Museum Passes, Paris

I have only spent parts of two days and one miserably hot night in Paris. My memories are mostly negative but I did discover one treat which I will certainly try to use to the max on my next visit.
The first Sunday of each month the classic museums of Paris open their doors for free. Amble, or get pushed, through the Louvre’s sculpture gallery and squint at the Mona Lisa, or exhaust yourself in the Musée d’Orsay. Arrive early but don’t expect to succeed in dodging the crowds.

I bought paris museum card for two days (30 euros). I bought mine in Louvre, but you can also purchase it in museum and monument participant or tourist information

I entered 8 places with that card,

Saving me time for waiting in queues in museum d'orsay and museum rodin( in museum rodin there were no sign to enter with museum card so you need to go to front fo the queues and show them your museum card , they will let you in )

and other places there were no queues

I still need to wait like an hour in line to enter Notre Dame tower

2 more images

You can avoid standing in long lines to buy tickets by getting them online before you even arrive in France. They will be mailed directly to your home address. It is worth it because on some days the lines at the museums are very long. Before you go, make a plan as to what museums you want to visit. Check the schedule to find out what days they are closed, and also see if there is free admission on certain days. The Orsay museum is a must for lovers of French Impressionist Art. The Louvre is really overwhelming. It is best to pick the top things you want to see there instead of trying to see it all. You won't be able to and you'll feet will pay the price!

1 more image

Admission to most museums is somewhere between 4.50 and 8.00 Euros.
If you plan on visiting several museums while in Paris, you should think about getting the
'Paris Museum Pass'.

The Museum Pass, "Carte Musées et Monuments", provides free access, without waiting, to the permanent collections of 70 museums and monuments,including the Louvre Museum.

~ Cards valid for 1 day are 18 Euros; for 3 days are 36 Euros, or 5 days are 52 Euros.

~ They are available for purchase at all pariticipating museums and monuments, and also may be purchased in all main metro stations and at the
Paris Tourist Information Office.
~ It is very easy to buy these passes once in Paris.

*ON FIRST SUNDAYS OF THE MONTH ENTRY TO ALL NATIONAL MUSEUMS are FREE.

HOWEVER....
Some of the privately-run museums are not included with this pass:

Musée Jacquemart-André,
Musée Maillol,
Musée Marmottan - Claude Monet

Paris Museum Pass
With the museum pass, there’s no admission charge, no waiting in lines and no limit to the number of times you can visit more than 70 museums and monuments in Paris and in the Paris region, and many times you want for 1, 3 or 5 days.

With the Museum pass you can visit several times the same museums and monuments. The more you visit, the more you save.

Three choices: 1, 3, or 5 days (consecutive).

Fares (July 2005)
1 day EUR 18.00

3 days EUR 36.00

5 days EUR 54.00

The Museum Pass gives you more:

- Free direct entry to the permanent collections.
- Unlimited visits
- Unlimited validity

I'm not usually a fan of passes but this one was an exception as (a) we were there long enough to put it to good use, and (b) it allowed multiple visits to museums that simply can't be seen in one day. As with most passes, having it in hand also put us into shorter ticket-holder lines, although some attractions have only one queue and/or involve a security check.

Passes come in 2, 4, and 6-day amounts and have to be used on consecutive days. The web link below gives you information on prices, the 60 attractions covered (does not include the Eiffel), and where to purchase them. You don't have to buy them from the website; we bought ours at one of the less-visited museums to avoid standing in a long ticket line - meaning don't buy it at the Louvre!

As with any pass, it's best to review what it has to offer and then weigh the price against the walk-in ticket fees of the places you want to see. If you aren't planning on browsing a lot of museums, or have limited time, this probably isn't a worthwhile purchase. As we wanted to see a lot of what the pass covered - and visited the Louvre three times - it was a good deal for us.

The pass has to be filled out with name/date before your first museum visit. Do NOT enter the date until the day you start using the pass as that starts the clock ticking! For instance, we bought ours the day we arrived but it was late afternoon and everything was closing so we didn't fill it out until the next day when our sightseeing really began.

Also, follow the instructions for filling out the card carefully. Folks from the U.S. often date documents by month/day/year but European dating is more often by day/month/year so just make sure you put the right date in the right box and fill in just the last two digits of the year. See the "How to use the Paris Museum Pass" section of the website.

NOTE: Don't confuse this with The Paris Pass! Those are much more expensive as they also include a public transport metro card, some shopping coupons, etc. Buying a carnet of tickets for the Metro is usually much more economical than one of these passes, and we weren't interested in shopping so....

My husband and I got a 4 day pass when we were there a few years ago. We found it to be a good deal and easy to use. If you hit most of the big sites, it basically pays for itself. The other nice thing is that you can go back to the sites as many times as you wish during the days your card is active. It takes off some of the pressure. For instance... the Louvre is a BIG place! Perhaps you want to see part of it one day, and another part the next.

The Paris Museum pass gives you unlimited trips to over 60 sites, just whatever you can fit in. You can purchase a 2, 4 or 6 day pass, depending on how museum oriented you are. Be aware these are day oriented, not 24 hour, so if you start your pass at 3 pm, your first day is done by midnight. Plan your time wisely, and begin your pass first thing in the morning. Also, these days are consecutive, so if you are planning other activities, do them around your museum activities. The passses come with a list of attractions along with their operating hours. The big plus is being able to skip the lines and moving to the front, saves a lot of time. Combine this with a metro pass for unlimited travel on the metro system, and you are good to go. Definitely order the passes ahead of time, this being the best site:

http://www.gotoparis.net/musee.php?gclid=CMjAn6a85ZUCFQOjFQodmiMKeQ

By doing this, you can look ahead to see what days each is open, find the closest metro station, get your days planned for the most smooth and productive visit. There is also a Paris Pass, but when you compare the two, I think this is the best deal.