Fifty-plus museums and monuments on one card. Here is when it saves you money and when it doesn’t.
The short version
- The pass is €85 for 2 days, €105 for 4 and €125 for 6, sold at parismuseumpass.fr, at the airports and at the big museums.
- The clock starts at your first visit and runs in hours, not calendar days: a 2-day pass first used Wednesday at 15:00 ends Friday at 15:00.
- It covers the Louvre, the Orsay, the Orangerie, Versailles, the Arc de Triomphe, the Conciergerie, Napoleon’s tomb, the Notre-Dame towers, Fontainebleau and more than 40 others.
- It doesn’t cover the Eiffel Tower or the Catacombs. The Centre Pompidou is on the list but closed until 2030.
- The big ones still want a time slot booked online, pass or no pass: the Louvre, the Orsay and Versailles among them. The slot is free; book it the day you buy the pass.
- Under 18 and EU residents under 26 get into most of these free already. Don’t buy the pass for them.
The math
The 2-day pass at €85 pays off at five major sites in two days if you live outside the EEA. The Louvre at €32, the Orsay at €16, the Arc de Triomphe at €16 and Napoleon’s tomb at €17 come to €81; add the Conciergerie at €13 and you’re €9 ahead.
If you live in the EEA, the Louvre is €22, and the same five sites come to €84, a euro under the pass. You need six in two days for it to win, which is a hard two days.
The 4-day pass at €105 is the best value for a first week in Paris with Versailles on the list. Two museums a day for four days, plus Versailles, is well past €105 at single prices.
The pass also skips the ticket desk, which matters at the Arc, the Conciergerie and Versailles on a summer weekend. It doesn’t skip the security line anywhere.
How to use it
Buy online and you get the pass by email in a few minutes, or pick it up at the ticket desks of the big museums or the tourism counters at CDG and Orly. Watch for lookalike sites; buy only from the official one.
Book the free time slots for the Louvre, the Orsay and Versailles as soon as you have the pass. In season the Louvre slots go days ahead, and from October 17 to November 1, 2026 every Louvre visitor needs one.
Plan the pass days around the closures: the Louvre on Tuesdays, the Orsay, Rodin and Versailles on Mondays. A pass day lost to a closed museum is money gone.
Or skip the logistics at the two big ones: our private Louvre tour and private Musée d’Orsay tour include the timed tickets and a licensed guide, so you don’t need the pass for those days.
What it doesn’t do
It doesn’t cover temporary exhibitions everywhere; some museums charge extra for the big show, so check the museum’s own site.
It doesn’t help with the Eiffel Tower or the Catacombs; neither is on it.
It doesn’t pause. A 2-day pass started at 17:00 on a Monday, when half the museums are closed, is mostly wasted. Start it at opening time on a day when everything you want is open.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it?
If you live outside the EEA and will see four or more paid museums and monuments in two days, or Versailles plus two a day for four days, yes. If you’re under 26 and live in the EU, or traveling with children, mostly no, because they get in free.
Does the Museum Pass skip the line?
It skips the ticket desk, not the security line. At the Louvre, the Orsay and Versailles you still book a free time slot online and join the timed-entry line.
Does it include the Eiffel Tower?
No. The Eiffel Tower and the Catacombs are not on the pass. Book both separately, and early.
When does the pass start?
At your first visit, not when you buy it. It runs in hours from that moment: 48, 96 or 144.
Is there a tour that includes the tickets?
Yes. Our private Louvre tour is two and a half hours with a licensed guide and the timed tickets included, any day but Tuesday; you don’t need the pass for it.
Our Most Popular Day Trips From Paris
Vaux le Vicomte & Fontainebleau
Vaux le Vicomte and Fontainebleau in one day, without the Versailles crowds.
Louvre, Montmartre and Notre Dame in eight hours with a private driver-guide.
