warning on Museum Passes in Paris
 

My first trip was great. Except for the farce looking for Museum Passes..... that was a disaster.
Other savvy travelers may want to weigh in on this, but this was our only bad experience.

First, you NEED a Museum Pass. The lines are "tres" long. Sometimes you wait, outside, in the rain..... Then you wait inside to BUY a ticket!.... Then you wait to check your backpack.... get the picture.

Second, whatever you read in the brochure or are told is WRONG. No you cannot buy the passes in this Metro stop or this participating Museum, like the Louvre...

The ONLY place to buy a pass is at the Musee Dorsay. So do yourself a favor, just start your journey there, get the pass, and then enjoy all the museums without waiting.

Second tip...NO backpack. Travel light.

Buy you passes before you go. I got them last time with my cheap Eurostar tickets at Raileurope.

<<The ONLY place to buy a pass is at the Musee Dorsay>>

When did this happen? The main advantage of the pass was to skip the line at Musee Dorsay, so what's the point now?

If you have a look at this site , there are lots of places u can by the "Paris Museum Pass"

http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/pass_points.php

buy not by

MademoiselleFifi: &quot;<i>When did this happen? The main advantage of the pass was to skip the line at Musee Dorsay, so what's the point now?</i>&quot;

One doesn't have to stand in the museum queue to buy the pass - it is at the advance purchase window.

mkrrpc: Where else did you try to buy the Pass? It is not true that it is only available at the Musee d'Orsay. You can buy it at almost every covered museum, at CDG and at the FNAC stores. They have not been sold in Metro stations for quite a while now.

You do not NEED a museum pass to avoid lines. You need knowledge and planning, something I have used for all my previous visits sans pass to Paris.
The only time I got stuck in at an insane line was on a &quot; free Sunday&quot; at the Louvre,, never again,,
You can also buy the pass at most participating musuems, since there is almost NEVER a line( I have never encountered more then a 10 minute wait there, even in July or August) I suggest the Cluny .

mkmpc did you actually try to buy the pass at all these other places and get rejected, or was this something someone told you.If what you say is true it is a brand new rule that none of us have heard of yet.

I too don't understand the comment that you can't buy the Museum Pass at the various museums. This is the only way I have ever bought them. I avoid the really popular museums for my first visit and basically have never had to wait before buying the Pass. Pass is already then in hand by the time you get to the popular ones. Even if you really only want to see the &quot;big&quot; ones, some of the smaller museums have a lot to offer. It is well worth popping into some of them, not to mention that you feel that you are getting real value for money for your Pass. If you are not particularly enjoying the Musuem you just move on to something else.

And don't buy it before online. You pay much more for it.

This person is obviously mistaken!! The Official Museum Pass site lists ALL the places where you can purchase them. It has NOT changed.

I am leaving for Paris in a couple weeks. I just sent an e-mail to the nearest location (a couple blocks) where I will purchase mine. I received a reply...of course, I can purchase them from them!!

We bought our last museum passes at the Louvre, on the lower level where the gift shop and bookstore are located. We went into an office that sold these passes, and we did not wait in a line.
Previously, we have bought passes at musee Rodin, and never encountered a line there, either.

Look at the list of museums on the Official website, pick the one closest to you, go there to puchase the pass. That is what we all do........

Bought mine the last two trips at the tourist office in the mall below the Louvre.

My mother and I made the mistake of going to the Musee d'Orsay our first time in Paris to purchase museum passes and saw the long line. Not wanting to wait, we headed to the Arc d'Triomphe where we purchased our pass. No line, no wait! mkrrpc is correct about the line at d'orsay but unfortunately mistaken about the accesibility to buy passes. For a complete list, click here:

http://tinyurl.com/3dequ9

We purchased our pass at the tourist office in the shopping centre in the Louvre just before Xmas 2007. No lines at all. The pass was a LIFESAVER - we sailed past everyone lining up for tickets at all the major museums and at Versailles.

Question for the experts: It says that most museums are free for under 18. How will I know which ones have this policy?
We will be two adults and two teens.
Thanks

girlonthego...
1. http://en.parisinfo.com/
- - each museum's website is given;
if the age info isn't there, then

2. go to the museum's website for entrance information

4 years ago, we bought our Museum Pass at the Paris Sewers Tour entrance (between Eiffel Tower and D'Orsay, along the Seine). We didn't even go on the Sewers Tour, there just happened to be no one in line, we were there, and we needed museum passes. Then we breezed through to get into the D'Orsay.

We bought our as Le Chapelle with no lines at all. Easy.

Thanks Travelnut. I will check out the main ones I want to hit. So, if my DH and I get passes, and my teens are free, we just use the passes and bypass the lines everywhere?
That sounds like a plan.

If we are truly not familiar with Paris, and we don't speak French, would it be easier to buy the passes online ahead of time? I know that this is more costly, but how much more? Is it really that significantly more costly?
I am trying to think of some ways to make it easier for us on our trip. Paris is the only city on our trip that I am uneasy about navigating.