How long would it take to visit the Louvre Museum?

Question

I am only going to be in Paris for a day.

Well starting at noon.

I'd like to see as much of Paris as possible in a day, and i was wondering if the louvre takes a long time to see or not.

Anyone have a sample itinerary of things i could do in paris in one day?

Answer 1

it takes about 5 weeks to visit it all !! if you're going only for a couple of hours I suggest that you plan beforehand what you want to see and try visiting only one wing as you're more likely to get lost if you don't E.g. Visit the Mona Lisa and all the Italian paintings (that's my favourite part of the Louvre, its a beautiful corridor with Giottos, Raphael, Da Vinci, Fra Angelico and so on) then you can stroll through the Egyptians before leaving the Museum.

Don't  hire Audioguides you don't have time for that.

If you have time go to the orangerie in the Tuilleries where you can find Monet's Nympheas and other impressionists eg Gaugin, Manet, Renoir etc ...

I also suggest to take Metro Line 1 and visit the places associated with that line eg Start with La Defance, then go down to Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe, La Concorde and walk through the the Touilleries to the Louvre, then Hotel de Ville (my favourite spot in Paris - beautiful view of the Siene and Notre Dame). From the Hotel de Ville walk to the Notre Dame and St Chapelle and to the Jardin du Luxembourg if you have time. Then take RER B back to the airport if that's where you're going.

Answer 2

the louvre is too much to take in for a day trip.  Try the musee d'orsay instead.  you get to see the impressionists, more things that you will recognize, and that are way better in person.

Go to a bakery and buy some pastries, get a jambon-fromage baguette for lunch (ham and cheese) I still crave them.

Answer 3

Approx 3 days

If you have only 1 day you need to go jogging, or just normal speed but only for selected art areas

Answer 4

You would need at least one full day for the Louvre.  And even then - all you'd have done was at least look at all the pieces of art on display - you couldn't possibly have really looked at each item in detail.  Anyway - there are so many works on display - you probably would not have the patience to analyze each one in detail unless you are some kind of authority on Art History.  

Unless their is one work of art that you really want to see (like the Mona Lisa) I would tend to agree with Rilifane and advise you to skip museums all together if you have just one day.  If a museum has a particular work of art you really want to see you elect to just see that particular work of art and skip the rest of the museum for later or just stay in the museum for the whole day and do Paris another time.

I think you'd be better off taking a guided bus tour of the city.  If there is any time left after that, spend it in one or two neighborhoods you liked.  You could pick Ile de la cite, mont martre, around centre georges pompidou, the arc de triomphe, the tuileries or some other area that struck your fancy.  

Know in advance that you could never possibley see Paris in just one day.  Get a taste of it so that when you return you will have an idea as to what you want to concentrate on.  

Have fun!

Answer 5

Well Louvre is a big thing! I heard somewhere that if you stayed at EVERY exhibition for 30 seconds it would take liske 2 whole days to see the entire thing, it's huge!

Louvre is a great place, but if you only have a day then i suggest something a s little...smaller.....things like "Le Tour Eiffel" and "L'Arc de Triomphe"  are must sees!

One day really isn't long enough!

I suggest see some landmarks, have a nice french meal at a cafe, walk around and absorb the scenery (maybe along the Seine) maybe buy a souvenir, see some more landmarks, and have another nice meal. Not relaly long enough to do anything too big!

Louvre is great, but on such a strict schedule you'll be in and out in a flash, definately not long enough to fully apreciate it!

Bon Voyage, goodluck!

Answer 6

All the answers above are so right - the Louvre is too immense.   And if you won't be starting til noon, long lines will have already formed at all the hot spots.   So let's see . . . if I had only one day in Paris starting at noon, here's what I would do:

First:   Take a one hour tour boat ride down the Seine.   There are three or four boat cruises you can take - your hotel should be able to give you the details, directions.  You can get tickets right at the boat dock.  They run every hour, so wait time is usually not long.

Second:  Eiffel Tower - For me, this is a must every time I go to Paris.   There will be a line, but once you get up to the observation deck, you have a 360 deg. view of Paris that is simply beautiful!

Third:   By this time it will be close to dinner time probably, so  when you leave the Eiffel Tower,  just walk along the Seine towards Notre Dame - get a feel of the city, the smells, the sounds.    Make your way to St. Michel district ( near Notre Dame), weave around some of the little streets and find a cozy cafe or patisserie and enjoy a long, leisurely meal (preferably at an outside cafe where you can people-watch).

