Louvre tickets sold out? What still works

Start with the official ticket shop

The Louvre is on France's list twice, for the Mona Lisa and for a museum evening, and both depend on the same timed ticket. The official shop is ticket.louvre.fr; the old address, ticketlouvre.fr, now redirects there. The museum warns about a "current increase in mirror sites", tickets that claim to let you jump the queue and street sellers, and says anyone who buys from them may be refused entry.

This is a planning guide, not a report of a recent visit. The rules and prices below come from louvre.fr, the museum's help centre and its 2026 terms of sale, checked on 25 October 2026. The ticket shop blocked automated visits that day, so this guide does not say which dates are sold out.

Why it sells out

The museum limits the number of people inside each day, and every ticket carries an entry slot. When a slot is gone, the shop marks it sold out. Booking is "strongly recommended" for everyone, free visitors included, and the help centre is plain that only an advance booking guarantees you get in. In busy periods the museum can make booking compulsory for all, and it did so from 17 October to 1 November 2026, during the French autumn school holidays.

Free entry does not get you round the cap. Under 18s, EEA citizens and residents under 26 and Paris Museum Pass holders all book a free slot from the same calendar, and the pass's own site warns that once the daily quota is used up, entry with the pass is no longer guaranteed. The museum does not publish how far ahead slots go on sale, and it can stop selling tickets on site when attendance reaches its limits.

Prices went up on 14 January 2026. Visitors from outside the European Economic Area pay €32; citizens and residents of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway pay €22. That second rate needs photo ID at the door.

Official options first

1. Go on a Wednesday or Friday evening. The museum stays open until 21:00 on both, and the help centre recommends 9:00 or Friday evening after 19:00 as quieter times, with Thursdays and weeks outside school holidays calmer too. For an evening at the Louvre, these are also the best nights, in must30's view.
2. Book the free first Friday. Entry is free for everyone after 18:00 on the first Friday of the month, except in July and August. Booking is compulsory, and the slots go online only a few days before. The next ones are 6 November and 4 December 2026; the museum is closed on 1 January.
3. Try the Pyramid on the day. A few tickets are sold each day at the cash desks and machines under the Pyramid, for entry within two hours. Join the queue for visitors without a reservation. It is not guaranteed, there is no waiting list, and in a compulsory-booking week do not count on it at all.
4. Check the shop again. The terms let holders cancel free tickets, so free slots can come back, in must30's reading. Paid tickets cannot be refunded, so do not expect many of those.
5. Join as a member if you come back often. Louvre membership cards get priority access through the Richelieu entrance.

The museum's own "Welcome to the Louvre" tour (€12, about 90 minutes, in English daily at 11:00 and 14:00, in Spanish daily at 10:30) does not include entry. You still need an admission ticket, so it is not a way in on a sold-out day.

Guided tours with entry included

Individual tickets are named, cannot be transferred and may only be bought by private individuals. The ticket itself says "N'achetez pas ce billet à un inconnu": do not buy it from a stranger, it will not be accepted at the checks. The Louvre publishes no list of authorised resellers.

Tour companies get in another way. A small group of up to six people with a certified guide books its own slot on the museum's group platform, paying a €20 reservation fee plus €28 for each paying visitor, and enters through the Richelieu entrance. That is why must30 links to guided tours rather than entry tickets. Choose a tour that names a certified guide and says entry is included, and expect to pay well above €32.

If you book through these links, must30 earns a commission at no extra cost to you.

Timing that helps

The Louvre opens from 9:00 to 18:00 on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and from 9:00 to 21:00 on Wednesday and Friday. It is closed on Tuesdays and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. Last entry is an hour before closing, and the rooms start clearing 30 minutes before.

The Pyramid takes everyone and is the only entrance for same-day tickets and late arrivals. The Carrousel entrance, at 99 rue de Rivoli, and the Porte des Lions take visitors who already have a ticket; the Porte des Lions closes at 18:00 and on Tuesdays. Exhibitions in the Hall Napoléon, such as Zurbarán until 25 January 2027, need a separate slot. Your ticket also gets you into the Musée Eugène-Delacroix the same or the next day.

Some galleries are shut for works, including the Galerie Campana and the Islamic and Roman galleries. The Galerie d'Apollon, raided in October 2025, reopened in summer 2026. The Mona Lisa room is open daily, though time in front of the painting may be limited when it is busy.

What not to do

• Do not pay for skip-the-line. The museum's terms say no ticket, including one bought online, is a fast pass.
• Do not book the €22 rate unless you are an EEA citizen or resident. Without proof you pay the difference plus a €15 fee.
• Do not bring a suitcase or a bag over 55 x 35 x 20 cm. It will not be let in; smaller bags go in free lockers.
• Do not arrive after your slot. Late visitors queue with everyone who has no ticket.
• Do not step out for lunch. Every exit is final.

Keep planning

• France's list, where the museum appears in "Marvel at the Mona Lisa inside the Louvre Museum" and "Spend a museum evening at the Louvre".
• The case for doing the famous thing early, on timing the big sights.
• The other Paris ticket guides: the Eiffel Tower summit and the Sainte-Chapelle.