Some Paris questions

Hi. Yes, I would suggest a museum pass. A big plus for us was that we went to a few museums we wouldn't have otherwise, and felt fine either leaving after a few minutes, or staying as long as we liked, with no guilt or decision about whether it would be worth paying the separate admission. For instance, I'm not a big Picasso fan, but we went to the Picasso museum because it was included in the pass, and enjoyed it; stayed for longer than we thought we would. I wouldn't waste any effort trying to get a skip the line ticket. Usually the longest wait, if any, at museums is for the security check, and buying tickets in advance doesn't affect that. If going to the Louvre be sure to try the 'side entrance' described in Rick's book, rather than the main pyramid entrance. Enjoy your trip!

Thank you!

How about simply buying tickets in advance on the website? Is that recommended?

You will have to line up for security purposes whether you have the pass or not. Buying tickets ahead of time usually does the trick for me . The ticket line is not bad at the Louvre but the one at the Musee Musee d'Orsay (which I acknowledge is not on your list) can be ridiculous but if you buy a ticket ahead of time, you have access to the pass entry on the side. I have not had problems with lines at the Orangerie. In November, the lines are not really long anyway. That being said, I have never bought the museum pass because I do not want to go to be tied to going to museums on consecutive days. If going on consecutive days will not bother you, then why not get the pass but note that if you go only to the three places you mention, even the two-day pass is not cheaper than buying individual tickets unless you are planning on multiple same-day entries. Now if you are planning to do something else on those days like going to the towers of Notre Dame or Sainte Chapelle, then the pass becomes cost effective.
Edit: I usually just buy print at home tickets on the websites but the last time I was at the Louvre, it was a spur of the moment decision and we bought our tickets from the ticket machines. There was no wait and this was in May of 2017.

Okay thank you and yes it's possible we'll go to more than those three and yes we want to go to many other places too. I assume you are talking about the PassLib, not just the Museum Pass?

I was writing about the Museum Pass. It covers the Notre Dame towers and Saint Chapelle and the Conciergerie, which are places that I do not think of as museums. I think the PassLib is a waste of money.

Crobar,

You may want to check out the official website for the Paris Museum Pass to get an idea of all the monuments and museums that are covered by it.

Make sure you try the deliciously creamy ice cream at ‘Berthillon Glacier’ (29-31 Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île) when you go to Île Saint Louis.

Enjoy your time in beautiful PAris!

Edited to add...
Don’t forget to book your Eiffel Tower tickets 92 days in advance! 😉

When you hear of "skip the line" tickets to the Louvre, is there a place to get best tickets that fit that description,

Any ticket you purchase in advance is a skip the line ticket.

The Paris Museum Pass may or may not be a value depending upon what you want to visit and how long you plan to stay at each location.

There is no such thing as a 'skip the line' ticket and vendors who hawk them do not have access to something special you can't buy for yourself on line. You can buy a timed ticket for the Louvre which allows you entry close to the time on the ticket at a special line at the pyramid. A regular untimed ticket or pass allows you to use that line but wait as long as it takes. We have found the Carrousel entrance security quicker even when we had timed tickets but there is no line priority at that entrance. It is usually quicker but the Louvre changes its entry policies all the time including sometimes using Richelieu entrance for groups and then other times the Carrousel entrance. There is no requirement ot have a ticket to go through security at the Louvre; people may enter the Louvre courtyard etc to shop at the bookstore, have lunch etc without going into the museum. Ticket control is at the entrance to each of the 3 wings.

At the Orangerie, d'Orsay and several other museums, there is a separate line for those with tickets which goes faster. At Giverny you use a different entrance with a ticket ahead. Don't pay extra to some middleman vendor for tickets you can buy yourself on line or at larger FNAC stores.

St. Regis looked like a good brasserie to hit for dinner one night - or is that a better breakfast place

They have a very good, light, breakfast special -- coffee, juice, and croissant for very little money. Much better, in my opinion, than most of the hotel breakfasts. We had a light meal late one night while returning to the hotel. Various meats, breads, and that sort of thing. Will definitely go there again. On the same street is Café Med which is good for lunch. Farther down the street going away from Notre Dame is L'Orangerie & Auberge de la Reine Blanche. It has great food and is good for a semi fancy dinner. Reservations are a good idea. On the other side of the street is the ice cream place (whose name escapes me)that is well know for it's chocolate ice cream.

It covers the Notre Dame towers

I didn't realize the Museum Pass covers the towers. Thank you very much!

We were just in Paris from Sept 10-19. There were no lines anywhere except St. Chapelle which does not have a skip the line policy. The only time we saw a long line was security at Notre Dame and that was after it had stopped raining.

On Ile St Louis there is a cute little place for crepes. And if you are into scarves there is a beautiful shop for single colored high quality scarves.

I highly recommend the Orsay Museum and the Rodin. Another one is Les Invalides with Napoleon's tomb. We went in to see the WW1 section as my husband's father fought in the war. We stayed more than 3 hours. On another visit we did WWII.

