Attraction · Paris, France
Louvre Museum
The world's largest and most-visited art museum — 12th-century royal fortress turned home to 35,000 works from the Mona Lisa to Napoleon's coronation.
About Louvre Museum
The Louvre started as a medieval fortress in 1190 and became a royal palace before Louis XIV moved the court to Versailles in 1682. It opened as a museum during the Revolution in 1793 with 537 paintings. Today it holds around 35,000 objects on display (out of 615,000 in the collection), split across three wings — Denon, Sully, and Richelieu — arranged around I. M. Pei's glass pyramid in the central courtyard.
Nobody sees the Louvre in one visit. Pick a wing. The Denon wing (south, on the river) holds the greatest hits: Mona Lisa, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, David's Coronation of Napoleon. The Richelieu wing has the Napoleon III apartments (as astonishing as any single painting) and Northern European painting. The Sully wing is Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece.
The Mona Lisa room is always mobbed. Best strategy: enter through the Porte des Lions or Carrousel entrance to skip the pyramid queue, go directly to Mona Lisa first (arrive by 9:15 AM for the shortest wait), then spend the rest of the visit on whatever else you actually came for. Photos with the Mona Lisa in the background are permitted; touching the barrier or holding up the queue is not.
Free the first Friday of every month after 6 PM (except July/August) and for under-26 EU residents every Friday evening. Otherwise book online — walk-up tickets aren't sold at the door.
What to bring
- Photo ID matching the timed-entry ticket
- Small daypack — large bags rejected at security
- Phone with an offline map of the museum (miles of galleries)
- Comfortable shoes — you'll walk 5–7 km inside
- Water bottle (refill fountains inside)
- Downloaded audio guide app before you arrive
Location
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