The Louvre in Paris is the largest and most visited art museum in the world with 400,000 art works and a permanent collection of about 35,000 on display. It is housed in the Louvre Palace, a former royal palace that dates back to the 12th century. The Louvre became a museum in 1793 during the French Revolution and has been expanded and renovated many times over the past 800 years. The Louvre may not seem like a museum that welcomes children with open arms, but it is actually one of the most stroller-friendly museums we have ever visited. So, there is no reason to skip it when traveling with children. Here are our top 10 tips for visiting Musee du Louvre with kids:
A Visit to the Louvre For Kids
Tip #1: Buy Skip the Line Louvre Tickets Online in Advance
We booked a 9:30 am entry on our first morning in Paris directly through the Louvre’s website. Pre-booked adult tickets cost €17 each, which is just slightly more than the €15 entrance fee for tickets purchased at the museum. All visitors under age 18 are free. Considering admission for our family of five to almost any US museum seems to cost at least $75, €34 to visit the Louvre seemed like an absolute bargain, and we didn’t think twice about the extra €4 necessary for advanced booking.
Tip #2: Eat Before Arriving at the Louvre With Children
The Louvre requires a good bit of walking. It is important to arrive with children who are well rested and well fed. We stopped at Franprix for a delicious breakfast of freshly squeezed orange juice and amazing bread and pastries. We didn’t stop to eat at one of the Louvre’s cafes or restaurants during the three hours we spent there, choosing not to risk long lines and instead enjoyed lunch at a British pub during England’s Quarterfinal World Cup match afterwards.
Tip #3: Arrive at the Louvre Early or Late
Our flight arrived in Paris in the evening, and in hindsight, it may have been a bit ambitious to plan a 9:30 am museum arrival the next morning. But, we had a full night of sleep and arrived at the Louvre on time. We definitely noticed that the Louvre became much busier by late morning. The Louvre is also open until 9:45 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, and it is typically less crowded during those evening hours. When planning a Paris itinerary, note that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, January 1, May 1 and December 25.
We entered through the Louvre Pyramid, the iconic glass and metal pyramid that was designed by the Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei and completed in 1989. The Pyramid and underground lobby were created so that the Louvre could better accommodate its increasing number of daily visitors. The Pyramid was designed for 4.5 million annual visitors, and the underground lobby had to be redesigned between 2014 and 2017 when the number of annual visitors rose from 4.5 million to over 8 million. We talked about how I.M. Pei also designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s pyramid in Cleveland as we entered.
Tip #4: Bring the Stroller to the Louvre
Even though it was necessary at times to carry our stroller up or down a flight of stairs, it’s understandable considering the building dates back to the late 12th century. Nonetheless, the Louvre Museum gets high marks for being stroller friendly. When we arrived at the Pyramid, we noticed separate lines for pre-booked tickets and visitors needing to purchase tickets from the box office, but neither had much of a line when we arrived. It didn’t matter because as soon as the guard saw our stroller, he ushered us through the middle of the two entrances to wait for the next circular open air hydraulic elevator into the museum. Our kids thought this was the coolest elevator we have ever been inside of and thought it looked like it belonged on a futuristic spaceship.
Strollers are welcome throughout the museum, and we rarely felt crowded. Elevators in the Louvre are reserved for the disabled (including children in strollers) and their accompanying parties. This is in stark contrast to Versailles where we had to check our stroller at left luggage before entering the Palace and the Vatican where wall to wall visitors in many galleries made it extremely hard to maneuver the stroller and where we were not permitted to use the elevators, which were reserved for those in wheelchairs only.
Tip #5: Don’t Forget the Louvre Map
The Louvre exhibits are seemingly endless. It’s absolutely massive and not possible to explore every exhibit in a single day. It is essential to bring a map and formulate a game plan. We should have downloaded and printed the Louvre interactive floorplan in advance, but we picked up a map underneath the Pyramid first thing.
