The Louvre
8.9 million visitors a year. Here's how to make yours count.
The Louvre is the world's most visited museum. It is also, in the wrong hands, the world's most overwhelming. 380,000 objects. 35,000 on display across 15km of galleries. You cannot see everything. You should not try. The visitors who enjoy the Louvre are those who arrive with a plan.
The strategy: pick 10 things
Download the free Louvre floor plan from their website before you go. Pick 8–12 works you want to see. Navigate to them, stand in front of them properly, and leave. This sounds reductive but it produces a profoundly better experience than wandering corridors for six hours seeing nothing in depth.
What to see
Winged Victory of Samothrace
Top of the Daru staircase, Denon Wing. A marble figure of Nike (goddess of victory) carved around 190 BCE — headless, armless, and overwhelming. The theatrical placement at the top of the stairs is intentional: she commands the staircase like a ship's prow. This is the single best object in the Louvre, in the opinion of many who know it well. The Mona Lisa gets the attention; the Winged Victory deserves it.
The Mona Lisa
Room 711 (Salle des États), Denon Wing, 1st floor. Smaller than you expect (77cm × 53cm). Behind bulletproof glass. Surrounded by a crowd that averages 20–40 people in all but the quietest moments. Go anyway — you'll want to see it, and the experience of seeing it in person, amid the crowd, is itself interesting. Immediately opposite on the same wall: Veronese's enormous Wedding at Cana (the biggest painting in the museum, 6.7m × 9.9m). Almost nobody looks at it.
Venus de Milo
Room 16, Sully Wing, ground floor. Another armless Greek marble masterwork, this one from around 100 BCE and discovered on the island of Milos in 1820. Less theatrical than the Winged Victory, more purely beautiful. The room is less crowded than the Mona Lisa.
Liberty Leading the People — Delacroix
Room 700, Denon Wing, 1st floor. The image of Marianne — the female personification of France — leading revolutionaries over the barricades in 1830. The painting that inspired the French national imagery still in use today. Enormous (2.6m × 3.25m) and extraordinary in person.
The Egyptian Antiquities
Sully Wing, ground floor. If you have children, or if you find most Western European art less compelling than ancient civilisations, the Egyptian section is outstanding — sphinxes, sarcophagi, the Seated Scribe (painted limestone, 2620–2500 BCE, still in original colour), the Sleeping Hermaphroditus. Less visited than the Italian paintings section.
Vermeer's The Lacemaker
Room 837, Richelieu Wing, 2nd floor. A tiny painting (24cm × 21cm) of extraordinary intimacy and precision. One of only 34–36 paintings by Vermeer in existence. Worth seeking out specifically.
Getting in
Book a timed entry slot at louvre.fr. The main Pyramid entrance has a dedicated fast lane for pre-booked visitors. The Carrousel du Louvre underground entrance (off Rue de Rivoli) sometimes has shorter external queues. The Richelieu Wing entrance on Rue de Rivoli is another option.
Evening visits (Fri & Sat)
The Louvre is open until 9:45pm on Friday and Saturday. From around 6pm, the main galleries become noticeably quieter. The Mona Lisa room is calmer, the Winged Victory more accessible. If you can visit in the evening, it's the best time.
Louvre FAQ
Yes. Without a pre-booked timed-entry ticket, the queue can be 60–90 minutes, even after entering through the Pyramid. Book at louvre.fr — the official site. Book at least 2–3 days ahead in summer, further ahead if possible.
To see 10–15 specific works properly: 2 hours. To cover the greatest hits (Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Vermeer, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People): 2.5–3 hours. Attempting to see more than this in a single visit is unrealistic and exhausting. The Louvre has 35,000 works on display across 15km of galleries.
Salle 711, Denon Wing, 1st floor. Signs are posted throughout the museum. The painting is 77cm × 53cm — smaller than most people expect. It sits behind bulletproof glass about 10 metres from the viewing barrier. The crowd around it is often 30–50 people. The much larger Wedding at Cana by Veronese is directly opposite on the other wall, and almost nobody looks at it.
Yes. Enter via the Carrousel du Louvre shopping centre (underground entrance on Rue de Rivoli — no external queue) or via the Richelieu Wing entrance from Rue de Rivoli. If you have a pre-booked ticket, the Pyramid has a dedicated lane that's fast.
First thing when it opens (9am), Friday and Saturday evenings (open until 9:45pm, much quieter from about 6pm). Wednesday and Friday evenings are specifically calm. January and February are the quietest months of the year.