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Should I book my own guide for the Lourve and Versaille?

Should I book my own guide for the Lourve and Versaille?

Old Apr 24th, 2017, 11:27 AM
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Should I book my own guide for the Lourve and Versaille?

We are newbies re European travel. Can I get by at these places renting headsets? What do think of the guided tours provided by these museums themselves ? These guided tours provide headsets so you can hear the guide, correct?

Do they have too many people assigned to each of these tours so that you cannot see what the guide is talking about?

Do you know where we can book good but reasonably priced private tours?

I guess these questions apply everywhere too. For example at the Arc d'Triomph or the Army museum or the Pompidou Center? Do they all rent headsets in English?

Has anyone used the Unique tours factory for private tours? We are not wealthy so we must pick and choose carefully.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 11:35 AM
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When visiting museums in US do you get a guided tour? I never have at home or in Europe. I have visited the Louvre several times on my own.
You do not need a guide. Rent a headset if you want but they are not necessary either.
Two smaller museums which are favorites of mine ar Rodin, an outdoor sculpture garden, and L'Orangerie filled with Monet's large paintings of the water lilies.
I also enjoy Musee d'Orsay filled with the Impressionists.
Buy the Paris Museum card for faster entry to museums. Buy a good guide book and you won't need to spend money on guides. Rick Steves has good museum guides in his books.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 12:18 PM
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I'd just rent the audioguide myself. If you absolutely cannot get anything out of those, then I could see trying to join a guided tour, but those fill up fast at the museum (the ones in English).

Also, I don't want a tour that only goes to some of the major well-known artworks, which is what those do. I have my own interests and prefer to go where I wish. But you may want the highlights.

All the major museums now would have audioguides in English. I DK about the Arc.

I don't really recall the size of the group tours nor if they have headsets. I've seen them and don't think they are real small, so maybe a couple dozen?

I'd think if you do want a guide, maybe limit it to one place where you really think you'd get something out of it, maybe the Louvre, I'm guessing. You wouldn't need one for the Arc. I just look at viator.com to see what's available in a city but I haven'T taken one in Paris so can't advise. Private tours can be very expensive.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 12:49 PM
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No need for a guide anywhere. Take along a good guidebook, and rent a headset if you would like.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 01:14 PM
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I agree. these places are so well known that there are loads of books and guides telling you far more about them than any tour guide could.

The Louvre has its own guides [aka visitor trails] to help you find what may interest you most [it's huge so you'll never see it all on a first visit]:

www.louvre.fr/en/parcours

Also audio guides, and, if you have deep pockets, private guides for hire.

Here's the link to the guides, if that's what you decide to do:

www.louvre.fr/en/visites-guidees

Versailles is also well covered in guide books. One very good one is the Michelin guide to Paris, which has ideas for itineraries for 1,2,3 etc. days, and also suggestions for tours round places like Versailles. My advice would be to get there early, see the bits of the palace that you want to see, then get the little bus to the Trianon.

here's the official website - beware imitations:

http://en.chateauversailles.fr
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 01:38 PM
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Check out: Tours by Locals. They're all over Europe.

We are using them in Greece this Fall; they come highly recommended and run substantially less than others, particularly those offered by our travel company and from our cruise line. But first you must decide how much time you wish to spend in the Louvre, 1-2 hours, 1/2 day or all day. We only got to the Louvre on our fifth trip to Paris and spent 2-3 hours focusing on specific which interested us the most. As to Versailles, we went without a tourguide and it seemed fine.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 02:29 PM
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the multi-lingual headphones at either was enough for me.

If going to several museums check out the Paris Museum Pass -buy it at any museum (not to be mixed up with the waste of money for most Paris Pass or Paris Visite Pass)- you get priority entrance too at many.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 02:47 PM
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Honestly, you spend a lot to get to Europe, so don't want to miss out by going cheap on guides - IF they are really worth it. What is your previous experience? Do you enjoy guided tours of historic homes and mansions in the US? Then you will in Europe. Churches? Same. Unusual museums and monuments? What do you like here? A guide, headset, reading posted info or guide book?

Truthfully, I rarely remember anything much a guide says, but do remember what I read while I am looking at something. So, unless it is a requirement for admission, I never hire a guide, but I do research about the various museums, churches and sites for myself. I like to get a pretty thorough guide book (or info on line or download pics and info to my iPad) ahead of time, read, then decide what to see.

You will enjoy everything and certainly expect to learn more once there, but I do believe that the more you can learn before you go, the more meaningful things will be. What you learn there will complement what you already know.

The Louvre is so huge, you can see only a minimal bit of it. You absolutely do not need a guide or even a headset. There are dozens of guide books for the Louvre. Read some. Rather than see a few pieces that a guide deems important, see what is there and decide what you want to see. Look at a map and see where those things are located. By selecting ahead of time, you will be sure to see the things which interest you the most, plus others, without wandering and missing the things you most want to see.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 03:00 PM
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There are arguments for and against hiring a private guide — and the arguments against have been put very well.

The argument for would be this: a really good guide (and that's a major qualification) can help you get the most out of your visit. You could easily spend hours, even days, walking the marble hallways of the Louvre ... and maybe you'd enjoy it, in which case — go the guidebook and/or audio guide route.

However, if you'd like to do (say) a two hour tour in which you see the paintings, sculptures, periods, and exhibits you're most interested in ... a good guide can be invaluable in terms of (1) making the most of your time - giving you time for other things that day in Paris and (2) saving your feet (those long, marble hallways become very tiring on your legs, very quickly).

By the way... my favorite exhibit at the Louvre: Napoleon III's Apartments (relatively little known and uncrowded). My least thing absit the Louvre: the tiny postage-stamp painting known as La Jaconde with hundreds of tourists crowded in front.


I once enjoyed a fabulous one-hour tour of the Prado in Madrid. In sixty minutes, my art-historian guide took us to all of the Goya and Velasquez paintings and quite expertly helped us understand their art. I forget how much it cost, but it was totally worth it.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 07:08 AM
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Interesting viewpoint, the problem is that most people who want a personal guide have little knowledge of art, that's why they are hiring one, so they have no idea which pieces they would be most interested in. They may not even know what type or period of art the museum/gallery has.

I certainly would not say that Napoleon's apartments in the Louvre are "little known", for example.
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