We are a party of four - two middle aged and two college art students - traveling from Jan. 3 to 11. I was originally going to buy us Museum Passes but with the strike I'm not sure if it would be worth it, given the shorter hours and longer time it takes to get from museum to museum. I've also heard the lines are shorter because it's low season and many tourists have bailed out.
Any ideas about this?
I don´t think it is ever necessary to purchase a museum pass. I would simply purchase those entrances available on line through the museum´s own website. This gives you access to the same special entrances pass holders use.
If you wanted to visit the Louvre, reservations are now required and I believe tickets are sold out through February but you should confirm.
The Louvre is NOT sold out.
The DaVinci exhibit may be but that is a single special exhibit within the Louvre.
OP- it all depends upon your plans and line tolerance. The lack of multiple entries is a substantial hit in the value category but bypassing ticket lines can be a substantial time saver. There is the added plus of visiting small sites that you might have otherwise skipped.
Your spending thousands of dollars on a trip with air fare, hotels, food- so is the place to get cheap the actual sites you spent all that money to see? But every family has a budget and the call can only be made by you.
Anyone with a ticket purchased on line will also by-pass the ticket lines. There is minimal to no advantage in purchasing a museum pass over purchasing individual tickets on line. Depending upon how much time one spends in a specific museum he may actually save money by not buying a museum pass. If the objective is to walk in as many museums as possible, then by all means, the museum pass is the answer. But with many museums cutting operating hours due to staff shortages, there is presently little incentive to spend the money for a pass.
I would say it's still worth it. Probably one of the surest bets to stay open during the strike even with reduced hours. Plus, you can stay in the Louvre the whole day and/or walk to others that are close by.
We buy museum passes on every annual trip to Paris and have for over a decade. It makes entries so much easier and we've enjoyed many lesser known and nearly empty museums. Nearly all have a snack bar for cold drinks, seating, and the all important restrooms. Check out the list of museums on their website. Many argue that it's never a bargain but we think otherwise. Your choice.
I think the Museum Pass can be of good use for a first time (or second time) visitor but I think the more often you visit the less valuable one may find it with the new restrictions. I used to always get one because I could pop in and out of museums for either a short visit or a bathroom stop. Now with the pass being restricted to one entry per museum plus timed entries being mandatory for the Louvre (even with the Pass) it may be less so for those returning.
Right now, looking at the page on which to book compulsory time slots for entry to the Louvre general collection for Museum Pass holders, it looks like things are pretty wide open.
https://www.ticketlouvre.fr/louvre/b2c/index.cfm/pmpevent/eventCode/PMP
It might help if we knew what museums you have in mind to visit.
There is minimal to no advantage in purchasing a museum pass over purchasing individual tickets on line.
Depends on what you mean by advantage. In addition to the skip the line advantage, which I agree you can also do with individual tickets purchased on line, there is often a cost savings. Add up the entrance costs of the museums you want to visit and compare it to the cost of a pass. In my case it saved me quite a few €, probably because I'm a museum rat and visit lots of them. I do agree that since they changed the rules to one entrance per museum it has lost some of it's value but still worth doing the math.
