageable, so I suggest you go when it suits you, especially since apparently you don't need to book a slot with the museum pass according to the other replies you had.

We visited the Orsay on a Tuesday morning in March and were amazed how crazy busy it was, especially in the Impressionist wing. According to our coat check assistant, Wednesday mornings are less busy.

As Pam said above, try to avoid the Orsay on a Tuesday when the Louvre is closed making the Orsay crazy crowded.

I scheduled early morning visits in early May. I would do so again, but I had an unexpected issue. I was staying in the Montparnasse area and took the Metro. With the early morning entries I ended battling the rush hour traffic and the Metro was packed. I had to skip a couple of trains and ended up packed in the one I could squeeze into! Allow a little extra time.

We went to the Orsay a few weeks ago and were in line early to enter right when it opened (we had a Museum Pass). Once in we went directly to the top floor to see the Impressionists paintings. For nearly half an hour we had those rooms to ourselves before the first tour groups arrived. It was wonderful! We had a similar experience at St.-Chapelle. First in line, then straight up the spiral staircase to view the stained glass panels with a lot fewer people around. On the flip side, we had a 15:30 entry for the Louvre (we had been there several times before) intending to visit just a few favorite sites. It was very crowded and hot, and while we saw what we wanted, it wasn’t that pleasant being elbowed out of the way so that people could get their selfies. IMO, arrive early before the museum opens.

I don't remember what day of the week it was, but when we went to the Orsay, we booked our ticket for opening time and when we got in we had a bit of time to see what we wanted to see without big crowds. Same with the Orangerie.

I just returned from a RS tour. Our group arrived at 1:00 in the Louvre. We had two tour guides who managed to get us in the Louvre but then did not guide us at all. The Rick Steves APP was not working. There were so many people that it was almost a traumatic experience! My advice would be to avoid the Louvre entirely. The Orsay is crowded but easier to navigate. I agree that first thing in the morning would be best if for no other reason than you are more rested and have more stamina then. I would suggest replacing the Louvre with the Cluny, the Rodin Museum, the Picasso Museum, the Jaquemart Andre, any of the lesser known but equally wonderful museums.

We went to the Louvre in the afternoon a few days ago, and it was pretty crowded and very, very, warm inside... except down in the lowest level. I was suprised that it wasn't cooler considering the art.

We used the Paris Museum pass, but even though we got everything booked months ago, were unable to use that pass for the Louvre, so we had to buy seperate regular tickets to access the Louvre for the entire length of our stay in Paris! Seriously, I got everything schedulled and booked as far in advance as possible and couldn't use the PMP for the Louvre?! That makes me think it may not be worth spending the money on the PMP at all unless you have a lot of other museums you intend to go into on it.

Orsay was afternoon for us as well and it was pretty crowded as well, but more manageable.

We did l'Orangerie early in the AM and it was GREAT... got in at 10 and it was lightly poulated, but by the time we left at 11:30 or so, it had gotten much more crowded. My opinion on all heavily visited places, go first thing in the AM while people are still having their croissants. By the end, it'll be crowded but for a little while, you will have the place a bit more to yourself.

I was at the Louvre from 10-11:30 yesterday and today visiting the Egyptian and ancient Greek collections. It depends on the room you are visiting. We were fine except when we stumbled into the room with the Venus de Milo.

However, we couldn't believe the crowds we saw entering as we were leaving. The lines to enter the wings backed up to the middle of the Pyramid. I've been a member or had a pass for the past twenty years and have never seen anything like this.