Paris Museum Tickets
I should have known better (no need for "I could have told you so's"). Louvre tickets book up early. I was looking four days early to buy Louvre tickets, and the only open slots were less than 2 hours before closing. Many days were completely sold out. Not a big deal for us, since we have been before and get the after-hours tour on our itinerary. Even if you buy the Paris Museum pass you still need to book a reserved entry time, subject to the same constraints. So, if you plan to visit the Louvre this summer on your own, I'd book at least a month in advance. Not sure I want to deal with capacity crowds, anyway.
We booked tickets for the Musee d'Orsay instead. There were many openings, even for the Manet/Degas exhibit running through July 23. I'd still book in advance for the Orsay, but you don't need to be quite so early.
Comments
The Museum d’Orsay is a great museum!
Tickets for the museums in France and especially in Paris can sell out quickly. I started looking 90 days out (a few go on sale that early!!) but most 60 days or less out. For some time slots are released for a full month at one time. One exception is the Eiffel Tower tickets, which go on sale EXACTLY 30 days before and released one day at time around 10:45 pm US eastern time. I started monitoring about two months out to learn this- the info wasn't published anywhere, not even in the Rick Steves' books. The evening when tickets for our desired date (in June) became available, lift tickets to the summit for all time slots sold out in 15 min. Even though I accessed the site a few minutes early and kept hitting refresh until the moment bookings were accepted, I wasn't able to get the time slot I had desired (3:00 pm) but luckily got tickets for 3:30 pm.
It may be possible to get tickets through secondary vendors, but you may need to pay for a tour or river cruise.
We got our own ("Year in Versailles") tickets for Versailles (we are not using the Tauck/Waldorf-Astoria provided tickets for a number of good reasons), Sainte-Chapelle, the Conciergerie, the Louvre, Rodin Museum, and the Eiffel Tower. There are some other useful things to know, such as, in addition to the museums being busy in the summer months in Paris (and other areas of France), they can be very busy at other times, e.g. school systems in and around Paris have three overlapping two week periods of Spring Break in April. In general, those under 18 (under 26 if from the EU) get in many places for free, but still require a timed entry ticket, as do other categories of people who qualify for free admission. (our Year in Versailles tickets are not restricted to timed entry)
When I do my post-trip report in a few weeks I'll include a separate section about getting tickets.
British said:
Yep, I agree. We've done it before, but always worth going back to. The current Manet / Degas exhibit looks particularly good. The Orsay is a much better venue for the impressionists than the Musée de l'Orangerie, where they used to be housed before the Orsay opened. Of course, Monet;s water lilies are still at the Orangerie, so it's worth a visit, too.
Last month we visited Musee Rodin for the first time. We had not purchased tickets in advance but had no problem getting in. Perhaps we were just lucky. It was a very nice way to spend an afternoon. The cafe in the garden area offered a nice respite and our light lunch--soup--was quite nice.
Musée Rodin is a smaller, lesser visited, self-funded museum. I really didn't need to get tickets ahead of time and could have purchased them upon arrival but buying ahead will save a little time. The tickets are valid for a year from date of purchase for a single visit and don't have timed entry. If your particular tour isn't scheduled to visit Musée d'Orsay you can get a combination Musée d'Orsay - Musée Rodin ticket for another 10 €.
For those who might be interested, Napoleon's tomb is located across from Rodin's museum. The immense sarcophagus is housed within the beautiful dome at Les Invalides.
Just came back from 5 days on our own (and then began the Tauck Paris/River Cruise Saone/Rhone), We got the Paris Museum Pass. Skipped the lines at D'Orsay, etc, Well worth it. We also loved the Orangerie, the Picasso Museum (a newly-designed exhibit that we loved but had mixed reviews). The D'Orsay was the most crowded by far. Go as soon as they open.