Louvre Museum Private Tours & Tickets, Prices, Family-friendly Tours

If you can afford it, a private tour of the Louvre Museum is the best way to explore the world’s best art collection.

Private tours of the Museum can offer a more personalized and intimate experience for visitors who want to delve deeper into the museum’s collection and history.

These tours are typically led by an expert guide who can provide insights and context for the works on display, answer questions, and provide additional information.

But before we explain the private guided tours of the art gallery any further, let’s first look at all the different ways you can experience the Louvre Museum in Paris.

You can opt for a self-guided tour, a guided tour, or a private guided tour. 

Most people book a self-guided tour because of three reasons:

1. It is the cheapest way to experience the Museum
2. They prefer to explore the attraction at their own pace
3. They want to see whatever fancies them and not be stuck in a group

Those who appreciate art better book a guided tour, usually because:

1. They want a local expert to guide them through the attraction
2. They don’t want to miss out on any of the masterpieces
3. They want to hear historical and artistic commentary about the exhibits from an art expert 

We always recommend a guided tour of art museums such as The Louvre. 

It would be even better if you could book a private guided tour and have the art guide to yourself.

In this article, we share everything you must know before booking your private guided tour of the Louvre Museum.

Types of guided tours

You have three options once you have decided to book a guided tour of the Louvre.

We have listed them in the order of their cost – the cheapest first.

Regular guided tour

One guide leads a group of about 20-25 people. Everybody in the group gets a headset so that they can hear the guide’s commentary.

The cost of a regular guided tour for visitors 18 years and above is €100; visitors aged 10 to 17 pay a discounted price of €90, and children aged three to nine pay €70.

Semi-private guided tour

This tour, also known as a Small Group guided tour, usually has six participants. Since the group is small, they can huddle close to the guide and hear his or her every word.

The cost of a semi-private guided tour for all visitors 18 years and above is €105.

Private guided tour

A private guided tour is the best way to experience the Museum. It can accommodate six people from your family or group, and the guide can customize the experience.

The private guided tour costs €360 per group of six members.

Why book a private tour?

Here are the reasons why hiring a private guide is the best way to explore The Louvre.

1. The skip-the-line feature of private tours helps you skip long entry lines, saving time and energy.
   
2. With someone who knows their way around the museum taking the lead, you also dodge the crowds inside the galleries.
   
3. You hear commentary from an art expert and better understand the historical and artistic significance of the masterpieces.
   
4. You can get your questions answered to your satisfaction by the art expert.
   
5. Thanks to a local art historian’s guidance, you can have a more structured experience at the massive art museum.
   
6. Private guides take the age of the group members (and their preferences) and customize the tour accordingly.
   
7. A private guided tour means you have ultimate control over your experience. You decide what to see, where to pause, when to stop, etc. 

Important: When you visit the Louvre Museum for your private tour, please bring your Passport or ID card. Since you will be walking a lot, it makes sense to wear comfortable shoes. Pets and large bags (items exceeding 55x35x20 cm) are not allowed inside the museum.

Cost of private Louvre Museum tours

Private guided tours are usually priced for groups of five or six visitors. 

If you prefer to book a private guided tour, which includes Louvre entry tickets and the art guide’s two-hour time, you must shell out approximately €225 per person. 

Private tours at night are priced at €275 per person for a maximum of six guests.

Private guided tours make a lot of sense if you are a family of four or more. 

But if you are three or less, we recommend a semi-private tour, which costs €106 for all visitors.

Visual Story: 16 must-know tips before visiting Louvre Museum

Best Louvre private tours for adults

Private guided tours of the Museum come in many shapes and sizes. 

In this section, we share some of the most popular tours – 

Private tour of Louvre at night

This private tour is an excellent opportunity to see the Museum when it’s less frequented and enjoy fantastic evening lighting in the Pyramid and the Galleries. 

Visitors can book this night tour only on Fridays because on these days the art museum is open till 9.45 pm.

This VIP Experience starts at 6.30 pm and lasts 3 hours. 

Tour Price (18+ years): €275 per person

Recommended: Follow the link to find out everything about visiting Louvre Museum at night.

If you don’t want the hassle of booking the entry tickets and the expert art guide separately, you can either book this 2-hour or this 3-hour extended tour. Both of them include Louvre entry tickets. 

