Any "longer" private tours of the Louvre?

For many people,I would say that anything over 3 hours can be extremely fatiguing. As a lover of art I can wander through the Louvre during a whole afternoon, but many people can't stand to be in the building for more than a few hours. (I think of my friends in Illinois that would accompany me to the Art Institute and wouldn't last 45 minutes-and they always said they just loved Monet) The Louvre is an amazing museum, it houses spectacular works of art but don't forget that it's crowded, can be stuffy, and contains people who couldn't care less about art. Even lovers of art need a break from the marvelous corridors.

If you really want a guided tour that long, I'd suggest contacting companies that offer shorter tours and asking them to set up a private tour for your group. Other tour suggestion: Go to the Louvre website and print out the "Thematic Trails" for the areas you want to see and guide yourself through them after the shorter tour has ended. You can always rent the "multimedia guides" and get more info on stuff that way.

Contact Context Tours for Paris. The Louvre Crash Course is excellent and one of their guides, Lorraine Audric, would have the STAMINA needed to expand it to a longer tour. Ask specifically for her, and outline any particular area of the Louvre that you would like to have included (ie Egyptian Antiquities), so that you're interests are reflected. I have organized private tours with them for myself and have found the process easy. If you present unrealistic expectations for your request, they are very good at working an itinerary for your visit that would work well, both for you and the docent, taking your specific interests and the needs of your group into account. Apart from the Louvre Crash course on Monday June 13th, we had added two private walks over the next two days as well - both of these were adaptations of existing walks that we had slightly customized, including one walk that was 3.5 hours (we started at 9:15AM, instead of the usual 10AM...). We were absolutely satisfied. From personal experience, IMO, 4 hours would probably be more than enough for a good guided tour that wouldn't fry all of your brain cells and exhaust the weakest/slowest member of your group. If you schedule it for an early start, you can have a late lunch then have the group split and rejoin in the afternoon, to go back to & explore the areas that strike your fancy. We have done both scheduled and private walks with them before on other trips over the years, both in Paris and other cities (incl. private tours in Rome, Venice and Paris). The docents are worth every penny invested in this aspect of our vacations!

Paris Walks does tours of the Louvre, the Rick Steves Family tour I took 3 yrs ago used them for our group, and they were excellant, kept kids and grownups interested. I beleive our guides name was Iris. When I was 13 my grandmother arranged for me to have an all day private tour of the Louvre, we stopped and had lunch etc.. I loved it,, still don't know why most people figure anything over 2 or 3 hours is too long,, too long to see all those treasures, not for me! When a person has all day they do not rush about,, only running to see what they consider the highlights( they all want to see the Mona, Venus and Flying Victory) ,, and avoid or don't have time for the queter parts( AND YES, THERE ARE QUIETER PARTS!) The guide was hired from the main desk area at the Louvre,, and this was years ago,, but I bet they still have some sort of arrangement. I would look on louvre website.

We were just in Paris three weeks ago and loved "Paris Walks" in the neighborhoods. FYI, they no longer offer Louvre tours. OMG! You want to spent 6 hours in the Louvre??? It was monstrous and exhausting - and we're art lovers. Lots of glorious art but only a couple of top ten pieces (the Mona being one - huge mob around it) - which is why the tours are probably short. Tours aren't a bad way to go as then you don't get lost and they'll hit the biggies which are hard to find on your own. There are so many other better ways (IMO) to spend your time and money in Paris (like taking more Paris Walks tours) than hanging around the Louvre. We'll probably never go there again. But I would definitely return to L'Orsay (probably my favorite museum in Europe-get the audioguide) and Orangerie (small, quick (an hour), and nice art).

I'd argue that it is entirely possible to spend an entire day in the Louvre (BTDT - with kids!). I think a lot of people have the mis-perception that the Louvre is all about art. There's much more than just art. Napolean's apartments, Egyptian antiquities, the moat/foundation of the medieval castle, jewels and other "finds" complement all the art. I truly believe there is something there for everyone. It's a huge place and if you're not accustomed to standing/walking all day, it can be fatiguing. Taking a lunch break to re-charge batteries can really help. Even with a 6 hour tour, you'll only see a little bit of all the treasures within the walls.

I'm one of those who can return to the Louvre time and time again... I never can come to Paris and not return to the Louvre, as there's still lots & lots that I haven't discovered yet! There is a limit to what you can absorb from a good tour guide though, which is why the tours are "short". My ideal Louvre day would have: a guided tour in the morning, a lunch break, then a free-flow afternoon to go back to the bits I really liked or to wander into sections the tour had zoomed by earlier. The morning tour would have equipped me to better understand what I would be seeing in the afternoon - the periods & influences; what are fakes & reproductions; and even the "finders keepers, losers weepers" methods of acquisition. You can easily spend a whole day in the Louvre... but I wouldn't do it as part of a guided tour for the whole time.