How to Make the Most Out of Your Time at the Louvre

Planning your first trip to the Louvre? It’s a big place. How big? It’s estimated if you spend 30 seconds on each piece, you’ll be there about 100 days or so. With this in mind, a little bit of planning is needed to make sure you make the most out of your visit.

Before you do anything, make a list of what you know you definitely want to see while there. The “Mona Lisa” is a given, but there are so many other interesting paintings, sculptures and artifacts. Make a point to look on the Louvre’s website to see what they have that you might not even know about.

Once you have a must-see list, look at an online map of the museum to pinpoint the location of each piece. Create a walking route that takes you to each. Don’t just assume you’ll happen upon the things you want to see if you just wander around long enough. The Louvre is not only huge, it’s also filled with little side rooms, staircases and courtyards. It’s easy to miss entire sections if you don’t orient yourself well with your surroundings.

If you do make it there and realize you’re not quite sure of your bearings, a good piece of advice is to simply follow the crowds. For the most part, the largest crowds congregate around the most popular art pieces, and are rarely ever taking up a huge amount of space in the areas dedicated to less renowned works. Find the crowd, see what all the fuss is about and you should be able to orient yourself based upon that (as the Louvre-provided maps do point out the most well-known works in each section).

If you’re on a time crunch and don’t get to see everything you want, don’t fear. The Louvre is relatively inexpensive for a museum of its stature, and if you have a few days in Paris, there’s nothing keeping you from going back a second or third time. Plus, purchasing a reserved-time ticket online in advance can assure you head to the front of the line as soon as you arrive.