Private Louvre Scandals tour

This is a private guided tour of the attraction, but with a twist – the guide takes you on the trail of hidden scandals and controversies behind the world’s most famous works of art. 

During this tour, the guide takes you through more than a dozen of the world’s most well-known works of art, all of which hold secrets and gossip. 

Ticket Prices

The cost of this private tour depends on the number of members in the group.

Two guests: €540 (€270 per person)
Three guests: €597 (€199 per person)
Four guests: €796 (€199 per person)
Five guests: €995 (€199 per person)
Six guests: €1194 (€199 per person)

Recommended: Mona Lisa at Louvre Museum is the most popular and controversial painting in the world.

Private tours for families with kids

Some families tend to opt for private tours that are customized for children. 

Family-friendly tours are a great way to get your kids interested in art.

The guides hosting such tours are experts in handling adults and kids and creating an informative and playful itinerary.

Image: Paristourswithkids.com

These tours are best suited for kids six years and above. 

Kids five years and below can join these tours for free, but it may be challenging to keep them engaged. 

Private tour of Louvre for family

A special children’s guide with lots of experience hosting families takes you around Louvre. 

These guides know precisely how to catch the kids’ wavelength and keep them engaged. 

This 2-hour tour starts with the Mona Lisa, and then you cover the other highlights of the attraction.

Tour price: €520 for up to 5 members

Private tour designed for ‘detective’ kids

This is a 2-hour private tour where, besides exploring the masterpieces, your expert guide also makes your kids play fun games.

On this tour, which is exclusively curated for kids, the family members must use their dedication and creativity to answer questions about the museum’s exhibits. 

The idea is to keep the little detectives in the family captivated while the adults learn about the masterpieces.

Tour price: From €409 per person

If your family is interested in a treasure hunt within the Louvre, check out this tour.

Louvre and Musée d’Orsay private tour

During this 5.5-hour private tour, an art expert will take you around two of the most celebrated museums in Paris: the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay. 

You discover 3000 years of history just by crossing the bridge between the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre Museum.

We recommend comfortable shoes because there is a lot of walking.

Tour price: €2016 for up to 12 guests (€168 per person)

If you want something cheaper, check out this semi-private tour of both the Museums. 

If you aren’t sure which Parisian art gallery you want to visit, check out our analysis of the Louvre or Musee d’Orsay.

The ‘absolute’ private tour of Louvre

Family Twist, a Paris-based travel company specializing in luxury trips to Europe, offers what one can call the ‘absolute’ private tour of the Louvre.

If you are willing to pay €30,000 (about $34,000), up to four people (your family or friends) can experience the attraction all alone. 

Your group will be the only tourists in the whole museum for about 90 minutes. Find out more.

Free guided tours at Louvre Museum

If the private and semi-private guided tours shared above seem too costly, you can book a regular guided tour.

Standard guided tours are cheaper because the art expert guide manages larger groups.

If a regular guided tour is also out of the question, you can check out the free guided tours.

These free tours are offered during the peak summer months – from the first week of July to the third week of September.

Since these tours last 20 minutes, they are known as the ‘Summer mini tours.’

Eight tours are available, each hosted by the museum’s official guide, who is also happy to answer all your questions.

The eight tours offered are:

1. Beginnings of the Louvre
2. Ancient Egypt
3. Italian masters
4. Large-scale French paintings
5. The palace courtyards
6. The Napoleons
7. Treasures of the Louvre
8. Introduction to Islamic art

Free tour timings

Morning: 10 am, 10.30 am, 11 am, 11.30 am

Afternoon: 2 pm, 2.30 pm, 3 pm, 3.30 pm

You don’t need to register in advance to join these free tours. Instead, buy the Louvre entry tickets and be at the museum when the tours start. 

Our recommendation

Identify the four theme-based tours you would be interested in, and then reach the museum half an hour in advance. 

You can then attend them back to back, starting with the first one at 10 am (or 2 pm). 

After one tour is over, you will have 10 minutes to reach the next tour’s venue – so keep the museum’s layout in mind while planning.

Some tourists visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum on the same day. If you also plan to do the same, follow the links for directions:
– From Eiffel Tower to the Louvre Museum
– From Louvre Museum to Eiffel Tower

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