We visited Paris in July and I couldn’t believe how long the lines were at the popular attractions, sometimes over 3 hours long.  Fortunately there are ways to avoid many of the lines.  Spend your spare time sipping a beverage in a sidewalk café or sampling macarons instead.

[Note: In addition to the suggestions I list below, you can book guided 3rd party “skip the line” tours to all of these sites – but it will be significantly more expensive.  This may be worth it in some instances.  You will find many options on Viator and TripAdvisor.  We went this route for the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, and were very happy with our experiences.  See my previous post for more information.]

Paris Museum Pass

The Paris Museum Pass is good at over 50 museums and monuments, including the Louvre, Musée D’Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, the Conciergerie, Versailles (main palace only included), and Napoleon’s Tomb.  The pass allows you to skip the ticket purchase line at most of the included attractions (e.g. not at Notre Dame).

• The pass is available for 2, 4, or 6 consecutive days, which starts on the first day you use it.  I found it to be economical even if you were not going to any of the attractions some of the days of your visit.
• Some sites will have a security line that you will still have to wait in (e.g. Versailles).
• You can buy the pass online and have it mailed to you, or at the airport, or various locations around Paris.  You can also buy the pass at any of the included attractions, even if you do not plan to use it at that time.  For example, we bought ours at one of the smaller museums that was close to our hotel to avoid a line at one of the more popular locations, and didn’t activate the pass until a couple days later.  We just walked in, bought the pass, and left.
• Many museums and monuments are free for visitors under 18, so we did not buy the pass for our children.  Some locations will require you to stop and pick up a free ticket for your child – the only place we had to do that was the Musée de L’Armée.

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is one of the attractions that can have a line hours long, especially in the summer months.  There are a few different ways to skip it:

1. Buy your ticket online.  You have to be quick if you’re planning to go during busy travel times.  Tickets go on sale at 8:30am Paris time, approximately 90 days in advance.  You will need to be online immediately when they’re released in order to get them.
2. Climb the stairs.  You can climb the 700 steps to the second floor.  It’s less expensive and a much shorter line.
3. Book a behind the scenes tour for an additional approximately 18€ per person.  This tour takes you to the bunker and engine room.  It ends on the 2nd floor, so if you want to go to the summit you would need to buy a ticket from the 2nd floor ticket counter at the end of the tour.

 

Versailles

We arrived at Versailles before they opened and there were hundreds of people already in line and the courtyard quickly filled with people.  See this page for the busiest times to visit.

• Avoid Tuesdays (when the Louvre is closed) and weekends if you can, those are the busiest days.
• Buy your tickets in advance online or get the Paris Museum Pass (described above).  You still have to wait in the security line but can skip the ticket buying line.
• Versailles recommends the following route on busy days:
  The interior of the Palace: at 9am
  Gardens and park: 10am to noon
  Trianon palaces and Marie-Antoinette’s hamlet: noon to 4:30pm
• Book a guided tour for 7€ per person.  This allows you to go in a separate entrance with no line.  We took the tour of the Private Apartments of the Kings and it was excellent.  The palace was so crowded and it was really nice to see some other rooms with a small group of people and a guide.  You can then visit the main palace rooms on your own after the tour, without waiting in line.  The tour went on sale 3 months in advance at 9:30am.

The Louvre

The Louvre is closed Tuesday.  The museum gets very busy, and you’ll often fight the crowds getting in but also while touring the museum.

• Avoid Mondays (when Versailles is closed).  The museum is free the first Sunday of the month from October to March, so will be crowded then.
• The museum is open late Wednesdays and Fridays and is often less crowded at that time.
• Buy your tickets in advance online or get the Paris Museum Pass (described above).
• The pyramid entrance line is usually the longest.  Try one of the other entrances instead (e.g. from the mall underneath).

 

The Catacombes

While not as popular as the above attractions, I had to list the Catacombes because it is the one place that we tried to see and didn’t because the line was 3 hours long.  There’s not much I will stand and wait 3 hours for.  I am determined to go there on our next visit but to plan ahead this time!

• Their website recommends visiting on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after 3 pm to avoid too long of a wait.
• Buy your tickets online.  They can be purchased 6 months in advance.  Note that you must get the audioguide when you buy your ticket online, and there is also a 10€ per ticket reservation fee.

 

Bon voyage!