The Louvre is one of the great museums of the world but it is as busy as a central train station at rush-hour. I spent eight wonderful hours there yesterday. Here are some tips that I wished I had known in advance. 1) Buy a ticket online in advance. It doesn’t matter what time you choose unless there are lines of people waiting to get into the exhibit areas — and those lines move fast as visitors scan their QR codes. I was an hour late and it didn’t make any difference. Throughout the day, I exited and re-entered on the same ticket. If the Museum’s website is not working, you can buy a ticket on cometoparis.com for a small additional charge. 2) Access the Museum through the metro stop at Carrousel du Louvre. It’s in a Westfields shopping center that is climate controlled — far better than standing in the wind and cold of the much longer line at the main entrance. 3) Avoid the ladies room on the main floor. There are restrooms throughout the exhibits. All are free and have no charge. On the main floor, the line for the restroom was longer than the security line. 4) If you can, visit after 6 PM on a Wednesday. All day, crowds passed by even at the less well-known exhibits such as the friezes from the palace of the Persian king Darius. By contrast, at 6:10 PM, I stood in front of Vermeer’s famous The Lacemaker for 15 minutes before anyone else came to look at it. As I walked through Napoleon’s Apartments, I could hear my footsteps for the first time all day — all the tour groups were long gone. The Museum is open until 9 PM on Wednesdays (and Fridays) but closed on Tuesdays. 5) Above all, be sure to visit. It’s a museum experience different from any other in the world.

Buying tickets for the Louvre is tricky, you definitely have to keep an eye on the website as they release tickets sporadically and not always on a set timeframe. We managed to get 9 AM entry tickets so the line was very short and we were able to get into the pyramid entrance extremely quickly. We only had a few hours to spend here, so to make the most of it we purchased tour tickets through the Louvre. The tour started at 10 AM, so we had an hour to kill before the start of our tour. We didn't know exactly what would be contained in the tour, and I wanted to see the French Crown Jewels so we started to head in that direction. We saw a Mona Lisa sign and decided to take advantage of the early morning less crowded time and quickly worked our way to the Mona Lisa room. We are so glad we did! Even shortly after 9 AM it was at least 10 people deep in front of the Mona Lisa. We waited our turn and was able to work our way up to the ropes fairly quickly and managed to get a couple quick pictures. We then went and spent a great deal of time looking at the crown jewels as we had the room pretty much to ourselves. You must work your way back to the main entrance area and then go down to find the tour stand to get your headset. Then they direct you to a room where you'll meet your guide. The guide gave us an overview before leaving the room and then we headed out. Part of the tour includes the Crown jewels, so we saw that room for second time, but this time the room was packed, and it was hard to move around. However, the guide did impart a lot of interesting information which we would not have known had we not taken the tour. We started down in the basement, where you could see the original fortress walls of the Louvre, and then we went upstairs and saw the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and then worked our way to the Mona Lisa room. By the time we reached that destination, the room was solidly packed with hundreds of people. We were so glad we had already had our chance to see it up close. We were able to spend time with the tour guide who shared more information with us. After the tour was over, we asked our tour guide what her favorite part of the museum was as we still had about another 45 minutes to spare. The area that she recommended to see was Napoleon's Apartments, so armed with our trusted map we actually managed to work our way through the museum to find the apartment. It definitely is a little tricky to do, and thank goodness we had the map. The apartments are spectacular, and was the highlight of the entire time we spent in the Louvre. I would highly recommend visiting that area if you have the opportunity. You're in Paris and you have to see the Louvre, but just know you're not going to see everything, and it's going to be super crowded no matter how hard you try. If you go with the right expectations, you won't be disappointed.

There is not much to add to what is possibly the best museum in the world. I don’t give it five stars for an organizational reason: we bought tickets in advance by 9 a.m., and we waited more than thirty minutes in line until the museum opened, late. It is essential to buy tickets in advance, and keep in mind that Wednesdays and Fridays are the days with extended hours.

