3 Ways To Beat The Long Lines At The Louvre With Skip-the-Line Tours

"Skip the line, go directly to the Mona Lisa." Those are words we love to hear, especially since the museum where Mona lives is visited by nearly ten million people every year. As you know, what we don't love is standing in lines. When visiting the Louvre, the best way to avoid doing that is by booking a skip-the-line guided tour.

Post-Covid Update — The Louvre Museum has (finally!) reopened in 2021 A.D. (that's Aprés Deconfinement). To visit you must have a pre-booked time slot (more information) — the best way to achieve that is by signing up for a skip-the-line guided tour, where everything is arranged for you. Visitors are required to wear a face mask, which you must provide yourself.

1. The Most Popular Louvre Museum Tour

This tour is our number-one recommendation — a 2½-hour skip-the-line guided tour in a small group of the Louvre that's offered several times a day.

You cover more than 2,000 years of the history of art, going all the back to Egypt and the ancient Greeks. You are also introduced to masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance and have the opportunity to view the royal crowns of French emperors and kings. And, of course, you'll also spend time with the Big Three — Venus, Nike, and Mona.

To us, another big benefit of this activity is that after the tour concludes you can spend as much additional time in the Louvre as you want. Maybe poke around in the French painting galleries, have lunch, then dive into the Italian Renaissance. This tour is an excellent value and runs every day the Louvre is open. Highly recommended.

This tour was excellent! If only just to skip the lines it was well worth it, but the guide was fantastic. So much knowledge and passion…he really ensured we saw the best highlights of the museum – both the touristy and non-touristy ones. This was definitely the highlight of our trip and we will do the same again!"
– 5-Star Traveler Review

2. Evening Louvre Tour + Wine Tasting Class

Art + wine — to us that makes for a perfect evening in Paris. So naturally, this is the Louvre tour that we like the most. The limited-size tour kicks off by skipping the lines at the Louvre at night, where your guide takes you on a fascinating 2½-hour tour of the famous museum. We've found that we appreciate the artwork so much more when we have an expert showing it to us. But we also find it makes us thirsty!

Thus, saturated with art, you then stroll over to the nearby wine bar for a guided wine tasting, complete with charcuterie and cheeses. Is it any wonder we love Paris? Currently (as we write this) the Louvre + Wine activity hasn't started up again post-Covid, but it's bound to be available soon.

We attended a Friday night tour, which was a wonderful time to visit the Louvre. No crowds, even in the salon with the Mona Lisa. Our guide was energetic and entertaining, providing knowledgeable perspectives on some of the Louvre's key masterpieces. And the wine tasting after? A brilliant way to finish the evening. Our only recommendation: make sure you have dinner before the evening tour, since you likely will want to hang around after the wine tasting well beyond closing time for most Paris restaurants."
– 5-Star Review

3. Small-Group or Private Louvre Guided Tour

This is another well-liked tour of the Louvre. It's also a priority-access, guided tour where you are guaranteed to skip the ticket lines, get inside quickly, and go directly to the most famous works of art. Once the 3-hour tour concludes, you're able to continue exploring the Louvre Museum on your own.

You can choose from morning tours, noon tours, afternoon tours, evening tours, and even private tours for just you and your party.

Superb experience in the Louvre. One, the museum itself. Two, the guide who was well informed and she took us through the history of Louvre and covered the most important works of art. This museum can't be seen without the help of a guide, you will just miss the intricate details. Skipping the line was an added advantage as it helped save a lot of time without the hassles of waiting for our turn. It is a must for people who have limited time in Paris."
– 5-Star Review

About Louvre Priority-Access Tours

On most of these tours you make a beeline to some of the most famous artworks where you get a quick art history lesson from your English-speaking guide. You stop at the Venus de Milo, then over to Nike of Samothrace and of course, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, Mona Lisa, and maybe David's The Coronation of Napoleon.

The guided tours also take you around to other important works and, at the end, you're free to explore the rest of the museum for as long as you desire. To us, the most important thing is that you've managed to skip the line. We'll say it again, being able to avoiding spending hours in long lines is worth the price of any tour.