Post your Paris Museum Pass break-even analysis

Agree that the convenience of expedited access is well worth the price.

Who wants to waste precious time in Paris standing in line? Worse, standing in line in the pouring rain? A really long line?

And how often in life would such a relatively small investment get you the kind of priority treatment the museum pass offers?

The only other time I got waved to the head of a long line was in Miami Beach, when I went out with a guy I belatedly discovered had criminal connections. And other weirdnesses.

If it's a first visit and one plans to "do" many, many museums and monuments in a rush, the museum pass might be economical.

The only place a pass is "priceless" for skipping the ticket line in Musee d'Orsay, and you can purchase advance tickets for that at FNAC.

There are so many entrances to the Louvre, along with automatic ticket machines all about.

To my observation, the museum pass was far more economical before the new pricing schedule, especially considering that many museums are now FREE.

A huge disadvantage of the pass is "consecutive days".

We spent 30 euros each for the 2-day pass and used it Aug 31/Sept 1. I think I have the correct regular prices below. They are close, anyway:

day 1
Musée National du Moyen Age - Cluny 6.50
Notre Dame Tower 5.70
Orsay 7.5

Day 2
Ste-Chapelle 5.50
Louvre 8.50
Rodin 6.00
Invalides 7.00

Total would have been 46.70 so we each saved 16.70 euros. My 18 year-old daughter could have gotten into most places at the student rate but still would have broken even, I believe.
We were lucky to have short or no lines, still there was the comfort of knowing that we could have jumped the queue if necessary

Another added value for having the pass is that you might "try" a museum that you might otherwise skip if you were paying full admission, or you can go to one and if you can only stay a short time it's not a "waste" and maybe you can return later in your visit and see some more.

Hi R,

One museum pd is usually enough for us, so I don't think that we would break even on a pass.

For the d'Orsay, I walked over one day and bought tickets for the next day. No lines to buy the tickets, no line to get in the ticket-holder door.

Now that the time periods have been altered it is a little hard to tell. And the time of year makes a difference. For the Orangerie, it is probably still best to buy a reserved time. You can also buy a one day pass to the Orsay at FNAC and bypass the lines. These two are really the only ones with the potential of very long lines. There are many entrances to the Louvre that have no lines.
SO, without really knowing the entry fees individually I am thinking that the pass is not going to be a good deal.
We've often thought it was a good investment because we could just duck into a museum as we passed to use the WC or to just take a look. The Carnavale is now free. But the Cluny is still one of our favorites. And the Picasso is over that way also for a grouping of museums on a day.

When we were there for a short trip in September, the pass wasn't economical for us. I dreaded the long lines at the D'Orsay. But we got lucky!

On Saturday morning we entered the Louvre at the underground entrance (Palais Royale metro). Went to the tabac in the Louvre underground arcade to buy tickets.

When I mentioned going to the D'Orsay the next day, he offered us those tickets as well.

At the D'Orsay there was, indeed, a long line...in the rain. I suspected they were waiting to buy tickets, so we approached the "Group Entrance" door (or something like that). There was no line and the guard, seeing our tickets, waived us right through.

I don't find any advantage in the Museum Pass. First, I don't necessarily want to spend consecutive days museum hopping and second , I tend to suffer culture overload if all I do is spend all day in museums.

I find it easy to use alternate entrances to the Louvre without a wait and to purchase advance tickets thru the FNAC site and pick them up at a convenient location.

Add me to the list that normally thinks one museum a day is enough, so the pass loses its value to me.

But I have been to D'Orsay probably 5 times now without a pass, and I don't think I've waited any more than 5 minutes ever. Meanwhile I've walked by there a half hour before it opened and have seen long lines of people waiting to get in. For some people it makes sense to stand in a line an hour before a place opens rather than stand in line for 5 minutes halfway through the day. Personally, I don't get it. Have I just been lucky?

Yes, you have been lucky. I have seen long lines whenever I have been at the Musee d'Orsay, and I am never at anything any more first thing in the morning. And it has always been February or March.

The other place where the pass gives a line-skipping advantage is Versailles.

