We will be in Paris for 5 days starting 10/22. We will be visiting a few of the larger museums/monuments and are considering the museum pass. I don't know if the cost is worth it since we'll only visit a few - but it might be worth it to bypass any long lines. Are the lines typically long in late October?

no

We were there last week and encountered no lines (aside from getting through security to enter Sainte Chapelle), but were still glad to get the Museum Pass. It worked out to our financial benefit, though that is kind of close as the entry fees at most museums are not especially expensive. It was definitely convenient and proved especially handy when we needed restrooms and were able to slip into the Cluny to use theirs!

On Sundays many museums have reduced prices, including the Louvre so marshall your expensive museums on that day, and in late Oct there should not be suffocating crowds on Sun.

City of Paris museums are always free i think. National museums participate in the museum card.

your time of stay seems to be fixed, but in case it is not, a few days later, first Sunday of the month, all museums in Paris are free.

-e

Some of the museums do have free entry on the first Sunday of the month, but I don't know what Bob is referring to as many museums having reduced entry on all Sundays (including the Louvre). The Louvre has reduced entry for evenings on the days it is open late -- I think that starts at 6 pm. I've never heard of the Louvre having reduced entry on Sundays, in general, and I've been there several times and in Paris on Sundays, and their website doesn't mention it, either. I have noticed a couple museums that had free entry on Sundays before a certain time, but they were minor museums and I can't remember who they were.

Perhaps Bob can explain what he means about reduced fees on Sundays, and give an example.

At one time what i said was true - i certainly believed it to be true now but i certainly defer to Christina's superior knowledge of such matters Parisian.

If you visit the Louvre during discounted hours and not many other museums you may find the benefit of a museum pass to be reduced.

We were in Paris last weekend and did purchase a Paris Museum Pass for two days at a cost of 30 Euros per pass.

We obtained our passes at Musee d'Orsay. We were astounded that there was only a short line for entry. We were there shortly after the museum opened on Sunday morning. There was a reduced admission fee of 5.5 Euros (I think) instead of the usual 7.5 since it was on a Sunday.

We visit Paris at least twice each year and have been to most of the major museums. The museum pass is perfect for us because we like to pop in to a lot of museums, spend an hour or two concentrating on our favorite items, and then go. We also prefer paying just once rather than paying individual admissions. Even though we did not encounter a line at Musee d'Orsay, we did experience long lines at Musee Rodin, Musee Orangerie (we went on Sunday and on Monday), and the Fashion Museum near the Louvre. The lines for Orangerie were at least forty-five minutes long; we were admitted immediately.

On this trip we definiyely got our 30 Euros worth. We visited Musee d'Orsay, Musee Rodin, Invalides, Musee Orangerie, Fashion Museum, Saint Chapelle, Conciergerie, Musee Cluny (Lady and Unicorn Tapestries), Pantheon (special exhibit on Pierre and Marie Curie), Musee d'Louvre, Musee Orangerie, and the Arc d'Triomphe.

The cost for a 4 day Paris Museum Card is 45 Euros and the cost for a 6 day is 60 Euros.

<There was a reduced admission fee of 5.5 Euros (I think) instead of the usual 7.5 since it was on a Sunday>

I guess i rescind my retraction as they indeed appears to be a reduced fee at the Louvre, and i suspect other museums on Sunday as per above post.

I wished we hadn't bought a museum pass. We got it for just 2 days and I suppose from a strictly financial standpoint it was worth it, but I would have preferred to spread our museum visits out a bit more. By day #2, I was 'museumed out'.

We didn't find long lines anywhere really, other than Ste. Chapelle.

The only place, usually, with really long lines is Musee d'Orsay. You can purchase tickets in advance at FNAC.

The lines at Saint Chapelle are for security, not tickets.

You can also purchase advance tickets at FNAC for Musee de l'Orangerie, though in September the line was not very long and moved quickly.

It depends upon how many places you plan to visit, and their admission prices, as to whether a pass would be "worth it" for you.

There were literally no lines at the Musee D'Orsay when we were there. We went on Thursday evening. We kept thinking we'd have to deal with lines and that our passes would come in handy, but really it wasn't an issue. The only time we had to line up was to get into the Decorative Arts museum - in that case, we had to line up to get into the museum and then line up to get a free ticket once we got inside. That was a little odd.

For the Decorative Arts Museum, we just walked to the front of the line and showed our pass. We were admitted immediately, escorted to the ticket desk to receive our "free" ticket, and allowed in the museum. The line was over a block long for entry.

Wow, we showed our passes and were directed to the back of the line!

does the time period start the time you buy the pass or from when you first use it at a museum?

The museum pass starts from when you first use it.

<There was a reduced admission fee of 5.5 Euros (I think) instead of the usual 7.5 since it was on a Sunday>

<<I guess i rescind my retraction as they indeed appears to be a reduced fee at the Louvre, and i suspect other museums on Sunday as per above post.>>

Bob, the reduced fee in the post you quoted was for the Orsay, not the Louvre. Why do you suspect that because one museum has a reduced fee on Sunday, other ones do, also? YOu can view the Louvre website yourself, I've never seen a reduced Sunday fee there and there isn't one listed now. The Orsay is one of the most expensive museums in Paris, maybe that's why they do, but I really don't know of any other one that does have a reduced fee on Sunday and I guess you can't name any.

I am travelling with a group of mature ladies in June, when I expect that there will be long lines and big crowds. We will be there for 12 days, which allows us to go to museum when there are "discounted" days. We are averse to spending time in lines, and expect that the gals will want to spend a good deal of time at least at the Louvre and the d'Orsay. Would you think that the museum pass would be worth the money?

The Pass is issued for 2, 4, or 6 consecutive days. So you need to figure out if you would go to enough sites in 2, 4 or 6 days to make the various prices worthwhile. Look over the (long) list of covered museums/monuments and make the decision. But don't buy them ahead of time - wait until you are in Paris.

If it is mainly the lines at the Musee d'Orsay that bother you - you can walk up and buy an advance ticket any time. And then at the day/time you walk right in w/ the pass-holders.

So don't buy the museum pass just because the queue at the Orsay is soooooo long.