I keep reading that one must book a tour of the Louvre to "skip the line". I don't want a tour. If I book tickets directly from the Louvre, WITHOUT a tour, will I still skip the line? Does that apply to the Catacombs too?
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15823 posts
I'm not sure where you're reading that but you can absolutely buy an advance, timed-entry ticket without a tour:
https://www.ticketlouvre.fr/louvre/b2c/index.cfm/home
It's the "Individual tickets for the museum" option. You pick an open time slot for the day you wish to visit: that's how you bypass a ticket line.
The same applies to the Catacombs: buy an advance, timed-entry ticket. Their website tells you everything you need to know.
https://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/visit
Adding per Nigel's comment, no skips the security check queue but it should move quickly.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32801 posts
nobody skips the bag check - security - line, no matter who is taking you in or if you are on your own.
Posted by
Chicago
8063 posts
There is no such thing as a skip the line ticket; there are just tickets. Before COVID having a timed ticket meant virtually no security wait. Right now the Eiffel Tower is being badly run and even with a timed ticket you may wait over an hour while they feed people buying ticket on site into the front of your line. A few years ago with a timed ticket, we had no wait at all. This April the line with time reservation took about 70 minutes.
Hard to predict.
Generally timed tickets to any attraction get you a different door and a faster security line.
Not sure why I took this to the Eiffel Tower. At the Louvre, pretty much everyone has timed tickets now so lines are longer for those than they used to be, but when we went in April and May and again in October, only those with tickets were being admitted at the Carousel entrance; the line was pretty short.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you all. You have answered my question.
Posted by
118 posts
We were in Paris in May, and visited many sites, including the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Ste. Chappelle, and Musee D'Orsay.
We bought a pass for our time in Paris; it's available online and will cover a few days. Our wait times:
The Louvre: 2-3 minutes
Musee D'Orsay: no wait
Eiffel Tower: 5 minutes
Ste. Chappelle: no wait
Musee L'Orangerie: no wait
At most of these places, there were long lines, but bit was really great walking straight in.
They're not tours, but they certainly saved us a ton of time; I've seen Ste. Chappelle many times and this is the first time I've not had to wait at least an hour; same with Musee D'Orsay and the Louvre.
If you plan to be in Paris for a few days and see all the major sites, the pass is the way to go.
Posted by
Chicago
8063 posts
re Orsay -- I went with a local noonish on a Tuesday and the lines for those with passes and tickets was over an hour wait. She had some sort of special local pass that allowed us to be ushered to the head of the line and in but those are not available generally. So my advice would be don't choose Tuesday for the Orsay. My husband went with her on Thursday and the lines were short then although she still was able to usher him in a separate priority entrance.