The Louvre Beyond the Mona Lisa: A First-Timer's Route
With more than 35,000 works on display, the Louvre rewards a plan — here's how to see its highlights without getting lost in the crowd around the Mona Lisa.
The Louvre is the most visited museum on earth, and also one of the easiest places in Paris to spend three hours seeing very little. Here's what to know before setting foot in the Pyramid entrance.
Start away from the crowd
Most visitors head straight for the Mona Lisa, which means the Denon wing gets congested fast. Consider starting in the Richelieu wing instead — home to the Napoleon III apartments and the museum's Northern European painting collection — before working your way toward the Denon wing later in the morning.
The essentials, in order
If time is short, the classic route runs from the Venus de Milo through the Winged Victory of Samothrace and on to the Mona Lisa and the large-scale French paintings that share her room, including Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People.
Skip-the-line still means a line
A timed-entry ticket reduces the wait at the entrance, not inside — the Mona Lisa's room stays busy most of the day. Early morning and the museum's late-evening openings on selected days are consistently the calmest windows.
Getting in free
Under-18 visitors, and under-26 EU residents, enter free of charge, as does everyone on the first Friday evening of the month after 6pm.