Skip the Line: Louvre Museum Walking Tour including Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa

Paris, France

Take a small group walking tour of the Louvre Museum in Paris and jump the queue by booking ahead. This skip the line tour helps you explore the collection of paintings, sculpture, and architecture with an expert local guide. Numbers are limited to a maximum of 20 people on this small group walking tour, ensuring you'll receive personalized attention from your guide. And by booking ahead, you won't waste any time waiting in line!

This tour was specifically designed to highlight the most famous works of the Louvre Museum. Entering the Louvre through the original Medieval structure from the 12th century, join your guide on a journey from one breathtaking gallery to the next as you travel through time visiting works from 450 BCE through to the 1800s.

Begin with the Ancient Greek Parthenon; then gaze at the graceful Venus de Milo. Admire one of the Louvre's most celebrated sculptures, Winged Victory of Samothrace. Continue on to the Apollo Gallery that houses the ornate royal crowns of Napoleon and King Louis XV.

Marvel at influential pieces such as Canova's Psyche and Cupid and Delacroix's famous painting depicting the sentiment of the French Revolution, Liberty Leading the People. Michelangelo's masterpieces await you in the Italian Renaissance wing, and you will discover firsthand what makes Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa the most enigmatic portrait of all time.

The Louvre hosts over 35,000 pieces of artwork spanning over 60,000 square meters of exhibition space. This skip-the-line, small-group tour will lead you comfortably through the galleries so you can explore all of the masterpieces without the hassle of waiting in long lines.

Do you want to see the Louvre at night?
Select the 6:30pm tour (on Wednesdays or Fridays) to take the guided tour in the evening - an opportunity available for a strictly limited season. There is a certain magic about visiting the Louvre in the evening. The corridors are quiet, the artwork is mysterious in low light and the atmosphere is more relaxed. The museum's exterior is also breathtaking. Lit from below, the old palace appears contemporary, the dazzling Louvre pyramid reflecting in the pond and lending it an air of glamour. Apart from the late starting time, this evening tour is exactly the same as the other half-day tours. By the time the visit is over, it will be dark out and you can see the Louvre and Pyramid lit up.

USD $61.29

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Neil P H	April 2012
Wonderful. We had a great guide. Olivier was very well versed, spoke excellent english. His explaination of the art was insightful and very educational. Ask for Olivier if you want the full experience.

Review by: Luisa J	April 2012
This was a wonderful tour. Our guide was extremely knowlegeable and provided some wonderful insigfhts about the history behind the paintings and sculptures. On the day we went we virtually had the whole Louvre to ourselves. The group we were in was not large, which made the experience even more intimate and special.

Review by: Christopher R	April 2012
Our guide was so interesting and so kowledgeable about each piece of art that we saw. Not only did we learn about the art and the artist, but also about the history of the era when the piece was created. It was well worth the cost!

Review by: Mark T	April 2012
Wow what a great tour, our guide was amazing The Lourve is amazing to see all that art and history is mind numbing. Thell tell you anyway but beware of pickpockets especially when you get to the Mona Lisa (no drama for us or group luckily) Just loved the whole thing

Review by: john k	April 2012
it was great!

Review by: Reginald M	April 2012
Our tour was fantastic! Our guide was easy to find and was knowledgable, as well as engaging (just as important)! We saw the major exhibits, as well as toured the excavated ruins beneath the Louvre, showing it's medieval history. I couldn't imagine how anyone could get to all of the exhibits in a day, but we also managed to see some of the more recent additions to the museum, including a 9,000 year old sculpture (the oldest one found on record)! All in all, I would even considere doing again on my next trip (hopefully with the same guide)! =)

Review by: Gregory M	April 2012
Would highly recommend this method of visiting Le Louvre for the first time. Guide was very knowledgeable and guided us through various parts of the museum including the most known artworks and had a few surprises along the way. A very friendly guide, he continued on with the extensive tour showing the same enthusiasm and humour at the end as he did when we started. Learnt a great deal!! Fascinating and well worth the cost.

Review by: micvii	March 2012
We went in March 2012 and were traveling with our infant daughter (1.5 years). We found the meeting place for the tour guide quite easily and were surprised in 2 ways! First, because there were only 2 other people in this tour! And second, because our guide was Australian (which is where we traveled from). The guide was friendly and knowledgeable.

