What to do When the Louvre is Sold Out

The World’s Most Visited Museum

Every year, more than 2.8 million people make their way down below the glass pyramid that marks the entry point to the Louvre. It is the most visited museum in the world, and for good reason. The Louvre is a treasure house of human culture. It’s best known as home to some of the world’s most precious paintings and sculptures, but it also features countless artifacts from Middle East, Near East, Greek, and Roman civilizations. The complex itself is both art and artifact, a medieval fortress turned renaissance palace whose foundations, walls, and ceilings, tell a story as grand as the items contained by them. It’s no surprise that you and everyone else in Paris with you, is vying for a chance to get in and have a look around. But entry is by ticket only and during the peak travel seasons, tickets can be hard to come by.

Purchasing Your Tickets

First, head to the Louvre’s official website at louvre.fr and click the tickets button located in the top right corner of the page. To check if tickets are available, click the link for Individual Tickets to the Museum. This will take you to a calendar where you will choose a day, a time slot for entry, and the number of tickets you’d like to purchase. After you click confirm, you’ll be taken through a normal online checkout system and then you can print, download, or screenshot your tickets. It’s a simple process as long as the day and time you want is available. Sidenote: anyone under 18 gets into the museum for free, but you still need to get them a ticket. If you don’t, you’ll be negotiating with the ticket checkers at both the top and bottom entry points and they may not let you in.

But What if the Louvre is Sold Out

It’s possible your day and/or time are unavailable on the site. I understand how frustrating that can be because it’s exactly the situation my family was in on our last trip to Paris. Our schedule was tight and we didn’t have the option to go on another day. Thankfully, there are a few other options for getting tickets, and we were able to go exactly when wanted. I’ll list out these options in order of convenience and price.

Special Expositions

At different times the Louvre runs special expositions at the museum. Usually, a ticket to the exposition gives you get access to the museum’s permanent collection. To see if any of those tickets are available, go to the louvre.fr, click tickets in the upper right corner of the page, click on the link for the exposition. Read through the page to confirm the exposition access also gives you normal. Pick the day and time you want to go and if it’s available, you’ll be guided through the same purchase process as with a normal ticket.

Fnac

Fnac is a chain store in France that sells electronics and media. They also have access to the tickets your looking for! Go to fnactickets.com and you’ll be able to purchase the tickets online. A lot of people complain about the Fnac website but it’s not that bad if you follow our tips.

First, do it on a laptop or desktop, because there is one part of the process that doesn’t like mobile browsers. On the main page of the website, click on Exhibitions, Museums, Excursions and search for the Louvre (it’s normally near the top of the page anyway). Click Book, which will take you to the an explainer page where you will click Book again on the right side of the page. Now you’ll select a date, time slot, and number of tickets to purchase. Click Book, then Confirm it’s what you want, then click to Confirm your cart under Summary. Now you’ll need to register for an account. Enter your information. Use an email you have mobile access to, because that’s where your tickets will go. When you get to the mobile phone option, don’t enter your U.S. number. For some reason, the website doesn’t like U.S. numbers. Just choose the French flag and enter the number that is given as an example 0612345678. Now you’ll have an account and you’ll be guided through the rest of the purchase process.

One of the cons of buying through Fnac is that there’s not an option for free under 18 tickets, you’ll have to purchase those at full price. If you’re already in France, you can go to any Fnac and request tickets in person. Click here for some locations around Paris.

Paris Museum Pass

The Paris museum pass can be purchased for 2, 4, or 6 days. It gives you access to 36 of the cities top sites and museums. The two day pass is currently 52 euros. That may seem like a lot for a trip to the Louvre but if you plan on doing more museum visits, it’s actually a great deal. You still need to book entry on the Louvre website, so if you purchasing the pass in order to get into a sold out Louvre, book the Louvre tickets first, then purchase the pass. To book the Louvre tickets, go to the museum pass section of the Louvre website and work your way through the process. To purchase your museum pass, go to their website. If the site is in French, click on the French flag on the top right side of the webpage to change the language to English. There’s plenty of info on the site about how the program works. When you’re ready to purchase look for the link to E-Ticket and follow the steps to purchase online.

Viator

A number of tour providers advertise their services through Viator which is a Tripadvisor company. These companies often include the entry tickets with the purchase of the tour. Go to Viator and search for the Louvre. Enter the date you want to refine the results. Now you’re given a list of tour options. Be sure to really read the description to ensure entry tickets are included with the tour and that the tour is something your interested in taking part in! Many of these tours come with extras that you can use later in your trip (like a river cruise). Side note: our favorite Louvre tour guide is Martha and you can book her through Airbnb!

Concierge

Still don’t have your tickets? If your staying at a hotel, the concierge often has tickets on hand or access through a program their hotel participates in. Our first trip to Paris, we mentioned to the concierge that we wanted to visit the Louvre and responded by reaching in a drawer and pulling out two tickets for us. You never know unless you ask!

Worth a Shot

There are several online ticket sellers that advertise tickets to the Louvre. I will tell you that when the Louvre website is sold out, these are often sold out. So they aren’t as good of an option as Fnac, but they’re worth a shot in a pinch. Try Tiqets, Head Out, or Musement.

Opening Hours

The museum is open everyday but Tuesday, from 9:00am to 6:00pm. They are closed every Tuesday as well as January 1st, May 1st, and December 25th.

Secret Entrance

When you get to the Louvre, you may notice a huge line in front of the Pyramid. That’s the line that most people decide to stand in. If you booked a tour, your tour guide will most likely direct you to the skip the line entrance for tours. But we’ve got a skip the line entrance for you too! As long as you already have your ticket, you can go to the entrance for the Carrousel du Louvre (the Louvre shopping center) and enter the museum from there. Put 174 Rue de Rivoli into Google or Apple Maps. You’ll be guided to a set of doors with a sign above it marking it as the entrance to the Carrousel du Louvre. Go through the doors and ride the escalator down to the shops. Walk by the shops toward the upside down pyramid and you’ll see signs to enter the museum with what is usually a small line!