Hello,

We (family of 4) will be in Paris this July 23-30. I have looked at booking the Louvre and d'Orsay museums and there seem to be plenty of availability right now. It's been a long time (20 years) since I've been in Europe and back then we just showed up and bought tickets on the days and times we felt like visiting. Planning exact days and times for when we need to be somewhere is kind of new. Would you recommend buying our tickets ahead of time or do you think with a week we'll be able to visit each on our own schedule?

Thank you for the help,
Robert

We just got back from a week in Paris. I would highly recommend making reservations for everything you want to visit (and everywhere you want to eat!) The lines to purchase tickets were long at all of the sights. We breezed past them at places like the Museé d'Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle, the Arc de Triomphe, etc.

Times have changed. Reservations are recommended even if it appears that they were not necessary once you get to your venue. At any rate, for the most popular (Louvre, Orsay, Sainte Chapelle), reservations are a must.

We were there in May, which is not quite the high season, and we discovered the hard way that the days are over when you can just show up, buy a ticket and just walk in. You will be there in the high season so Paris will be even more crowded. I think it's imperative to book in advance.

I also recommend pre-booking non-museum activities such as the Eiffel Tower in advance, especially if you want to go to the summit.

Vacation time is precious, don't waste it standing in long lines when you don't have to.

One more thought: With 30,000 visitors a day, the Louvre can be exhausting as you navigate through the crowds. If you're mainly interested in famous highlights, I recommend going with a guide. I used Paris Walks in May, and even with our guide's expert direction it took a full two hours to cover major works. We thought we'd spend some time after the tour revisiting specific areas of interest, but we were too tired to continue!

Most tourists only go to a few sites and those are the ones difficult to get in. Like Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Orsay, Ste Chapelle, Arc, Orangerie, maybe Arc and for some reason the Catacombs got really popular with tourists (I remember a couple decades ago when few tourists went there, I don't know what happened). Except for the ET, you should book tickets but you don't need to do it far in advance at all. Right now you can buy tickets to to Orsay for example, for tomorrow. At least for afternoon slots, it's the morning slots that get filled up first. It looks like the Louvre is filled up more in advance, like a week, and the Orangerie. I'm kind of surprised by that re the Orsay.

I think you can find the answer on the websites, don't check for end of July, but for the soonest date to get an idea of how far you need to plan. It sounds like you want the top in demand sites. You could easily go to other museums without doing that. LIke the Branly. the Jacquemart-Andre, the Arts Decoratifs, Arts et Metiers, Petit Palais, etc etc.

BUt for some of those, even if you can get a ticket the day ahead, it won't be on your own schedule, most likely, but in afternoon.

I can't help re the museums [on my recent visit I only went to one, the Maison de Victor Hugo in the Place des Vosges, which is highly unlikely to be full, given it's free, but is well worth visiting if you are in the area if only for the charming cafe in the garden.

Regarding restaurants however, I fully endorse what Northfork says - unless you want to wander round for ages finding somewhere to eat, do reserve, if it's only the day before. We did that with La Place Royal in the Places des Vosges after we spotted it as we were walking through and there was no problem getting a table. But while we were eating there the next day, people were being turned away and that was a Monday night!

Thank you for the replies. Times have certainly changed. As this is our daughters' first time, we don't want to miss anything. I'll book ahead.

I still don't reserve restaurants but I rarely have a specific place to go in mind. I am more interested in the people i am with, the atmosphere of the neighborhood, the weather.... Food is not at the bottom of my list, but it is not my priority.

I agree kerouac. I guess if there's some restaurant we REALLY want to visit we'll make a reservation. As this is a 24 day trip in total, we plan on eating in the majority of the time.