last minute help paris museums
 

going to paris may 9 thru may 15--
want to go to the louvre, rodin, jeu de paume, cluny and perhaps some others... should I get museum tix before going? and do you know how to do that? thanks!

You're going to hear from people who are much more experienced Paris travelers than I. But, having been there this past March, my advice would be to get the Museum and Monument Pass at the first museum you visit. We got the 2 day one and thought it was well worth it. As has been discussed many times here, it allows you to avoid the lines.

You can get a musuem pass at the musueums or the larger metro stations. It not only gets you in but it gets you in AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE!! I remember walking past a several block-long line waiting in the rain to get into the Orsay so I could just sail in with my pass. Don't miss the Orsay, it was is a highlight. Enjoy your trip.

Obviously I need a spell checker on the word museum.

The Museum pass does work.

If there are some temporary exhibitions that you want to see - remember the Museum pass does not cover these and to avoid those queues, it is well worth booking in advance.

can you get the museum pass in the states before you go? online maybe? And if so, do you have to pick the day you'll use it when you buy it? (see some pass info on the web but having a hard time figuring it out!)

thanks everyone!

You can buy them online from some for-profit companies, and if you don't mind paying more for it (a little to a lot) than if you bought it in Paris, go ahead. YOu don't have to pick the date you want to start using it ahead of time, that's why for-profit companies can buy them and stockpile them for sale -- they aren't date-encoded and they can keep the inventory around a while.

I have only bought one once several years ago, so am not up on the latest, but I believe you can no longer buy them in the metro stations in Paris, only at a museum/monument on their list or at an official tourist office outlet.

May if you are leaving May 9th, how would you expect to buy it from a company online and receive it in time in the mail, anyway?

That's what I was wondering too, Christina!

It becomes active the first time you use it, not when you buy it. However, if you're buying it at the first museum you visit, it would, of course, become active when you used it to enter that museum.

Personally, I can't see why there would be any advantage to buying it ahead of time. It's quite simple to do it at your first museum. And, even if you had time to buy it ahead, it'd just be one more thing to have to remember to pack!

The museum pass is no longer available at metro stations. It can be purchased at CDG airport at the tourist information area, terminal 2F. Otherwise purchase it at one of the major museums or monuments. According to their web site, not all small museums offer the passes for sale. http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/pass_points.php

What Jeff said--no more at the Metro, which is really too bad. They are for 2,4,and 6 days, and do NOT buy before going (even if it was possible in this case). It is really only the Orsay and the Orangerie that it is particularly advantageous for the lines. So 2 days and see these two (and anything else you can fit in), and then just play it by ear.

I always recommend purchasing it at a mid-sized museum like the Cluny or Guimet. The big museums will have lines and the smaller museums may be out of stock (ex, I tried to buy one at the Nissim de Camondo museum, they were out and said they only carried a few at any one time).
The thing I like about the pass, in addition to the benefits noted above, is that you can pop into museum you'd otherwise skip for a quick visit. There were museums that really weren't on my hit parade, but with a pass in hand, if I were walking by, I would drop in for 2o minutes just to gloss over the highlights and see if I felt like coming back for a more leisurely view.

Just get a museum pass when you get to Paris. It is worth it.

As for the Orangerie I was there the last week of April and went on a Friday afternoon and there was no line. Not all that impressed with the Water Lilies but the rest of the art was worth seeing.

Enjoy your trip.
Francesca

Just goes to show how tastes differ. I went to the Orangerie a couple of weeks ago and found the waterlillies breathtaking. The rest (and a respectable rest it is) was just the icing on the cake. It was a hot day, the museum was cool, we went downstairs first and admired the paintings there, then finished with the waterlillies. Don't miss this if you like Monet, and certainly use a museum pass!