Avoiding lines at the Louvre

This started as an answer to someone in the Forum so I'm answering a direct question. He was asking how we get into the Louvre without waiting in long lines and started by asking if you could buy tickets in advance.

First, yes, you can buy advance tickets. You may have to queue online to get these tickets and the online tickets are now the only ones guaranteeing you entrance. Update 2019: Honestly, it was so crowded the last time we visited Paris that we just skipped the Louvre. There are lots of other excellent museums and we'd seen it many times. It his is your only chance, buy online ahead and be ready to wait even with the ticket. Advance tickets for the Louvre Museum

We never are quite sure when we want to go so we don't buy advance tickets but if you know you want to go at a particular time, that would be very easy.

We have always used the Lion's Gate and never found a line. I notice they have recently reserved that for Groups with booking confirmation so it's not an option now. The Louvre notoriously changes rules for the different entrances so if you aren't going for six months or so, I'd check their web site to see if that has changed. UPDATE 2019: The Louvre attendance has gone up 31% and they have cut staff. The staff is understandably upset about this. Last Wednesday they had to close the museum because of staff complaints. It reopened Thursday. We had been there the week before and discovered all entrances except the Pyramid were closed due to lack of staff. Needless to say, the line at the Pyramid was even longer than usual and we did not bother to wait. Either buy your tickets ahead of time for a shorter line or save the Louvre for a future trip when they solve their staffing problems. Do check the web site before you go. Entrances, hours and prices for the Louvre Museum

As I mentioned in my first post here, don't use the entrance at the Pyramid. There is always a long line there. There are other entrances. If you are outside and by the large triumphal arch (Place du Carrousel), look on either side of the huge arch and you'll see a low cement wall. Walk over to it and you will discover stairs going down underneath the Place du Carrousel. Go down and find another, much less crowded entrance to the Louvre. There is also the entrance off the downstairs shopping mall and another at Passage Richelieu. The Passage Richelieu was once the tour group entrance but that seems to have moved to the Lion's Gate. As I say, they change the group entrances occasionally so check before you go. The Lion's Gate is most difficult to find so the least used which is why we have always used it. Here is an interactive floor plan that shows you where the different entrances are. Interactive Floor Plan of the Louvre Museum

I just clicked on the Interactive Floor Plan of the Louvre Museum I posted above and noticed that the two entrances on either side of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel are not shown on the Louvre map. Trust me, they are there. They're very hard to see because it is a low cement wall (on either side of the arch) and it goes down so there is nothing to indicate anything is actually there unless you walk over to the top of the steps and then you can see the Louvre sign at the bottom. The first time we tried to find it, we failed and walked right past. I've actually never seen the one one the south side of the arch because we've used the one on the north side. Entering the Louvre from the Metro is also usually pretty fast. Don't go up to street level; enter the museum from where you exit the Metro train. There are signs.

Going through the shopping center is also an easy entrance and there is a nice museum store there. Here's the link to a map through the shopping center to the museum entrance: Carrousel du Louvre map

The shopping center entrance is at 99, rue de Rivoli and the link to the map also tells you how to get there by various means. If you want to do some real Paris shopping, this is a great shopping center and is particularly pretty at Christmas.