Paris Museum Pass Review – Is the Paris Museum Pass Worth it?

05/08/22

The Paris Museum Pass includes access to the main museums and famous buildings in Paris like the Panthéon, Centre Pompidou, Musée du Quai Branly, Louvre Museum, Orsay Museum, and the Sainte-Chapelle. It also includes access to famous landmarks in Paris like the Arc de Triomphe or the Tour Montparnasse – Click here for the full list.

In addition, the Paris Museum Pass includes twenty other interesting attractions outside Paris, like Château de Versailles, Château de Fontainebleau, Villa Savoye or Château de Chantilly.

Please note that the Paris Museum Pass does not include access to the Eiffel Tower, the Paris Catacombs, and Tour Montparnasse.

Why Use the Paris Museum Pass?

The Paris Museum Pass comes with great benefits, which are the following:

1. It Saves you Time

With the Paris Museum Pass in your pocket, you will skip the longest lines in Paris. The most popular tourist attractions like the Louvre usually have a dedicated line for pass holders, which means that the pass reduces waiting times a lot but does not eliminates them. If you are visiting Paris for the weekend or just a few days, you know that “time” is gold, making this pass worth it.

GOOD TO KNOW: To avoid overcrowding, some sites (e.g., Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle, Versailles) make it compulsory to reserve a time slot. This applies to all the visitors, pass holders or not. Of course, the reservation of a time slot is free since, by purchasing the pass, you have already paid for the entrance tickets. You will receive all the details and instructions with the pass purchase confirmation.

2. You Get a Free Guidebook to Paris

The Paris Museum Pass comes with a small booklet with a map showing the location of the sites included in the pass, a short description of these sites, and some tips.

3. It Saves you Money

Everybody agrees that one of the great things about the Paris Museum Pass is that it saves you time. However, if you want to visit Paris on a budget, it’s all about the money with the passes. If you are going to save money, you want the pass. If you plan to visit only a few sights, you don’t buy the pass and wait in line.

If you check the prices of the Paris attractions listed above, you’ll see that the average ticket price is around €15. That gives you an idea of how much you would need to do in a day to save money with the pass:

» 2-day pass for 57€ (28.5€ a day) – you need to visit a minimum of 3 museums or monuments in a day, for two consecutive days, for the pass to make financial sense;

» 4-day pass for 73€ (24.3€ a day) – you need to visit a minimum of 2 monuments or museums in a day, for four consecutive days, for the pass to make financial sense;

» 6-day pass for 83€ (13.83€ a day) – you need to visit a minimum of 1 -2 museums or monuments in a day (depending on their cost), for six consecutive days, for the pass to make financial sense.

4. It Proposes Interesting, Lesser Known Paris Attractions

This Paris tourist card also includes lesser-known attractions which deserve a visit. General feedback about the Paris Museum Pass is that visitors ‘discovered’ some Paris hidden gems only because they were included in the Paris Museum Pass. Some examples are the Chapelle Expiatoire, the Archaeological Crypt, and the Paris Sewers System, and they are all very cool!

Is the Paris Museum Pass Worth it?

So is the Paris Museum Pass worth it? Here are the main things to consider before buying the Paris Museum Pass:

» The Paris Museum Pass does not include the access to the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnasse Tower, or the Paris Catacombs, three popular attractions in Paris. If you want to visit these three top Paris attractions, you must purchase the tickets apart.

» The Paris Museum Pass does not include temporary exhibitions in the museums.

» There are many interesting and free museums in Paris. Have you heard about them? Some of them are very cool and cost nothing.

» Most of the Paris attractions included in the pass are always free for the under 18s and EU residents under 25s.

» Paris tourist attractions have some time slots very busy (especially on weekends) while other time slots are more relaxed. If you know the less frequented time slots for each tourist attraction, you can save time without any kind of pass.

» Some attractions like Château de Versailles or Château de Fontainebleau, outside the city, need a whole day to get the most out of them.

Paris Museum Pass Review – Our Tips

» Plan your trip to Paris in advance. Make a list of things to do in Paris, your “musts” in Paris.

» Don’t overcharge your plan. Doing more than two museums a day, for example, is too much.

» Create a fun plan with a nice mix of different things to do in Paris: famous Paris landmarks, top museums in Paris, outdoor spaces, and nice walks. Spend some time in a Parisian café people watching or enjoying nice meals in a good restaurant or brasserie.

» Remember that Paris is a moveable feast. Part of the city’s charm comes from strolling the streets, admiring its beautiful architecture, or relaxing in the city’s parks (all free activities), especially if the weather is nice! Exokire Le Marais, have a stroll at Ile de la Cité, the Luxembourg Gardens or the Tuileries Gardens. Walk the cobbled streets of Montmartre or the Butte-aux-Cailles. Feel the Seine’s breeze on your face and explore the Parisian canals.

» Once you are happy with your sample itinerary, calculate how much you would spend on Paris attraction tickets (regular tickets or skip the line tickets). Then compare it to the Paris Museum Pass cost to figure out if the pass is right or not. It can be a time-consuming process but is certainly worth it.

Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it? We hope that this Paris Museum Pass review will help make the right decision for you.

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