Don't get me wrong. I've been in long lines there too, but they've always moved very fast -- hence the 5 minute maximum waiting time.
I've always been there between June and August.

Can't recall actual prices anymore but certainly would have made a saving with my three day pass. To a certain extent this was because I used it several times (in addition to those museums I really wanted to see) to pop in and have a quick look around when I happened to be walking past a museum/historic site that was covered by the pass.

What would be a huge plus for the scheme is if they made it so that the days did not have to be consecutive. For example any four days within a one week period. It can be easy to get a bit overloaded if you are required to do all your museums in one hit and this actually puts people off. You could also make more allowance to take advantage of the weather as well.

ira - "For the d'Orsay, I walked over one day and bought tickets for the next day."

...and that took how long?

jody - you don't have to use the pass every day to come out ahead. All that has to happen is that you save €60 over a six-day period. This can usually be accomplished in three or four short (and non-consecutive) days. marshybird, above, saved €19.70 on day one and €27 on day 2. Another €13 would have paid for a 6-day pass.

But you get to jump queues and use toilets and pop in for a quick look at smaller, lesser-known museums for six days.

In June we saved money on museums overall, but the greatest benefit was walking past the 200 people standing in line at L'Orangerie, being the only ones in line for the passes, and going straight in the door.

Well, since you asked, this is how I used the five-day pass (which must have existed when I visited)

Day 1 -- Pantheon, Notre Dame Crypt / Towers, Saint Chapelle, Concierge
Day 2 -- Louvre
Day 3 -- Hotel des Invalides, Rodin Museum, Musee d'Orsay
Day 4 -- Cluny Museum, Delacroix Museum, Hugo Museum, Carnavalet Museum
Day 5 -- Louvre (no WAY it can be seen in one day!)

I simply added up the cost of all the museums I would want to visit, and it EASILY was more than the cost of the pass. Not standing in line was just a minor bonus.

I have visited Paris many times, but I found myself there in mid-October 2003, on the way home from a business trip, and Paris was in the midst of an exceptional heatwave. I thought I'd attempt to counter the heat by moving from air-conditioned museum to museum, and with the one-day pass I revisited:

Natural History Museum
Pantheon
Cluny
Invalides
Army Museum
Orsay
Gimet (the Asian museum and the only "new museum" for me that day)

Granted, I didn't spend a lot of time in any museum, just enough to cool off and visit a few favorite objects, but it was a lot of value from a one-day pass. But it allowed me to walk through the left bank to the right, and duck into a museum when I wanted to cool off.

Hi Robe,

>ira - "For the d'Orsay, I walked over one day and bought tickets for the next day."

...and that took how long?<

From the Hotel Bonaparte, about 18 min each way.

I did it in the morning while my LW was getting ready.

I've only bought one once, and didn't break even. I did it solely for the Orsay which I wanted to go into on that trip, and the lines were very long. So I bought a one-day pass (at that time, I think 15 euro) just to get immediate entrance. The lines were a couple blocks long and it was raining (this was July, several years ago).

The Orsay does still have long lines in mid-day, I think that's the worst time. The last time I went (last year), I did only have about a 15 minutes wait because it was around when the museum opened. Lines aren't too long then, even in July. They still take longer than 5 minutes then, though. That's the only museum I find a problem in heavy tourist season. I did wait in line about 15 min. once at the Pompidou, but that was because it was Bastille Day (many museums were closed, tons of people on holiday).

We bought the pass when we were in Paris a couple of years ago. We used it and definitely felt we got our money's worth. We went to the Louvre twice so that we didn't have to spend the whole day and be overwhelmed. As well we went to places that we would not have had we had to pay for them. The Rodin museum was lovely and we went a couple of times to have coffee in the gardens.

I assume FNAC is the books/CD chain that I've seen around the city? I've never bought through them, but now that I find they sell both Louvre and Orsay tix, (did an online search) that's a good alternative to the pass, which with its new format isn't such a great deal anymore. Does one have to go to a certain section/sales desk in the store?