That is the itinerary I would follow myself with the short amount of time you will have.   But beware!!!  You will know immediately that you will HAVE to return to Paris.   It really gets into your blood.  You really need at least three or four days to do Paris well.

I hope this helps you.

Have a wonderful time.   I wish I were going back too!

Answer 7

Holly actually vastly underestimates the time required to see the entire Louvre.

There are 35,000 works of art on display in the Louvre. To devote 30 seconds to each and ignoring the time taken walking from one work to the next, it would take about thirteen  24 hour days to see each piece.

If you are going to be there for only a day its probably best to simply skip the museums.

EDIT: Itinerary: Start at Notre Dame walk on the north side of the Ile de la Cite past the Conciergerie to the Parc de Vert Galant. Take the Vedettes de Pont Neuf for a boat ride on the Seine. Cross the Pont Neuf to the right Bank. Walk to and thru the Louvre, past the Arc du Carousel into the Tuileries Gardens to the Place de La Concorde. Take the Metro to the Place Charles de Gaulle and see the Arc de Triomphe. Metro to Trocadero (great view of the Eiffel tower). Walk down to the river and cross to tower. From tower walk thru Champs de Mars and then to Invalides. Go to the Invalides RER station and thence to the St. Michel stop. Walk up the Blvd. St. Michel past the Cluny Museum to the rue Soufflot. Check out the Jardin du Luxembourg/Medici Palace and then backtrack and walk to the Pantheon on the rue Soufflot.

Walk around the Pantheon to the rue Descarte. Have dinner at La Methode. Then walk towards the river on the Blvd. St. Genevieve to the Blvd St. Germain turn left to the rue St. Jacques then right and find Aux Trois Mailletz at 56 rue Galand and have a glass of wine and listen to some tunes.

Answer 8

One day is not enought. Its too huge and not very practical on the way its been set up. You enter one room which leads to another, then another, and so on; and thats only one section of the place.

Some of my favorite places and are all in the same area were the Louvre, the Musuee D'Orsay, Arc du Triompe, Jurden Tuillieries, and L'Orangerie.

Really the Louvre and D'Orsay you can spend days in both places. My suggestion is study before hand what you specifically want to see in those museums, memorize there floorplan, and go directly to those places. If you do, you can spend maybe couple of hour in each. Arc du Triompe, you have to go not only is it beautiful but if you climb to the top, you can get an amazing snapshot of the city with the Eiffle Tower in it. The Tuillieries is a huge park that leads to the Louvre, you will really like it, just for the atmosphere and to see how people really live there, plus grab some ice cream on the way(part of the french experience). My favorite museum is the L'Orangerie, it has Monet's Waterlillies but if your not that big on art, specially with your time so short, you can skip it.

Now I do suggest doing the Seine Cruise, its about a one hour and half ride but you get a tour around city from the boat and with your time so short it might be the best way to see as much of paris.

I suggest you go to the following site, it has tips and lots of information on all the attractions in Paris:

www.frommers.com

Answer 9

One day is really not enough to see and appreciate the Louvre.  One day is not enough to see Paris...you will no doubt want to see the Eiffel Tower, Napoleons Tomb.  the Arch DE Triumph and the Louvre there are so many things to see, I don't know how you will get it all done in a day...impossible...good luck You could maybe do the Effel Tower and Napoleons Tomb in one day

Answer 10

i just got back from france with my french class about three months ago. we went to the louvre on our second day--it takes an extremely long time. one litterally cannot see the entire building in one day. it's huge--not only does it fill the entire building you will see (floors and floors), but it also goes underground--the terrace around the pyramids is the ceiling of the ground floor! the pyramids, we covered the greek and italian sections in about an hour, but we flew through. not the best way...i would suggest that you take a walk through the Tuilleries gardens, right in front of the pyramids and the opening to the building, if it's been reopened yet. it was closed when we were there.

if you can, get to the Galleries Lafayette. this is an enormous, high-end mall with tons of designer stores. chanel, cartier, burberry, YSL, and tons more that I can't remember. on the same street as the Galleries is another store called Printemps. It has a giant glass dome on the top which gives a great view of paris. just walk up 8674937591095765 stairs and you're there.

another good (and much more managable) museum is the Musee D'Orsay. It's right across the river from the Louvre and has many beautiful and famous paintings and sculptures as well.

Honestly, don't think about going up the eiffel tower. you have to buy tickets and wait in line for an incredibly long time.

have a great time--i can't believe you're only going for one day.