Review by: Michael W	March 2012
Great time to go to the Louvre. Much less crowded. Very informative guide who moved us through the expansive museum at a quick pace so we could see as much as possible, but never felt rushed. Only reason it was not given five stars was the cost. It is only ten Euros to go to the Louvre on your own. Of ourselves the guide needs to be paid too, but with our group of 13 or 14 people there was quite a mark up.

Review by: Susan J	March 2012
Great tour - lots of information which enhanced the experience. With the crowds it wasn't easy to see the guide ahead of us as she didn't hold up a "flag". I almost lost her a couple of times - otherwise great.

Review by: Christine C	March 2012
This wa an excellent tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, but not too academic. It was the perfect length of time for my 14 yr old daughter, and skipping the line was wonderful.

Review by: bean	March 2012
This was a great way to see the Louvre - the group was small - the guide was both informative and funny. The evening tour was perfect, when you leave the Lourve - the court yard is lit up and it was stunning.

Review by: Rudy S	March 2012
worth it. very knowledgeable tour guide.

Review by: archer1204	March 2012
Definitely a must and missing the first 1000 ppl queuing at 9am was a bonus we were straight in and the guide was brilliant and very informative and in the end i stayed nearly 8 hours and still got alot more to explore.

Review by: Patrick P	March 2012
Very nice and very informative. For me, the tour should be at least 5-6 hours because there's just so much to look at. But other than that, I'm happy with the tour. Definitely worth your time.

Review by: JW	March 2012
A great tour. Our guide was very entertaining, very warm and unassuming. Since we didn't have our people in the tour, it became a "private" tour for my wife and I. We discovered a lot during this tour. Highly recommended.

Review by: Capt William M	February 2012
Well worth it, very informative French guide, perfect English. Tip: drink lots of water before starting the tour cos no drinks allowed past the gates, and you are up on your feet walking for over 3 hours... Recommend it, a must to do once in your life

Review by: Michael L	February 2012
Catherine was a very knowledgable guide and good fun. Well worth it. Thanks.

Review by: Paul B	February 2012
Brillant tour, easy to locate meeting place, the guide was able to speak in detail about everything we had seen and more. Would def recommend this tour to anyone looking for a detailed and interesting tour of the Louvre. A deserved 5/5

Review by: jomee	January 2012
Lucky enough to be the only person who booked on that day (less busy season and all). The guide was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and had lots of interesting little facts and things about many of the art pieces. The tour was much more then just the main pieces, and gave a real experience of the museum. Afterwards she suggested some places to look at which was very good and which I enjoyed looking at on my own a lot.

Review by: Mai	January 2012
Very informative and interesting guided tour. Small group made the trip easier and faster. Highly recommended especially if you like to know more history about certain things. Ensure to confirm booking date and time as there was an error in processing our tour.

Review by: Sarah D	January 2012
We had a small group of only the three of us and 4 boys from the US. Caroline, our guide, was extremely knowledgeable and took us on a great tour of the highlights of the Louvre, including a lot about the building itself which is as interesting as the artworks contained in it. We did the evening tour, so it was fairly quiet and we did a lot of walking but saw a lot of things and learnt a lot about the artworks, the building and French history. Highly recommended.

Review by: W.s. D	January 2012
had not been there since 1972! the entrance was very unusual when compared to the architecture.the excavations were also quite unexpected.the presentation of the mona lisa was given the attention it deserves as well as the more ancient sculptures.it,s a place one can not do justice in even one day let alone the 4 hours we spent on the tour with a delightfully enthousistic guide.the louvre is truly the number one museum worldwide and worth visiting more frequently then we did.assez souvent would be my motto.

Review by: HARRY J	January 2012
Muy buena la guia del museo, y para poder entrar y apreciar debe ser con un guia, pero no cogeria la hora de la tarde porque el museo es tan grande que se debe ver con mas tiempo, si vas mas temrpano entonces te puedes quedar a ver lo demas.

Review by: damianthedude	January 2012
Our guide knew her stuff and we got to see all the 'big' art plus some hidden gems :-)

Review by: Jennifer P	January 2012
What a wonderful time. We got in without a line to see all the great works of art and our tour guide Catherine was great.

Review by: Susan M	December 2011
I only had 5 days in Paris and there was a lot I wanted to see, so I really just gave myself a morning to visit the Louvre and this tour was perfect for hitting all the "biggies" in a relatively short amount of time (and the tour guide had some really interesting trivia to share). It's really great considering how huge the Louvre is to have someone efficiently take you around. Also, because of the off season there were only 5 people my group so was pretty easy making our way around - and not having to wait for 30 people to get a chance to fight the mobs to take a photo of the Monna Lisa (and yes it's actually spelled with 2 "n's").

