Paris Museum Pass vs Single Tickets: Which Saves More

Price: Paris Museum Pass vs single tickets

The Paris Museum Pass costs €85 for 2 days, €105 for 4 days and €125 for 6 days, according to the official pass site. The same site says you save money between your 4th and 6th visit, depending on the pass you pick.

Here is the maths for a two-day trip between October and March. The Louvre Museum charges €32 to visitors from outside the European Economic Area, a group that includes US visitors, on its price page. The combined Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie ticket costs €30, according to the Sainte-Chapelle. The Arc de Triomphe costs €16 in those months. Orsay costs about €16.

Five visits cost €94 as single tickets, so the 2-day pass saves you €9. From April to September the Arc de Triomphe costs €22, and your saving grows to €15. Visit only the Louvre and Orsay and you pay about €48, so skip the pass.

Three sights is also a skip. The Louvre, Orsay and the combined Sainte-Chapelle ticket cost €32, about €16 and €30. That is about €78 as single tickets, which is under the €85 pass. Add the Arc de Triomphe and you reach €94, so the pass wins only from about the fourth sight.

Visitors who live in the European Economic Area pay less. For them the Louvre costs €22 and the combined Sainte-Chapelle ticket €23, so the same sights need more visits before the pass pays off.

Key Takeaway For a visitor from outside the EEA in winter, a 2-day pass saves about €9 over five visits and loses money on two.

Single tickets can also be cheap. Best Things to Do in Paris' count of the 658 GetYourGuide listings for Paris on 24 October 2026 found that 12 of 32 museum and monument ticket listings start under €30 per person. One example is the Orsay Museum entry ticket, from €13 per person, rated 4.7 from 28,526 reviews, without free cancellation. It is a plain entry ticket with no guide. The museum's own price is about €16, so check what the listing price includes before you pay.

Best value: big sights vs small museums

The best value comes from the sights with the highest single tickets, which are the Louvre, the Sainte-Chapelle with the Conciergerie, and the Arc de Triomphe in summer. Alone, the Louvre costs more than a third of a 2-day pass.

The Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie share one combined ticket at €30, and the pass counts them as two visits. That makes them the best pair to put on your list. On GetYourGuide, the Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie combined ticket starts at €25 per person and is rated 4.4 from 10,875 reviews, without free cancellation. The monument asks you to book a timed slot and to arrive at your slot time, according to its visitor questions.

Smaller museums add less. The Orangerie reserved entrance ticket starts at €13.50 per person and is rated 4.7 from 7,333 reviews. The listing includes the permanent collection and the temporary exhibitions, with Monet's Water Lilies as the highlight. At that price a small museum adds little to your total, so use the pass there only when it fits your route.

A pass only saves money on the days you actually use it.

One honest limit applies. You should skip the pass if you plan only one or two sights, travel with children under 18, or want mostly the Eiffel Tower and the Catacombs.

Time: pass holders vs timed single tickets

You skip the ticket desk with a pass, but not the reservation. Both the Louvre and the Sainte-Chapelle ask pass holders to book a time slot, and the pass conditions say that buying a pass does not guarantee a slot. A missed slot is not a reason for a refund.

Without a slot, you can wait in the queue at the entrance, but the pass site warns that the wait can be very long. From 17 October to 1 November 2026 the Louvre makes a time slot compulsory for every visitor. You still pass the security check at big sights, with or without a pass.

The clock on the pass runs in hours, from your first visit. The pass site gives this example. A 2-day pass first used on a Wednesday at 3 p.m. is valid until the following Friday at 3 p.m. Plan around closing days, because the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and Orsay is usually closed on Mondays.

Should you take a tour or go on your own? Going on your own with single tickets is cheaper and lets you set the pace. The Louvre ticket alone is €32, while the guided tour is from €65. The extra €33 buys a guide, a fixed time and reserved access. Choose the tour if you want help finding the Mona Lisa and the big works, or if you do not want to manage a slot. Choose your own visit if you only want to wander and save money. The tour is not suitable for people with mobility impairments or wheelchair users.

If you would rather not manage slots, a guided visit fixes the time for you. The Mona Lisa and Louvre masterpieces tour is from €65 per person, run by City Wonders Ltd., with groups of up to 20 and free cancellation. It is rated 4.6 from 8,013 reviews and includes reserved access and your Louvre ticket. It meets at Place du Carrousel and lasts 1 to 3.5 hours. The guide speaks English and you get a headset. Tips and hotel pick-up are not included. You cannot use the pass for this tour. That ticket replaces the pass at the Louvre, so take €32 out of the maths above. For other options, see these Louvre Museum tours with reserved entry.

Pro Tip Book your Louvre slot first, then build the other days around it, because the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and a 2-day pass ends 48 hours after your first entry.

Coverage: the pass vs the sights it leaves out

The Paris Museum Pass covers more than 50 museums and monuments, including the Louvre, Orsay, the Orangerie, the Arc de Triomphe, the Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie. The Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs, the Palais Garnier and the Moulin Rouge do not appear on the pass site's list of sites. That list only names what is included. No list of left-out sites is published there, so check any other sight on the list before you buy. For the tower, see Eiffel Tower tickets and book them on their own.

You get one entry into each site. Passes are neither refunded nor exchanged, and the pass starts only at your first visit. The sites are mostly free for children under 18, so the pass site says not to buy passes for them.

Public transport is not mentioned on the official pass pages, and its list holds only museums and monuments. Nothing says the metro is covered, so do not count on it. Buy your metro tickets separately, as the guide to getting around Paris explains. Pass holders also get into the Palace of Versailles and the Château de Fontainebleau, so a day trip there counts as one more visit. Read about day trips from Paris before you plan one.

Buy the pass only from the official site. The pass site warns that a growing number of malicious websites imitate ticket shops.

Verdict: pass or single tickets, by what you plan

Choose the pass when you plan four or five big sights in two days, and single tickets when you plan fewer. Use this table to decide.

Three sights usually means single tickets: the Louvre, Orsay and the Sainte-Chapelle come to about €78. Add up your own list before you buy. If the single tickets come to less than €85, pick single tickets and book each slot.