Meanwhile, I agree with dkjbooks: Given the new format (no more 1-day, no more 3- day) and given that buying tickets ahead - often online - is possible for some places (Pompidou, Versailles, Orsay, etc.) I no longer view the pass so fondly. (Interesting to note that the Carnavalet - I assume that's what Gretchen meant - is always free now (?)

I do agree that if one is eager to see a particular place, buying in advance, by whatsoever means - or using alternate purchase venues - is a smart idea. Along with FNAC, the tip about the tabac near the Louvre arcade from Jeanne could prove useful to many people.

Buying tix ahead separately avoids the consecutive day issue, as well. Still, the pass would still suit those looking for the convenience of 1-stop shopping, or who just want to hop in for a quick look to whichever museum strikes their fancy at the moment. But we won't be buying our next trip - one museum a day, maybe two if the second is something like the Arc de Triomphe, is our limit, too.

BTW, FNAC also has Orangerie tickets and can make reservations (minimum two days in advance).

Quick...buy stock in FNAC!!!!

Yes, you have to go to a particular place in FNAC to buy tickets -- the ticket/events sales box office. They've been running a ticket agency for many years. So does Virgin Megastore, but I don't know if they have the museums or not.

On our last trip to Paris this past May, we knew we wanted to "do" a number of museums on a short vacation, and the Museum Pass was definitely the way to go.

Three of us each bought the 4-day pass (€45). We visited:
Day 1 (Fri): Louvre (reg. €8.50)
Day 2 (Sat): D'Orsay (reg. €7.50)
Day 3 (Sun): Versailles (reg. €13.50)
Day 4 (Mon): Picasso (reg. €9.50) and
Louvre again
Total at regular price: €47.50

Even though it was basically only one museum per day and we saved a whopping €2.50 in hard cash, having the flexibility and line-skipping capacity was definitely worth it for us. Buying an advance-day ticket or two is all well and good, but who has the time to *go* to the museum (or to FNAC) and buy the tix?! It's not like I'm camped out in the Tuileries to have ready access to the popular sites! Much better to do the purchase once, then either roam around at will, or accomplish your museum-viewing objectives with a minimum of fuss (as we did).

I have never seen a short line at D'Orsay in recent memory. And my rare visit to Versailles was greatly enhanced by the Pass, as the queue was pretty horrendous in May. Even at Picasso the line was longer than I would have cared to stand in (the Dora Marr show may have had something to do with it). At D'Orsay, we entered through the group/pass-holders entrance, then went directly to a designated ticket window to purchase our special exhibition timed tickets (Cezanne/ Pisarro was still showing) with no one in line ahead of us. To me, this was infinitely preferable to schlepping over there the day ahead to buy advance tickets...

As Robespierre said, no waiting at in line at Paris museums: priceless.

We just got back from Paris last weekend. We were there for two weeks so and ended up scrapping all my highly efficient plans so we didn't buy a museum pass until the end of the first week. That meant we paid for Versailles (insanely long long) and the Picasso (no line), and once for the Pompidou Centre (long line but I ended up using the auto ticket machines which meant basically no line). We also hit the Cluny and the Rodin without the Pass and those lines were negligible.

We used our 2-day Museum Pass for the L'Orangerie, St. Chapelle, the Louvre, Orsay, the Crypt, and Pompidou again. Um, I may be forgetting one but those were the major ones. I don't think we saved money but the psychological advantage of bypassing lines was worth it in our opinion. We also hit St. Chapelle on a day with the shortest line we'd seen all week and, since it was 1.5 hours to closing, they were rejecting people without pre-paid tickets because they didn't think they could get everyone in before closing.

So, yeah, I don't think we saved money, but we really liked having the Museum Passes and if we had 4-day passes we probably would have hit some of the smaller museums we otherwise would never choose to visit.

I've just read a lot of the postings and have a question: we're going the week of 11/19/06 (Thanksgiving here in the the U.S.)....what are opinions on getting a pass or just taking our chance on the lines at that time? We've been to Paris, in April, once before, got the pass, had no waits and enjoyed a lot of the "not so well known" museums". But that was 8-9 years ago. I welcome all opinions. Thanks.