timetogoitaly

Hi everyone,

We're planning a week long trip to Paris the first week of April - and I'd love your advice on some of the planning. There will be 5 of us - ranging in age from 13 to 75. It's the first trip to Paris for the teens so we're planning to hit some of the highlights - while also giving ourselves downtime to just wander.

There are a few museums that we're planning to hit including Musee d'Orsay, Musée de l'Orangerie and Louvre. Based on my initial research it looks like it would be helpful to have a tour for the Louvre but that tours may not be needed for Musee d'Orsay and Musée de l'Orangerie. Is that a good assumption?

We're considering taking the Louvre Quest by Paris Muse (https://parismuse.com/tours/louvre-quest/). We'd love any feedback on this tour or if you have another tour that you would recommend for Louvre - please let me know!

We'll also be visiting Sacre Coeur, Sainte Chapelle, Eiffel Tower, Versailles, ...

Thanks so much for your advice. This forum has been a wonderful resource as we're planning this trip.

Travel_Nerd

It really is a matter of preference if you wish to have a tour in the Louvre (or any of the museums/sites). I have only had a tour of Versailles (decades ago) and have otherwise done all of them on my own. YMMV depending on you and your family's needs. Orangerie is pretty small, definitely no tour is "needed" there, but again, matter of preference.

Traviata

I strongly recommend having reservations for the museums.....we were there in November and will return in April......lines for "walk ins" were long and at the Orsay, out to the street. Paris is very crowded right now and even with tickets, museums will be filled, but, without them, you may have very, very long waits.

apersuader65

No guide is necessary for the l'Orangerie, it is rather small, unless you would want someone to explain or go into detail into the artwork. Monet's Water Lilies are self explanatory, and the rest have decent audioguides as I recall. The Orsay is significantly larger than the l'Orangerie, but is managable with an audioguide, Rick Steves has a podcast on the Orsay audiotour series, but I haven't had the opportunity you listen or use it, but he's generally pretty complete for most folks. The Louvre is huge, so a guide may be of great benefit to more quickly "hit the highlights" but in any event, its' like drinking from a fire hose as far as art goes. It can be overwhelming.

Christina

I don't really understand why you decided you needed a guided tour of the Louvre versus the others. Sure, the Orangerie is smaller, so I can see that. It's your money, that tour is very expensive (520 euro!) and sounds like it is for young children. I don't get it, the rules say you have to be 13 but some side comment talks about little kids on it running around (gads) and they are clearly young, being referred to as "the littles". It also talks about games, earning cards, etc. Sounds very childish to me, but your call. I can't imagine wanting to be treated that way as a teen, but I was doing art classes and studying art history even in middle school.

I don't really like guided tours, I prefer to do things on my own and most places have audioguides anyway if you feel you have to have background on some painting or want it. At least you are in control of your own time that way and can see whatever you want. The Louvre audioguide costs 6 euro and there are some others who sell or have Louvre visit apps for your smartphone, some are even free I think.

KTtravel

I thought the self-guided tour of the Louvre in Rick Steves' book was quite good.

SusanP

I was going to suggest the same thing. In general, Rick gives good routes through major museums to follow if you want the main exhibits.

bilboburgler

the danger of the guides is that you spend all your time with your head in a book listening to their points of view. Have your own.

Remember the Mona Lisa was a minor work in the 1920s, it only came to the front of the exhibition because it was stolen and they wanted to show that they had brought it back. Hence it now carries a Greatest Piece of Art label. Fickle public buy that story.

Once you push past the selfie posers and those with a book or audio you can actually spend time with the art you like.

tomboy

Just in case you're agoraphobic: Mona is in a room about 20' X 25". Just her.
When we saw her, there were at least 2 busloads of tourist (evidently, one humonous tour from China)
They all wanted to see Mona up close....all at the same time.
They had no qualms about pushing my upraised camera out of their way.

KTtravel

I found Rick's guide to be helpful for navigation to pieces we really wanted to see and for information about some of the art. However, I think it's best to use as a reference and detour around, skip rooms you're not interested in, investigate others, etc.

timetogoitaly

Thanks everyone - really appreciate the advice!

shelemm

The Louvre can be a wonder or a horror depending on your interest and knowledge. I have no idea why anyone here is going on about La Giaconda! The OP did not mention it. I did not take a guided tour of the Louvre, but guided tours in general can be tremendous.

Yes to tickets in advance at Louvre and Musee d'Orsay. Few people seem to know about the Louvre entrance at Porte des Lions, a much faster way to get in. Also, the view from the balcony of the second floor cafe is stunning. Do not have to eat there.

abbydog

Hi! I visited these museums last April and highly recommend purchasing a guided tour with a ticket for timed entry for both l'Orangerie and Musee d'Orsay. Sure you can peruse the art yourself, but my group (four of us ages 46 - 74) found the expert commentary super illuminating. For the Louvre, I had already struck out trying to navigate it on my own on a previous visit. Even though guides like Rick Steves tell you to just plan ahead and choose a focus, the place is overwhelming -- especially for a group with potentially varied interests. I HIGHLY recommend the tour offered by Paris Walks (Home). They are extremely easy to work with and made our visit hugely informative and painless. Our guide not only efficiently navigated our way to many hot spots but also maneuvered us through the sometimes oppressive crowds. For example. at one point when we could no longer bear the crush, he took us on a detour down to the castle foundations, which are fascinating and also provide a cool respite. After viewing the highlights on any of these tours, you can always go back and revisit stuff that interests you.

timetogoitaly

Thanks so much Abbydog - I'm checking the Paris Walks tour out now! Do you remember who you used for l'Orangerie and Musee d'Orsay? Any other recos for our Paris trip?

abbydog

Hi! For the two smaller museums, we just opted for the guided tours offered on the website when you reserve your tickets. With our tickets, we loved skipping the HUGE lines at both museums, and we liked both of our guides very much. Since they specialize in their museums' collections, they are super knowledgeable and lend insights and context to art works (like Monet's water lilies) that we otherwise would have simply admired for their beauty.

abbydog

Re: your other top sights, here's what we learned! Sacre Coeur: You probably already know, but avoid weekends! We didn't follow this advice because we wanted to take the wonderful Paris Walks tour of Montmartre (which I do recommend ... but maybe on a weekday?). Sainte Chapelle: Once again, reserve timed tickets! Even with tickets, the line is long. Eiffel Tower: Gone are the days when you can just sashay up (except perhaps at very odd hours I haven't identified). We got timed tickets, but I sorely wish we hadn't been seduced into getting tickets to the very top. It's much harder to procure them, the view isn't any better than on the lower levels, and the crush of humans on the elevators was horrible! Versailles: We were pretty bad at navigating this massive place (getting terribly lost searching for the Queen's Hamlet). But we LOVED the little golf carts that you can ride through the gardens to save time and energy. We also opted to take a taxi there. I knew the train is quite doable, but we saved our walking for Versailles itself.

shelemm

I dislike going up the Eiffel Tower. It is not nearly a good view of Paris, it's a bit filthy and ugly from inside, takes too much time, and worst of all: it doesn't have the Eiffel Tower in your view.

tomboy

I like 3 alternates better:

1. lying on my back on a blanket in the park below, gazing up at the 9:00 PM light show
2. arriving on the boat at the foot of the tower at 8:59 PM, only to have the light show begin as we disembarked, celebrating our arrival
3. daytime, on the balcony at the Trocadero, across the Seine from the Eiffel; gives one a better sense of where Eiffel is in the city, but lacks the light show