Paris Museum Pass experience

The Paris Museum Pass is ideal for tourists who want to visit many museums in a short period of time, for a relatively low price. During a city trip to Paris, I took advantage of it and visited no less than ten museums in two days. Therefore, I am happy to share my Paris Museum Pass experience.

Free museums in Paris

 Although I visited the French capital regularly for five and a half years and even lived there for a while, I had never heard of the Paris Museum Pass. Perhaps because I am not an active museum-goer, but also because I was under 26 when I lived in the city. With a passport or residence permit (study visa also counts) for a country in the European Union, you can visit many of the museums in France for free until your 26th birthday. Ideal for children and young people who want to visit a museum in Paris. For the everybody over 26, the Paris Museum Pass is a good alternative. Provided you visit several museums in one day, otherwise a single ticket is really cheaper anyway.

Buy Paris Museum Pass

You can buy the Paris Museum Pass both online and offline. Offline, I recommend that you buy the pass through the official website. (I have no experience with this, by the way). You can also buy the pass at most of the museums where the card is also valid. We bought a 48-hour card at Musée de l’Orangerie. You pay €55 for a 48-hour card, which allows you to visit 34 museums and monuments. You can also choose a four-day pass for €70 and a six-day pass for €85.   

Visiting museums with Paris Museum pass 

By showing your Paris Museum pass, you can visit as many as 34 different museums and monuments in the city. Lesser-known museums such as the Musee Jean-Jacques-Henner. But the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and climbing the Arch de Triomphe are also included in the pass.  The card is attached to a fold-out flyer that lists all the museums you can visit. You can read the full list on the official website of the museum card. Just keep in mind that many museums in Paris are closed on Tuesdays. (For example, the Louvre). 

Visiting the Louvre with the Paris museum Pass  

I really wanted to visit the Louvre, so it was on top of my list. I thought I would be smart by using the entrance in the Carrousel du Louvre shopping center. So I could avoid the long line at the main entrance. Unfortunately that entrance turned out to be only for people with time slot ticket. Not for Paris museum pass holders. I just had to join the normal queue, which turned out to be very long. After half an hour in line without any movement I decided to go to some other museums.

Skip the line

  Whereas at the Louvre I just had to join the line, at the other museums I could skip the line. At many of the museums there was no line, but at Musee d’Orsay it saved a lot of time. At the entrance there is a line for people with tickets and a line for people who still need to buy tickets. We were able to join the first row and were allowed to walk right through. That really saved a lot of time. So if you arrive at a museum with your museum card where there are two rows, I recommend that you check with security to see which row you can join.   

Which museums did I visit?  

In two days I looked at ten different museums and monuments. I went through them pretty quickly because I am not necessarily very big art lover. During my previous visit to Paris, I went to Musée de l’armée – tombeau de Napoléon (The Army Museum and Tomb of Napoléon). Then again, I spent hours in there because the person I was with found it a very interesting museum. So depending on how much time you need in a museum, it is/isn’t feasible to visit that many museums.

I made a list of all the museums and sights I absolutely wanted to go to. I supplemented this with museums near the sights I chose earlier. I visited 5 museums per day.

Orangerie
Hôtel de la Mariné
Sainte-Chapelle
Congergerie
Musee Jean-Jacques Henner
Musee de Cluny – musée du moyen age
Pantheon
Musée de l’institut du monde Arabe
Musee D’Orsay
Arc De Triomphe