Tip #6: Use Rick Steves as a Tour Guide at the Louvre
We traveled with Rick Steves’ Paris guide, which includes a 30 page annotated tour of the Louvre. This guide was perfect for us. I read Steves’ descriptive overviews about an exhibit or selected major works for my husband and kids and found that it provided the perfect nugget of information to help enhance the experience for our whole family. We otherwise would not have noticed the S-curve in Venus de Milo‘s back and the seam at her hips. We also made sure to examine the glass case next to Winged Victory of Samothrace with her outstretched thumb and finger, which was discovered in the 1950s.
Tip #7: Prioritize the Big Three at the Louvre
I vividly remember visiting the Louvre on my college backpacking trip and following pictures directing me to Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace. These seem to be on everyone’s Louvre must see list. Because the Louvre is enormous, it takes some time to just navigate to each, but make sure not to rush through the amazing galleries along the way.
We started in the Sully Wing and first visited the Near Eastern Antiquities, which was impressive and not very crowded at all. My favorite was the Frieze of Archers from the fifth or sixth century B.C.
We then visited the Egyptian galleries before reaching the Gallery of Statues with perfect anatomic Greek sculptures in natural poses. Athena of Velletri stands at one side and Venus de Milo at the other. Athena of Velletri is a Roman replica of a Greek statue that dates from the 5th century B.C. Venus de Milo is an ancient Green sculpture created between 130 and 100 B.C. I love the juxtaposition of the goddesses of wisdom and beauty.
We then headed into the Denon Wing to Winged Victory of Samothrace, which dates back to about 190 BC. This winged-woman standing on a ship commemorated a naval victory. I love that this massive statue is exhibited in a large open area with high ceilings rather than crammed into a gallery. We had a discussion about how fragile arms are on ancient statues and how they were often broken and lost.
The Louvre statues were particularly impressive due to their age and preservation.
Of the “Big Three”, we visited the Mona Lisa last and realized when we saw the crowd that we should have made a b-line for this gallery as soon as we arrived.
Tip #8: Be Prepared for Mona Lisa‘s Paparazzi at the Louvre
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is virtually synonymous with the Louvre. This early 16th century Italian Renaissance painting has been on display in the Louvre since 1797. While the Louvre generally did not seem crowded on our Saturday morning visit, visitors line up to see the Mona Lisa, protected by bullet proof glass and guarded by guards. It took us several minutes to work our way up to the front of the crowd to get a picture of her famous smirk.
The word “paparazzi” comes to mind, and yes, Mona Lisa is much smaller than anyone expects (only about 21 inches by 30 inches!).
It doesn’t help that the Louvre’s largest painting, Paolo Veronese’s The Wedding Feast at Cana, is displayed on the opposite wall. I was drawn to Veronese’s massive canvas and surprised at how little attention it received as the visitors focused solely on Mona Lisa. The unexpected Venetian setting made me more excited about our upcoming trip to Venice a few days later. The juxtaposition of these two paintings definitely was one of the most interesting parts of the Louvre.
Even though I saw Mona Lisa 21 years ago, it was simultaneously exhilarating and slightly underwhelming to visit her on this trip. Nevertheless, Mona Lisa was the most memorable part of our Louvre visit for our kids. They remember the crowd, her auspicious smile and The Wedding Feast at Cana on the opposite wall. My son is convinced she’s planning something evil.
Tip #9: Don’t Forget to Look Up While Visiting the Louvre
Some of the most memorable art is located on the gallery ceilings. It’s easy to be so mesmerized by the art on the wall and not fully appreciate the architecture and ceiling art.
Tip #10: Take Forced Perspective Pictures in front of the Pyramid at the Louvre
The Louvre’s Pyramid is not only a world-renowned architectural icon but also a great place to take a forced perspective picture. There are a number of strategically placed pedestals in front of the Pyramid to make it easier to capture the perfect shot, which we most certainly used.
We loved our family trip to Paris and recommend the Louvre for kids. Make sure to check out our posts on Planning a Trip to Paris, Top 25 Attractions in Paris for Families, Visiting the Eiffel Tower as well as our other posts about Paris!
