My daughter and I may be in Paris on Sunday, April 1st. Is it worth taking advantage of the free admission that day? Or are the lines and crowds likely to be terrible? Would it be less crowded if we went first thing in the morning? Does anyone have any idea how long it would be likely to take us just to get in?

Thanks.

i would suggest not entering at the pyramid but from rue de rivoli entrance. ( this is true most other times also)
security will go quickly, hopefully.

if the line seems too long you can always leave!

I think you should go for it on that Sunday. The entrance to the Louvre via the metro will certainly be less crowded than entering through the Pyramid. And yes, get there first thing in the morning, especially if you’re headed to the blockbuster paintings. You might also consider other worthwhile wings of the Louvre, which will definitely be less crowded. I spent a very pleasant afternoon looking at the African art after dealing with the crowds earlier. The Louvre cafeteria is also
excellent, so you can really spend a delightful day there.

Thank you very much, lincasanova and wanderful!

We were concerned about the lines, too, when our family of four visited the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay on a free Sunday in June 2005. We took the metro, arrived mid-morning, and really had a rather short line entering the Louvre down by the metro. The museum didn't seem over-crowded, either.

The d'Orsay line after lunch was longer, about 30 minutes' wait. Again, the museum didn't seem too crowded once we were inside. Crowds, yes, but no more than I'd expect on a regular day.

>-

It looks as if its hard to call this one.

Our experience was different than those above. On June 1st 2 years ago we took advantage of the free Sunday. We arrived around 10, the lines were long but moved very fast and we were inside in 30 minutes but it was so crowded inside that we were shuffling along with the masses and it took away from the pleasure of this spectacular place.

Last year we went back and paid arriving around 2:00p.m. and I couldn't believe the difference. It seemed as if there were a third of the people we had encountered on the previous visit. Much more pleasurable.

However if thats your only choice, don't miss it.

Thanks, Maureen and ehughes. Sounds like the two of you had almost opposite experiences!

Actually, the plan is to arrive the previous Thursday and probably leave sometime that Sunday. (This is a long weekend trip while I'm visiting my daughter who'll be interning in Ireland.) So we <b>could</b> go one of the other days.

I'm still in the early research stages. Trying to figure out the best use of our somewhat limited time (and money!). Basically, if we can get a good &quot;over view&quot; of the city and soak up lots of atmosphere without having spent a lot of time in lines or a lot of money, I'll be very, very happy.

What I'd been thinking was that maybe we'd try to get flights back to Dublin late in the day on Sunday and use that day just for the Louvre. Thereby leaving the other days open for other things.