One thing I want to start this review by saying - the Louvre is beautiful, but it is CROWDED. I find that an important thing to mention, in case anyone is like me and doesn't like being crammed into a place like sardines, there were definitely a few areas within the museum that felt a bit suffocating, but overall, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I went into the visit expecting a lot of people because of how popular it is for tourists, so really, I was pleasantly surprised to have the breathing room that I did in some areas. If you want to see everything the Louvre has to offer, I would recommend setting aside several hours to really take your time looking through every room. The artwork inside is incredible and I wish I could have spent more time there myself. I'm not sure it's a location I would make repeat visits to, but I would definitely recommend going to see it, at least once, if you have the opportunity.

Perfect, organized, somewhat surprising. I recommend paying for a tour if you don’t know about art and history. It is better for you to understand what you are seeing and they are not so expensive. Get organized in time by buying your tickets and arrive early. The museum is very large and requires time.

I've visited a fair few art museums and the Louvre is by far the busiest. When I visited the Rijksmuseum I was surprised at how many people wanted to see the Night Watch and The National Gallery in London can be busy. The Louvre is something else though. I have rarely seen so many people bum rushing to get a photo as what I witnessed at the Mona Lisa or the famous Liberte painting by Delacroix. Luckily you can easily avoid the bit of the museum with the Mona Lisa and the Liberte painting tends to have quieter moments. The Mona Lisa isn't even the best piece of artwork in the Louvre. I can highly recommend the paintings by the Dutch masters on the top floor, and those by French artists were also excellent. It's quieter up there too. The room with the French Crown Jewels is breathtaking in its stunning beauty, though it is also a little busy. I thought the exhibits on ancient Greece, Egypt and the medieval Louvre were excellent. Wandering through what had been the moat from the 13th century fort was fascinating. The Louvre is well worth the entry fee. Buy online to avoid any queues, though they weren't really that long in February. Just be aware that the Louvre is busy, Very busy. A lot of people don't think of others around them. I went in February. I think it might be too much on a warm day in July.

Visited Louvre On a snowy day in November. Have to say it is very confusing to know how to get into the gallery. If you have prebooked tickets then you need to go into a shopping centre down the stairs and through to a security check but there are no signs to tell you where to go. Then you just wander into the open atrium and again no signs telling you where to go but you need to go back upstairs for them to scan your tickets to the wing you want to go to. Despite this, November was a good time of year to visit not too busy and we got to see most of the things we wanted to. Unfortunately due to renovations certain rooms are closed on certain days so make sure you check if there is something particular you want to see. Make sure you get a map so that everything is easier to find. It is a lovely place to spend a few hours wandering around and we personally liked the sculptures the best

A must visit at least once in a life time. Recommend booking your ticket in advance and give yourself plenty of time if you want to see a lot of the art and take your time one full day minimum. If you’re there to see a few things I would recommend at least 2 hours to see as it takes time to go in between room to find the art you wish to see. We went out of the season, and it was still very crowded but worth it! Most beautiful art pieces are on display and not to even start with the majestic art all over the ceilings. It is absolutely majestic and worth a bit of time in a queue. Visited on a bright February day. It's a stunning building. Enjoyed a glass of wine before joining a timed entrance que. You could spend hours inside. All exhibits are well sign posted and you are free to wander round after going through security.

What about this museum? Just go... we bought a Paris Museum Pass, we scheduled a big snowfall for 9:30 and at the exact time the queue started to go. Leaving the museum has a big shopping. If your budget is tight or you do not want to pay for the abuses of the Louvre restaurant, the Louvre suit, yet in the underground part you will find many shops and restaurants with more affordable price than the underground part of the Louvre, follow bus/metro exit r will fall into this shopping, everything in the underground , Mc Donald’s is there too.

The museum has one of the greatest collections of art in the world. Everyone knows this. Be prepared for the crowds. We did a private tour to see the highlights in about 2.5 hrs. If not doing a guided tour (with skip the line tickets), then prebook an online time. Paris Museum pass was great, the Louvre (and multiple other museums and monuments are included). Go in from the side entrances….the lines at the pyramid are ridiculous. The art is stupendous, the crowds are enormous…humanly impossible to do it all in one or even ten visits. Pace yourself…pick a relatively less crowded area to see some magnificent art after being caught in the mosh pit that is the Mona Lisa viewing. While the 3 famous ladies (the one without the head - winged victory, the one without the arms - Venus de Milo and the one without the legs - Mona Lisa) are all great, and the big draws…. Those are also the most crowded areas. Pace yourself.