Kwame Mensah
Book a timed ticket on the official Louvre site, enter through the Pyramid with that slot, and work the Denon wing first, in a deliberate order: the Winged Victory at the top of the Daru staircase, then the Italian paintings and the Mona Lisa, then out into the Richelieu or Sully wings while your legs are still fresh. That single decision, Denon first and early, is the difference between a Louvre day you remember for the art and one you remember for the queues. Everything else in this guide is detail in service of that order: which ticket to buy, which entrance to use, when the museum is closed, and how to leave before fatigue makes the decisions for you.
Quick Facts
- The ticket: Book on ticket.louvre.fr, the official ticket office linked from louvre.fr. Since 14 January 2026 the full price ticket costs 32 euros for visitors from outside the European Economic Area and 22 euros for EEA citizens and residents.
- Who goes free: Everyone under 18, and EEA citizens and residents aged 18 to 25, plus several other categories listed on louvre.fr. Free visitors should still reserve a time slot.
- The hours: 9am to 6pm on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and 9am to 9pm on Wednesday and Friday, per the official hours page checked 13 November 2026.
- The closed day: Tuesday, every week. The museum is also closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.
- Last entry: One hour before closing, and rooms begin clearing 30 minutes before closing time.
- The entry rule: Tickets carry a time slot. Booking a slot is recommended for everyone and can be compulsory for everyone in the busiest holiday periods, so treat it as required and book ahead.
- The layout: Three wings, Denon, Sully and Richelieu, arranged around the Pyramid across several floors. Nobody sees all of it in one day, and planning as if you will is the classic mistake.
Which ticket should you buy, and where?
Buy the standard exhibition and collections ticket from the official site and nowhere else. It covers the permanent collections and the temporary exhibitions, and the museum itself warns against mirror sites and street sellers whose tickets add nothing and can cause problems at the door. There is no genuine fast track product hiding somewhere else. What a timed official ticket buys you is the right queue: instead of the long line for people without a reservation, you join the entry flow for your slot at the Pyramid. Prices changed in January 2026 into the two tiers above, so any blog post quoting a single old price for everyone is out of date. Check the live figure on louvre.fr on the day you book, because that page, not a guide like this one, is the authority.
Do you need a time slot if you qualify for free entry?
Yes, in practice. The Louvre recommends a reserved slot for every visitor, including people entering free, and in peak holiday windows it has made reservations compulsory for everyone. A free ticket without a slot can still mean a long wait or, in the busiest periods, no entry at all. Reserve the free slot at the same time as everyone else in your group books theirs, so the whole party shares one entry time. If you are building the Louvre into a wider first trip, our first time in Paris itinerary shows which day of a four day stay suits a museum morning best.
Which entrance should you use?
With a timed ticket, use the Pyramid entrance and arrive in time for your slot, allowing time for the security check that every visitor passes through. The Pyramid is the main entrance and the one the timed system is built around. Turning up very early does not help, because entry is organised by slot, and turning up late risks your slot altogether. The calmer pattern is to arrive shortly before your time, pass security, pick up a plan or open the museum map on your phone, and go straight to the Denon wing entrance inside rather than drifting into whichever gallery happens to be nearest. First time visitors lose a surprising amount of their best hour simply orienting themselves in the entrance hall. Decide the wing order before you go through the turnstiles.
What is the Denon wing order that actually works?
Start in Denon, because Denon holds the works most first time visitors have actually come for, and it fills fastest. Work it in this sequence. First, climb toward the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which commands the Daru staircase and rewards an early visit, when you can still stand back and take in the whole stair. Second, continue into the Italian Renaissance paintings, the long gallery run that builds toward Leonardo. Third, see the Mona Lisa in its dedicated room, and accept the room for what it is at peak times: a slow, managed shuffle with one clear view at the front if you are patient. Fourth, if your energy holds, finish Denon with the large French paintings nearby rather than backtracking. Only then cross to a second wing, and choose one, not both: Richelieu for sculpture courtyards and northern European paintings in a calmer register, or Sully for Egyptian antiquities and the medieval Louvre foundations.
Why not start with the Mona Lisa?
Because the room works against a cold start. The Mona Lisa sits deep in Denon, and rushing straight there means walking past the staircase and galleries you will then have to fight back through against the flow. The sequence above reaches her naturally, with your eye already warmed up by the Italian rooms that explain why she matters. It also means that if the room is at its most crowded, you can give it a shorter, calmer look and still feel the visit has delivered, rather than having bet the whole morning on one small painting behind glass.
When is the quietest time to go?
The Wednesday and Friday evening openings, when the museum runs to 9pm, are the connoisseur choice: tour groups thin out, the day trip pressure drops, and the galleries take on a different, calmer light. The first slot of a weekday morning is the next best option. Mondays surprise people, because several other Paris museums close on Mondays while the Louvre closes on Tuesdays, which can push extra demand into the Louvre on a Monday. The single most common planning error remains turning up on a Tuesday, the weekly closing day. Build your Paris days around that fact first. Our guide to Hotel de Crillon on Place de la Concorde covers the neighbourhood just west of the museum if you are weighing a grand hotel base for the trip.
How long should you give it, honestly?
Two to three hours for one wing done properly, and half a day at most for a first visit with a break built in. Museum fatigue is real and predictable: attention collapses after a couple of hours of dense looking, and everything after that becomes a corridor you walked through rather than art you saw. Plan a hard stop. See Denon well, take a coffee or lunch break outside the galleries, then add one more wing only if you genuinely want it. Leaving while you still have appetite left is not a failure of ambition. It is how the Louvre, a palace holding centuries of art across three wings, is designed to be visited: repeatedly, in chapters, not in one heroic march.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Louvre ticket cost in 2026?
Since 14 January 2026, the official full price ticket is 32 euros for visitors from outside the European Economic Area and 22 euros for EEA citizens and residents, booked on ticket.louvre.fr. Under 18s enter free, as do EEA citizens and residents aged 18 to 25. Verify the price on louvre.fr when you book, as rates can change.
What day is the Louvre closed?
Tuesday, every week. It is also closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. On Wednesday and Friday it stays open until 9pm; on other open days it closes at 6pm, with last entry one hour before closing.
Do I really need to book a time slot?
Treat it as required. Timed booking is recommended for every visitor, free entrants included, and the museum has made reservations compulsory for everyone during the busiest holiday periods. Booking ahead on the official site is also what keeps you out of the long non reservation queue.
Which wing should a first time visitor see first?
Denon. It holds the Winged Victory, the Italian paintings and the Mona Lisa, and it gets busiest earliest. Do Denon first, in that order, then add one of Richelieu or Sully if you still have energy.
Can I see the whole Louvre in one day?
No, and planning as if you can is the mistake that ruins most first visits. Pick one wing to do well, add a second selectively, and stop after two to three focused hours plus a break.
Prices, hours and entry rules checked against louvre.fr, the museum official site, on 13 November 2026. Confirm your date on the official site before travelling, as holiday period rules can change.
