Paris Museum pass or no

IF you only plan to visit Notre Dame and the Louvre, then the pass isn't for you. Note that the pass is only needed for admission to the tower...admission to Notre Dame itself and the crypt are free. The Louvre will cost you 9 Euro pp, while the tower at Notre Dame is 7.50 Euro. That's about half the cost of a 2-day museum pass. However, if you add two more museums, say Orsay and Arc de Triomphe, it more than pays for itself. And it'll be a BIG help in bypassing the lines at the Orsayand Versailles. Remember, too, that children under 18 are free at most, if not all the sites covered by the Paris Museum Pass, including all the ones you want to see.

Plus, that big line for the Arch de Triomphe you will see eminating from the Metro station? That's for the tickets, the actual line to get in is much shorter (Museum Pass saves the day again!).

For Gods sake , get the museum pass and use the heck out of it. It's a wonderful bargain! Why would you go to Paris and not visit ALL of it's fantastic museums?We visited all the sites on the pass and each was unique.

David, Don't see the museum pass as a money saver. It probably isn't much of a money saver, but it definitely is a TIME saver... which is just as valuable.

Do not buy the Paris Visite pass. THat is a rip off.

The Museum pass is different than the Visite one... so I hope you aren't confused between the 2.

Suzanne,we are not going to have time to visit ALL the museums for one thing because we're only going to be there for 4 days and for another there seems to be more to do in Paris than visit museums. I don't think I got my point across with my last post. My main reason for NOT buying the museum pass would be so we didn't try to cram 3-3 1/2 days worth of museum watching into 2 with the 2 day pass. I know, I know buy the 4 day pass but unless you're going to go to THAT many museums it seems a waste of money.

The pass won't do you any good if the museum isn't open. Carefully check the websites for the museums you want to see and make sure they are open on Monday or Tuesday. The Louvre is closed on Tuesday. The Musee d'Orsay is closed on Monday (along with a bunch of others). The pass is worth it in my opinion to skip the lines (and also find a free, clean bathroom).

David, I'm with you - trying to see EVERY (even every major) museum is too tiring and there's SO much more to see and do, including nothing. I enjoy spending a couple of days visiting my favorite museums and even more days just wandering and people watching and having picnics in parks, and taking bus or boat tours, etc. And the Pass is a real time saver. But as others have said, do check closed days and know that (as RS says) many museums are busy the day before and after that closed day. What helped me last trip was setting up an Excel spreadsheet with museums, activities, recommended restaurants divided by Arr. I listed address, nearest Metro stop, hours, day closed, if included on Pass or not, price, and notes. This helped me a lot but might not be for everyone. I used it as a reference sheet, not a task list. Have a great time, whatever you do - and plan to return another time!

As CL noted( finally after 5 posts by other pass promoters, LOL) Mon. and Tues. are the days of the week I would be least likely to buy and use a pass as the big museums are closed on one of the two days, and they are the only ones with considerable lines,which are not unavoidable anyways.
I have never encountered a long line at the Arc,, maybe 15 minutes max. Louvre, I use underground mall entrance and ticket machines and have had no problem with summer visits( last 4 or 5 times anyways) .

David,there is a pass called a Forfaits Loisirs for Versailles that is a train and entrance combo ticket(for about 20 euros as I recall) you can google Forfaits Loisirs and go on website( which has an english translation).

I too think it is nicer to see three or four musuems and NOT RUSH through them,, I mean David only plans on 4 days in Paris, one of those at Versailles, so I am happy to read he is not one of those who just rush about trying to tick things off their " we did it" list!!

Thanks for all the replies, especially Holly for the Excel idea. Part of the problem is we are going to be in Paris Sun-Wed which means we are going to hit the Mon-Tues closed museum problem. If I buy a pass I am going to feel we have to cram all the museums into Mon-Tues(figuring the lines will be longer on Sun) and leaving us the flexibility of using the better pass for Versailles on Wed. Thus we are rushing around trying to get in our museum experience and maybe not enjoying ourselves. If we don't do the 2-day pass we can do some our museum-visiting on Sunday and maybe even Wednesday evening after Versailles and seemingly be a lot more relaxed about it.

I'm in Paris now, and here's my experience. The pass will definately save time. There are LOTS of tourists here already and the purch tkt lines are very long. When you go to the Louvre on the Metro, don't take the exit toward the underground mall -Carrousel du Louvre. You want to end up on the street looking at the Louvre and a sign saying Richeliu. That's where the Museum Pass entrance is. The following opinion is merely that...my opinion...I've done picking and choosing on the museums. I've had the good fortune to have traveled a lot and I've been to a lot of museums. I now zero in on the type of art I really like and gloss over the rest or just skip it. I love the impressionists and post impressionists. At the Cluny,I scooted past the religious art and focused on the wonderful tapestries.Loved the Orsay & Orangerie!
The Louvre is huge..pick what type of art you want to see and save the rest for another time...or not...you won't be able to see everything, but you'll have the memories

A little perspective on costs, a two day "parkhopper" ticket for Disney World which gives access to all parks, now costs $184...in Euros approx 115. To me the Museum pass sounds like a terrific bargain.

I plan to purchase the 4 day pass. The others have spoken to the time savings, but my reason is the options it provides. If while doing the many other things Pairs offers you see a museum of interest you can just pop in for 15 minutes and move on if nothing catches your eye. My son always surprises me on the places that catch his interest.

http://troi.cc.rochester.edu/~tdip/tomsguidetoparis.htm

and for a culinary change-of-pace:
http://www.monkeychef.fr/

Dave, you may find these links helpful... bon voyage! P

Thanks to everyone who replied. I think what I'm going to do is buy the 4 day pass and just use it to see Versailles on the last day if we decide to go. Thanks to all.