Closed days. The Louvre closes Tuesday. Orsay, Versailles, Rodin and Carnavalet close Monday, and the Orangerie closes Tuesday. The Centre Pompidou closed for renovation in 2025 and is due back in 2030. Sainte-Chapelle and the Arc de Triomphe open most days of the year. Plan the Louvre for Monday and Orsay for Tuesday and you lose neither.
Book these. The Louvre (a timed slot is recommended, €22 for EEA residents and €32 for everyone else since January 2026, and slots sell out in busy months), Versailles (a timed palace slot, with the palace opening at 9 a.m.), Sainte-Chapelle (timed, €16 for EEA residents and €22 otherwise since January 2026, a small chapel with a long line without a slot), the Eiffel Tower if you go up. Orsay asks for a timed slot, and a Rodin ticket bought online skips the desk.
Free. The permanent collections at the Petit Palais, the Musée Carnavalet and the Musée d’Art Moderne. Under-26 EU residents enter most national museums free. First Sundays of the month are free at Orsay and the Orangerie, and at Rodin from October to March, and they are busy. The Louvre is free after 6 p.m. on the first Friday, except in July and August.
The Museum Pass. Around €85 for two days and €105 for four. It pays if you enter three paid museums a day, and it skips ticket lines where there is no timed entry. You still book a slot at the Louvre, Orsay and Versailles with the pass.
On the day. Save the QR codes in Waystop’s Documents, since the Louvre scans from the phone screen. Large bags go to the cloakroom, so travel light.