Hello! I’m not entirely certain that the Paris Museum Pass will make economic sense for me, given time constraints, so am thinking about purchasing tickets to certain venues in advance. Are these tickets, bought online directly from the sites (Orsay, Chapelle, Orangerie) valid for a set period, say 12 months, or do I need to specify the date I’ll be visiting?
Cheers
Eleanor
The on-line D’Orsay & Orangerie tickets are valid until the end of 2019. If I'm not going to the Louvre during a trip, I usually purchase the combo Orangerie & Orsay and just buy it at the Orangerie where the lines are shorter.
The prepurchase ticket rules vary slightly from museum to museum. Check the policy when purchasing tickets.
Overall, prepurchase tickets are valid throughout the year but some are sold with an entry time window. Failure to meet the window can require your standing in the ticket line to have your timed ticket reissued for immediate entry.
Which museums would require re-issue of tickets? Not the Orsay; not the Louvre; not the Orangerie -- not even Versailles although there you give up. line advantage if you miss your window and have to stand in the long security line.
I would prepurchase Orsay tickets as that saves time almost always as ticket holders use a different door, often with no line at all. We have never had a long wait for tickets at the Louvre and don't bother pre-purchasing there and use a security entrance other than the Pyramid.
Thanks for the helpful info everyone. This is a great community!
Which museums would require re-issue of tickets? Not the Orsay; not the Louvre;
Perhaps you should take a look at the individual websites. Here is what the Louvre states:
Le billet acheté en ligne est horodaté et nominatif, un document d’identité peut être demandé.
Il est valable exclusivement pour la prestation, la date et à compter de l'heure mentionnée. Il ne constitue pas un coupe file mais permet un accès à la pyramide du Louvre dans la demi-heure de l'horaire indiqué. En cas de non-respect de ce créneau horaire, le porteur du billet print@home est soumis aux mêmes conditions d'accès et d'attente que les visiteurs sans billet.
If you purchase an on line ticket for le Louvre and do not use it during the specified window, you must stand in line with those who do not have tickets at all. Whether they physically exchange your prepurchased ticket or simply allow you to move through the line with those who do not yet have tickets is immaterial. You don´t lose the value of the ticket simply by not showing at the predetermined time, you only lose access to the pass holder entrances.
And these are not 'ticket lines'; they are security lines and in my experience the ticket holders line at the pyramid for security is often longer than just walking through at the Carrousel entrance Last year we had timed ticket and had no security line at all in May at the Carrousel where the pyramid 'ticketed line' was a couple of blocks long. Tickets are checked at the wings of the Louvre inside not at the security entrance (except for the ticket only line) and it doesn't matter what time is on the ticket once you clear security.
We always buy ahead at the Orsay where it is very helpful; we rarely bother at the Louvre -- our timed ticket was for a special exhibit and we still did better using a regular entrance.