Review by: Tressa H	December 2011
Nice small group. Our guide was very knowledgeable. Saw exactly what I wanted.

Review by: Angela W, Australia	July 2010
We enjoyed the tour and learned much about Louvre and the history of famous pieces of art in the museum. Most informative!

Review by: Yvonne W, Australia	July 2010
Our guide was simply incredible. She made the art come alive - I would never go to another art gallery without a knowledgeable guide ever again. My interest in art quadrupled after this!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	July 2010
This was a great introduction to the Louvre. We had a wonderful guide who was very informative. For those who are not too into paintings and art, this was the perfect tour. You get to see 2 out of the 3 sections of the Louvre and have the rest of the day to explore it on your own. You do get to see the Mona Lisa, Vendus de Milo and WIngs of Victory. You also get to skip the lines to get into the Louvre.

Review by: Robert R, United States of America	July 2010
Excellent tour. See all the main items. tour guide very knowledgeable, seem to enjoy her job and added great additonal information.

Review by: Michelle P, United States of America	June 2010
We took the 20 person group of the Louvre. Our guide was very good & provided a lot of information. After the tour we were able to spend the rest of the day in the Louvre. I am glad we choose the 20 person tour & not the 50 person tour. I would recommend this tour for anyone that does not want to stand in lines.

Review by: Ainslie R, United States of America	June 2010
We recommended this tour to some friends who were traveling with us and they also booked the tour while they were in Paris.

Review by: Larry A, United States of America	June 2010
Absolutely excellent in an aspects!

Review by: Elizabeth G, United States of America	June 2010
Excellent guide, very knowledgeable and articulate.

Review by: Michael B, United States of America	June 2010
Unfortunately because a strike was to occur the next day, we waited 1 hr. when we were suppose to go in. It was good your even though

Review by: James K, United States of America	June 2010
It was a close up view of the Louvre.

Review by: Peter D, Australia	June 2010
A very good way to see highlights in a limited time. Our guide Isabella was excellent, just enough facts and interspersed with humour. The queues when we exited were horrendous being a Saturday morningso go early.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2010
Ok - great way to see the Louvre.

Review by: DeVonna M, United States of America	June 2010
Excellent guide, very knowledgable and entertaining. Definitely the way to see the Louvre.

Review by: Dolores D, United States of America	June 2010
This was a great tour with a very special guide. She taught us a lot and made the time very interesting.

Review by: Lawrence G, United States of America	May 2010
Fabulous!! We had Isabelle as our guide a walking encyclopedia! 3 hours of information and facts. She made it fun and interesting. We got to see most of the highlights of the museum, and learned a great deal about the history of the building. Very efficient way to see it all!!

Review by: Anna Maria K, Canada	May 2010
It was well done right on time and very informative the guide was excellent.

Review by: Anonymous, Ireland	May 2010
There would be no other way to make sense of the sprawling mass that is the Louvre, and a very good way to get close and personal with the art. You absolutely need the headphones on a busy day, and our guide offered to also give us a quick direction for parts of the Louvre not covered by the tour, going the extra mile.

Review by: Heather F, Australia	April 2010
What a great tour, i loved discovering the Louvre and learning lots about the arts and history of Paris. Our tour guide Guillaume was brilliant. Highly recommended.

Review by: Frances W, United Kingdom	April 2010
What a wonderful tour! Our tour guide Guillaume was amazing, his knowledge of the Louvre was astonishing and he took us to some really special places in the Louvre where there were not many people – we discovered some real treasures! He also took us to the famous Mona Lisa which was extremely busy. I can’t wait to go back and discover more of the 35,000 Artifacts in the Louvre. Make sure you take this tour if you’re in Paris, it was one of the best things we done whilst we were there.

Review by: Carol W, United States of America	April 2010
Highly recommended but go at the right time of year. We didn't. The huge crowds made the decision to skip the line worth the cost of the tour. The guide was knowledgeable, amusing, and shared her love of the Louvre with the group. It was spring break in Europe and teems of tourist abounded. Washington, DC is home so I wasn't unfamiliar with masses of tourist being around me. Btu I mourn the lost opportunity on my first trip to Paris and the Louvre. There was simply no way to appreciate all the magnificient artwork housed there with those crowds.