Paris Museum Pass for $25 --- Is this worth it?

Hello guys,

I found this information from RailEurope.com and I was wondering it this is worth the purchase. My husbnad and I will be visiting Paris from Sept 16-18, and we sure would like to visit the Louvre museum, Notre Dame and other attractions that we can possibly squeeze into.

Thanks for your help!

PARIS MUSEUM PASS INFO

INTRO: What would Paris be without the Mona Lisa, the Impressionists or the modern Centre Pompidou? With the Paris Museum Pass you%26#39;ll have access to 70 museums and monuments in Paris and the surrounding region. Multiple visits to the same museums are possible and there is no waiting in line.

BENEFITS:

- Entry into 70 Paris museums and monuments inside and outside Paris, including Arc de Triomphe, Pantheon, The Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee d%26#39;Orsay, Musee National du Chateau de Versailles, Musee National Picasso, Pompidou Center, Musee Roding, Chateau de Rambouillet, Basilique Saint-Denis (see complete list)

- Multiple visits to the same museums or monuments at no extra charge

Validities: 1, 3 or 5 consecutive days

No admission charge, no waiting in line

CONDITIONS:

- Must be bought in conjunction with another Rail Europe product

- Does not give admission to temporary exhibitions or guided visits

PRICE IS $25 EACH ADULT.

Thanks for your help!!!

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I would wait until you get to Paris to get a museum pass. The only museum that I%26#39;ve seen where it would be nice to have is the Orsay which always has horrible lines. The Louvre can have some lines especially at security, but they move quickly and tickets can be bought, for 8.50 a person, down in the lobby where there are machines to buy from or many clerks selling the tickets at kiosks. If you enter the Louvre through the door on Rue du Rivolie where it says Carrousel and go down one flight there are 3 ticket machines right there and usually no people. However, they sometimes, for what ever reason won%26#39;t take American credit cards, so you just go to the lobby and use a ticket person. No tickets are needed for Notre Dame. I would say that unless you want to see many museums in a short time, that a pass isn%26#39;t necessary. It just depends on your interests.

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The value depends how many days the $25 pass is for??? If only one day then its no discount.

Here%26#39;s the link directly to the ratp site and the page with the Museum and Monument Pass prices. You can convert them to your currency and make a direct comparison.

ratp.info/informer/…musees_monuments.php

There is oodles written on this forum about the pass. Some love it for the ability to skip lines even if they are paying more in the end for entry (you need to do 2 or 3 eligible museums/monuments in the one day to make a cost saving).

I did not use it because:

on a ten day trip we didn%26#39;t want to squash all our museum visits into 5 days;

we often spent most of the day at one place thus not getting the value; and

we used other queue beating tricks like getting there early and knowing the right entrances.

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Yes you have to check if it is 25 dollars for one day or 3 or 5. If it is for one day then don%26#39;t buy it. A one-day museum pass is not worth it (except for jumping the queues) as you would need to visit at least three museums in one day to make it worth...Too much. You mention Notre Dame but the entrance to the cathedral is free for anyone, it is the entrance to the towers which is included in the pass. Add up the price of the things you want to visit before you decide.

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We bought the pass and found it was not a good deal for us. We spent 5 days in Paris after 3 days in Rome. We were so exhausted from all the walking we did in hot Rome, we decided to take it easy in Paris. We had no problem with lines in late July. If you have the energy and ambition to cram as much as possible in those days you are there, I think it would be a good deal. As for the Louvre, I thought the collections would be a little more varied. It is mostly Renaissance art which I am not a big fan of. Pompidou is an average modern art museum. We were not able to make to Musee d%26#39;Orsay. It has the impressionists along with renaissance art.

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Thank you for your responses, everyone- It was $25 per adult for ONLY ONE DAY and therefore we will not buy them by listening to your inputs-

Thanks so much for your help~

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What a shame. I thought that for once there really was a good deal on M%26amp;M Passes given you bought the train tickets with it!!

But the general rule of thumb is never to buy them until you get to Paris due to the mark-ups added by overseas suppliers and their ready availability once in Paris.

Looks like the rule hasn%26#39;t changed.

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Lightofegypt, the musée d%26#39;Orsay has no Renaissance collections. You have the impressionnists but also all the French artists from 1848 to 1914 that means some Rodin, Gauguin etc...;)

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Math should not be so difficult. Many guidebooks list the admission fee of museums. All you have to do to determine if the museum pass is worth the cost is add up the cost of admission to the mueums you want to visit and compare the individual cost to the price of the pass.

You may get the benefit of skipping lines with the pass, but I found on my trip last November (not a busy time) that the longest lines, especially at the D%26#39;orsay were for security and the museum pass will not get you past the security line.

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Just came back. The three day pass is worth it. The lines were long at the Louvre, Orsay, Arc and Sainte Chappelle, so it was worth it to jump the line. You were not allowed to jump the line waiting for the Notre Dame bell tower.

It is absolutely not worth it to buy from raileurope.com. I did research before we left and it is cheapest to buy it there. Buy from a major metro station early and then you are ready for the day.