We never buy the museum pass ahead. All museums that are covered by the pass sell the passes, you just purchase at your first museum you go to. But if the major museums are crowded, you may want to purchase at a smaller musrum where the line will not be as long. If you like modern art, The Pompidou is great.

"There were no lines anywhere except St. Chapelle which does not have a skip the line policy."

Actually at Sainte-Chapelle, once you are thru the security (which is for the whole justice building, not just Sainte-Chapelle and cannot usually be skipped) you CAN skip the ticket line. The ticket booth where they check the entries is right by the door to the Lower Chapel and if you have a Museum Pass you can usually walk right up to the booth, taking turns with the people who have just purchased their tickets.

*On a couple of occasions I've held my Museum Pass up for the outside guard to see and sometimes they will wave you through to the front of the "group entry" line then get you into the security line from there. It's not every time and I never expect it to work but it's worth just holding it up for them to see without expectations.

As far as purchasing the Museum pass, you can also sometimes buy them at the local Tabac (tobacco shop) if you have one near your hotel. Last year I bought both the Museum Pass and reloaded my Navigo at the same time at the Tabac.

Priscilla, I was told in November it may not be best to book Eiffel tix in advance as one could be committing to a bad weather day. Perhaps you were being sarcastic!

These days, you have to be very careful when someone says you don't need to buy tickets to a big-name attraction in advance. It may be accurate, or it may simply mean that they were there five or ten years ago. Things may have changed. Certainly it is true that buying an Eiffel Tower ticket in advance may mean you visit on a day with poor visibility. The question is whether you'll be able to buy a ticket once you get to Paris, and how much time you'll spend in line if you are able to do so.

I would absolutely not purchase Eiffel Tower tickets in advance for a visit in the dead of winter. There will be plenty of days with zero visibility from the tower and what lines may exist will be minimal.

For a summertime visit, I definitely would purchase tickets in advance as chances of excellent weather increase as does the length of the lines.

A big advantage of the Paris Museum Pass is that you can visit the Louvre several times at leisure instead of thinking that you have to see everything in one go.

Other people have recommended shops and restaurants on the Ile St Louis. Other than that there aren't any big "sights", just the general atmosphere.

Many others have covered the museum ticket situation. I simply like the museum pass because it does cover a wide range of attractions. And as somebody mentioned - it also does give you the option to go back to the same place more than once (which for the Louvre makes alot of sense). Additionally - the pass covers Versailles and the Conciergerie.

As for St. Regis - we've eaten there a few times. Its a nice place with good food. But I wouldn't expect anything wonderfully special about it.

Have a great trip!

Some thoughts on museum pass (and buying online tickets):

1. I really like the museum pass. As has been said it allows you to visit lots of sights and museums (some are discounted, most free) without buying a separate ticket which allows you to drop into something you might not have otherwise visited without feeling you are wasting money.

2. You have to go through the pyramid entrance with a museum pass now. When you get to the pyramid there are at least three lines, museum pass, pre-purchased online tickets, and people who need to buy a ticket (they may also have a guided tour line). I arrived more than 30 minutes before opening and was first in line for museum passes. Each line had it's own security check. I had no bags to search so was waived through security and was the first person in the museum. I wasn't interested in a crowded Mona Lisa so had planned to skip it. Since I was alone, however, I decided to go straight there. A Canadian couple caught up to me (they were first in line with pre-purchased tickets) and we took each others' pictures alone with Mona Lisa. It was five or ten minutes before the next people started filtering in.

3. Make sure you aren't carrying an active museum pass on free days. Certain days are free and everything is extra crowded. I try to avoid museums on those days. Having a museum pass is a complete waste of money.

4. You don't need to buy the pass before you get there. I believe I've purchased mine at a TI, but you can also drop into one of the smaller museums and pick one up (even if you don't plan to activate the pass or visit that museum). I generally activate mine to take the best advantage of the sights I want to visit. The website lists sights and hours. I plan ahead more than I stick to a script. I mapped sights by districts and grouped them into days, to keep from wandering back and forth across Paris.

Sounding like Museum Pass over Lib pass. We will only be there 4 days

Crobar5000,

Priscilla, I was told in November it may not be best to book Eiffel tix in advance as one could be committing to a bad weather day. Perhaps you were being sarcastic!

Actually... I was not being sarcastic.

I’ve only visted Paris twice, the first time was way back in the early 80’s, and we just walked up and bought our tickets.

Our most recent visit was in June 2016, and I’d read that Eiffel Tower tickets can be booked up to 92 days in advance.
When I tried to buy our tickets online (92 days in advance) the tickets for my desired date sold out within seconds! I even called the Eiffel Tower ticket office and was told to try again the following morning.
So, I stayed up that night, once again, and was all set to book our Eiffel Tower tickets at 11:30PM (8:30AM Paris time) and was successful.

Since you plan to be there in November, I presume it won’t be as crowded as in the summer months.

Perhaps this would be a good question to post, and thus you’ll get answers from those who’ve been there in November😉

BTW, I think the Paris Museum Pass is a great deal especially if you plan to visit many of the wonderful museums and monuments.

Have a wonderful trip!