PARIS Museum Pass will save hours standing in line and money.
 

http://www.parismuseumpass.fr/flash/hp_en.html

The price we paid for our 2 day pass was alone worth it if we had visited only Versaille. We were there this past Sunday. The one line for general admission was LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG! We walked to a separate entrance that said it was for GROUP admissions but then when you look at the bottom of the sign, you will see that the museum pass is good for admission through that line. We felt we saved ourselves at least an hour, perhaps longer, trying to get in with the rest of the crowd. As it was, we walked IMMEDIATELY into Versaille.

This is exactly the reason I purchase the pass! If the cost doesn't even out moneywise, the time that I don't have to spend waiting in line is worth the expense to me. I find it most helpful at Versailles, Louvre, Orsay and Ste. Chapelle when there are lines.

Everyone needs to do the math for their own trip. The killer is that the pass has to be used for consecutive days. Traveling with three kids, we liked to space out the museums, instead of hitting them all at once.

We did buy a pass, though not for our whole stay. We bought ours at the little archeological museum right outside of Notre Dame...no line at all.

A very good deal for a Versailles trip is the <i>Forfait Loisirs</i> (leisure package) sold at train stations.

For &euro;21,10 you get round-trip transport from any M&eacute;tro station, admission to all the venues, and audioguides.

It also allows you entrance via the GROUP door.

Can you buy the Forfait Loisir ticket at RER stations, Robespierre, do you know?

I don't know. The STiF brochure says &quot;Sold in SNCF stations in Paris and zones 2, 3, and 4.&quot;

http://tinyurl.com/fg8jx

A few years ago we bought ours at the RER station.

I bought one at the Invalides RER station in Paris, but that is on RER line C which is managed by SNCF.

Do the very small museums let you use Visa to buy your Museum Pass?

You can use Visa to buy almost anything in Paris.

The Museum Pass is useful only if you are doing a lot of museums. Apart from the restrictions already mentioned, keep in mind that city museums are generally free, and many museums are free for people under 18. And the lines are not always long; getting into the Louvre typically takes only 2-5 minutes. The lines at Versailles can be long at times, but I question whether some of those tours are even worth the bother, unless you are really into Versailles.

We bought a museum pass for our first two days in Paris. We decided to get the museums, or the bulk of them, out of the way the first two days. It worked out very well since these days fell on the weekend. On the second day, Saturday, when we got to the D'Orsy in the afternoon, the line was miles long. I walked around it to find an entrance with no one there, and that one was for the museum passes. That alone made the pass worth it...our plan worked out well for us.

For locals, the passes may not be worthwhile, but, I looked at it as, &quot;How many thousands of dollars am I paying to get here, sleep here, eat here, and also lose in income as a self-employed person? What does that translate to in dollars per waking hour?&quot; At the calculated rated, that answered the question. It was a no-brainer. At 5 times the price, just to save a couple hours at the Louvre, it would have been worth it.

When I was in Paris this past May, I mentioned the museum pass to some French friends. They had never heard of it (since it's basically a tourist thing), and all were interested in it for exactly the reason of not having to wait in line. One suggested she'd buy the two-day pass and take a &quot;museum weekend&quot;, especially for the temporary shows.

We saw the Ingr&egrave;s show on one of the last days. As we were leaving, the line to get in snaked along the Pyramid - it was pretty much all French locals taking advantage of the late hours to go after work. And at Orsay, we not only bypassed the long line at the entrance (as another poster mentioned), but were able to go to a special window inside to purchase a timed ticket to the C&eacute;zanne/Pissaro show. With all the time and aggravation saved, we were very happy with our passes.

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Question: My sister will be in Paris with her 15 year old daughter. My sis intends to buy herself a museum pass but will her daughter need one? She could get youth fares to the museum but does that mean she will have to stand in line or will she be able to jump to the front with my sis and her musuem pass?

I was in Paris last September and we didn't purchase a pass. I was there with my sister (50),my Mum (80) and I am mid 50's.

We were standing in line at the D'Orsy (long line) and a gentleman from the museum tapped my Mum on the shoulder and told us to follow him. In front of us was a family with 3 children under 10 and he did the same to them.

We were all ushered into the museum to an empty ticket booth, bought our tickets and off we went. Apparently the over 70's (and their party) and families with small children can bump the queue.

This is not helpful for everyone but worth knowing if you have people in this age group in your party.

We also went to the Louvre and the Roden museum but there were no queues at either of these so I don't know if it works there also.

I'm another believer in the museum pass not as a money saver but as a time saver. With only a week in Paris I didn't want to spend even one minute in line if it wasn't necessary. Like others I found the pass a timesaver at the D'Orsay and the Louvre.

The Museum Pass website gives the following prices:
2 days - 30&euro;, 4 days - 45&euro;, 6 days - 60&euro;

Steve Ricks 2006 Paris book gives these prices:
1 day - 18&euro;, 3 days - 36&euro;, 5 days - 54&euro;

Can you select any of the above when you purchase the pass?

Rick Steves is out of date. The Museum Pass website is correct as the days and costs changed a couple of months ago. I am not sure if the Pass includes the new Quai Branly museum, but it should.