The Best Louvre Night Tours, Compared

Every Louvre evening tour runs while the museum is open to the public, so the choice is never whether you get in after dark. It is how: with your own guide or five strangers, for two hours or three, from which meeting point, and whether the guide leaves you inside. Here each louvre night tour on offer is weighed on those questions, with a shortlist at the end.

Which Louvre night tour is best for a first visit?

For most first visits, the private three-hour evening from 6pm. It is the best-rated of the evenings, at 4.9 from 59 reviews. Your guide takes you through the Sully, Denon and Richelieu wings, and you walk back out as the museum closes. The fare is $336.54 a person for a party of two, with your timed ticket booked.

If that is more than you want to spend, take the group of six from the metro exit. It is the most-booked evening, at 4.6 from 74 reviews, and it costs $175.22 a person. The ticket and every booking fee are in the fare, and the route mixes the famous works with rooms most visitors walk past.

Both head for the Mona Lisa, as every highlights route does. No tour can promise a single painting, though: rooms close without notice and works go on loan. For the works worth asking about, see what to see in two hours.

Private or a group of six?

A private guide works for your party alone. You set the pace, you can ask for one room first, and a child or an older parent sets the speed. The private fares run from $295.83 to $360.90 a person, quoted for a party of two, and the figure per person falls as your group grows.

A group of six shares one guide and one route in English. It costs $170.67 or $175.22 a person, and one traveller can book. Two of you pay $350.44 on the tour from the metro exit; the lowest private fare for two comes to $591.66.

Pick private for a family, a special occasion or a language other than English. Pick a group of six if you travel alone or on a budget. The Louvre private night tours and the Louvre small-group night tours set out each side in full.

Two hours or three?

Two hours is the standard length, and it covers the famous works in Denon plus one other wing. The walk in and the security check come out of that time, so you spend a little under two hours in the galleries.

Only the 6pm private evening runs for three hours. The third hour is what reaches a third wing: after Sully and Denon, you cross into Richelieu as well. Take it if you like museums and your legs agree. With young children, two hours and the freedom to stay on is the better shape.

Which tours publish a start time?

Only the private evenings from the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel print one: 6:00pm for the three-hour tour and 5:30pm for the family evening. The others show a time when you choose a date.

That matters because the museum stops letting people in at 5pm on ordinary days. A start after 5pm can only fall on a Wednesday or Friday late opening. If the evening is the point, pick a Wednesday or Friday slot when you book.

Which leave you inside the museum?

The late-opening private tour and the private family evening both end in the galleries. When the guide says goodbye, you keep your ticket and wander until the rooms clear at 8:30pm. On a late night that can be an hour or more on your own, at no extra cost.

The three-hour evening ends back at the arch, and the other tours do not say where they finish. Any exit from the museum is final, so if staying on matters to you, choose a tour that ends inside.

Does any tour run once the museum has closed?

No. The Louvre is open to everyone until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, and every evening tour runs inside those hours or in the last hours of an ordinary day. Nobody sells the galleries after the doors shut.

What the evening changes is the crowd. There are fewer people than at midday, and your guide knows where the queues are. The what to expect on the night page covers the queue and the crowd. Expect company at the famous works all the same. Why no tour is after hours gets a full answer on the blog, in what the evening does and does not change.

Which suits children?

The private family evening was built for them. It starts at 5:30pm at the arch, the guide turns the rooms into games and quizzes, and you finish inside with time to wander. Adult tickets are in the fare and under-18s enter free. It has a single review so far, which scores 5.0.

Any private guide can slow down for a child, which a shared route cannot. The museum lends pushchairs and baby carriers free under the Pyramid. More ideas are in the post on the museum at night with children.

Which suits limited mobility?

The private tours from the arch and the late-opening private tour list wheelchair access. The museum lends wheelchairs, stools and rolling chairs free at its assistance desk, and the Pyramid's tube lift takes you down to the hall.

The group of six from the metro exit says it is not suitable for wheelchair users. The other tours say nothing either way, so ask before you book. Disabled visitors and the person with them get priority access without queuing.

Which suits a party that speaks another language?

The private tour from the horse statue in eight languages. Its guides work in English, French, German, Italian, Chinese and three more, and the route follows the highlights or what you ask for. It is also the lowest private fare, at $295.83 a person.

Every other evening is guided in English. The museum's own Friday tour runs in English too.

Is a night tour worth it over the museum's Friday tour?

The museum runs its own highlights tour in English every Friday at 6pm and 7pm. It lasts about 90 minutes, meets at the groups reception area, and costs €12 on top of your ticket. For an adult from outside the EEA, that is €44 for a guided evening.

A booked tour costs more and gives you a small group or a private guide, a Wednesday as well as a Friday, and a full refund up to 24 hours ahead. A museum ticket cannot be refunded. If price is all that matters, the museum's tour wins, and the evening without a tour shows how to book it.

Who should skip a guided evening?

If you like to roam, a timed ticket at €22 or €32 and a list of rooms may suit you better than two hours of commentary. If you want the lit Pyramid, avoid April to August: the sun sets around or after closing, and you walk out in daylight. The month-by-month guide to the late openings has every sunset.

And if you want the museum with no other visitors, no tour sells that. It is worth knowing before you pay a private fare for it.

The shortlist, side by side

The evenings above, with the numbers you need to choose. A start of "time set at booking" means the listing prints none.

For every way to spend the evening, the museum's own tours and the audio guide included, see every way to spend the evening, compared. For the meeting points, use the map of the entrances and meeting points.

Frequently asked questions

Good first evenings to book

Private tour Louvre By night

Three private hours from 6:00pm at the foot of the arch facing the Pyramid, through the Sully, Denon and Richelieu wings and back out as the museum closes. Two travellers minimum; the timed ticket is in the fare.

From $336 per person For a party of two; the per-person fare falls as your group grows

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Night at the Louvre: Guided Museum Tour | Max 6-Guests

Two hours with a licensed guide and five other guests at most, from the metro exit on rue de Rivoli. The museum ticket and every booking fee are in the fare.

From $175 per person

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Louvre Private Night Tour: After-Hours Exclusive Experience

Two private hours with a guide in English, French, German, Italian, Chinese or three more languages, meeting under the statue by the Pyramid. The route follows the highlights or what you ask for.

From $295 per person

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