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

Really like the guy who gave our tour. I would say don’t catch the bus back. Catch the train so you have more time to view the place.

Our tour guide was terribly rude and offensive. she would not let a man in a wheel chair and my friend who just had her hip replaced be on the tour because we had to use an elevator. I think that is against the rules. She said it says in fine print no wheel chairs. no fine print existed. She was also a terrible guide. Just saying renaissance, no background, no history. Nothing. we were forced to leave the tour.

My husband and I could not have been happier with our tour with Manny! We saw so many highlights, including the Mona Lisa, and Manny’s narrative made all the difference in our appreciation of the works. Friday night is the absolute best time for the tour, as the museum clears out and you’ll have the place to yourselves toward the end of the night. Can’t recommend highly enough!

Entire tour was great, just wished we were able to see some additional highlights. Will definitely do this again. Highly recommended for all.

The tour guide was very nice and seemed enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Rate low for 3 reasons (1) group was extremely pushy..Mona Lisa line was like a rugby scrum and almost couldn't see it due to people's obsession with getting a selfie. (2) at end of tour we were not provided tickets so we could go out and back in. (3) guide didn't have enough museum "maps" and left us standing there with a vague verbal instruction about how to get to a break area. Spent next hour trying to get our bearings and a map. Loved the Louvre (stayed an extra 5 hours) but would recommend suffering the longer line to get in.

The Louvre is beautiful but overwhelming! To me the best of the tour was Manuel the tour guy without him it would have been very difficult

Thoroughly enjoyed the day. Our Guide, Christiana, was very good, informative and interesting to listen to. Recommend the lunch at the Louvre as well, very nice. Well worth it.

This tour delivered on every aspect promised. It was easy to find the tour group by the arch, we skipped the lines, got to see the best the Louvre has to offer including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo statue etc. The guide Alex was very knowledgable, and easy to spend so much time with. I give this tour A+++ And highly recommend it!

This is a great tour! The museum was super crowded the day we visited (as I'm sure it is every day) but our tour guide took us around most crowds directly to the most famous/most visited pieces. He was very knowledgeable on everything there, including all of the history behind each piece. He even extended our tour past the scheduled time to ensure we were able to see everything we had on our list. Definitely recommend this tour!

We boooked a 3 hours private tour through Viator and used their local tour operator City Wonders. Nev was our tour guide. There were 4 of us on the tour (was to max out at 25 I believe). We did not need headsets, as a result (not sure if we would have had them if a larger group, or not). The voucher did suggest that we would. We all agreed that the line for the Mona Lisa (it is currently the first thing you line up for when you enter) was too long and we left it for the end (by coming back in for the 2nd time...not what you are suppposed to do, i do not think). Nev took us through the museum using her art history klnowledge to explain various items to us as she took us through the museum. Our 3 hours flew by. It would have felt longer had we tried to do it on our own...way too much to see and there would not have been much structure. We flet this tour was well worth the money. I highly recommend it.

Excellent guide and informative tour. We touched on the most famous pieces in the gallery and heard about the history of this monumental building.

The tour guide walked to fast and did not keep track of the group. Most of the transmitter/ear buds didn’t function properly and if you were further then 5 ft away from her you couldn’t hear at all. The walking was fast paced and strenuous and not described as such in the write up. We turned in our equipment and left the tour 1/3rd of the way through. Would not recommend this tour.

Alistair was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. His passion for Art was shown in his presentation. Skipping the line was a help as it was busy in the museum and we were able to see the Mona Lisa in about 45 min time total.

We ended up having a private tour (their were 6 of us). "Nev" was our guide. She was so knowledgeable and passionate about the art (she is getting her Ph.D.) it was amazing to learn about the art (some things we have already seen in the past- through her eyes!!.) She even got us to the Mona Lisa - even though it said we might not be able to get there! We did do the 6:30 pm tour which I think helped with the crowds..

I wouldn't purchase this again and would not recommend. Skipping the line was a huge benefit but that's where the positives ended. Our tour group was 25 people and impossible to keep together in a huge museum. It took 30 minutes from the scheduled start time just to get inside and have a bathroom stop. The tour guide commented at least 20 times on how much of a challenge it was for her to lead a tour that large which impactedmy satisfaction as well. Also challenging was her very very thick Russian accent (tour was in English) coupled with the overall difficulty of hearing her over the background noise since the headsets provided by this company were for only 1 ear and the other ear just listened to everyone talking around them. We ended up leaving the group after about 90 minutes and we were much happier exploring on our own. I wish we had purchased a skip the line without a tour and got the audio guide from the Lourve. It would have been better than this.

Admittedly much of the review is probably bc the Louvre itself was ridiculously crowded, but while our tour guide was lovely and knowledgeable and having tickets and knowing where to go shaved down entry time, I thought we spent too much time in areas we were not interested in. The group also was much larger than I'd thought it would be (20+ people) so it was hard to ask questions or feel like you could ask to see other pieces. Would advise Viator to publish more info on what besides the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa the tour guide will show to help people decide whether this is the right tour for them.

Our Viator guide was excellent, He was very knowledgeable and an excellent communicator. His background information made the exhibits come alive.

Appreciated Alex, our guide. His knowledge of French history, his sense of humor and the way he navigated the group thru the museum was excellent. The Louvre is so large it would have been intimidating on our own.

The guide Laura P. was wonderful and very knowledgeable! She explained interesting facts and history about the museum. Glad we got the skip the line ticket cause the lines where long. Well worth a visit!! Difitnetly recommended!!

So glad we did this one. Our group of 20 had a great tour guide. She was so knowledgeable. Had no waits to see Mona Lisa or any of the other major works. Talking with others who went during the day that had LONG lines, and tons of folks, we made the right choice.

The tour guide spoke to fast and kept repeating herself. She rushed through the museum so at the end of the 3 hour tour we still had 1 hour left but she was done. She only wanted to show us what she wanted to see so she skipped a lot of important art. Her headset did it work properly and she did not know how to use it properly. All she wanted to show us was divinici.

Allister was an excellent guide! He was personable and made sure the group stayed together as he effortlessly navigated the Louvre covering some of the most notable pieces. He was very knowledgeable and keen to highlight details and facts that the average musuem goer would not know. We had been forewarned that there may be long wait times to see the Mona Lisa so imagine our surprise when we saw it within the first 15 minutes of arriving. And yes we did skip the entry line. A must do tour with a great guide!

pricing for the store was correct we found our guide quickly the guy talk quickly who is talk to fire sometimes I guess my only complaint with the guide was that he went into too much depth over paintings and sculptures where we could have seen more and talked about more verses just going to maybe half the stuff that we could have seen

The Louvre has an amazing collection, but itself is rather daunting, with people herded here and there to manage the crowds. It was wonderful to have a caring and knowledgable guide with us for our first visit there.

We had a great time at the Louvre. It was very busy so it was great to have a guide that not only shared her wealth of knowledge but also could get us around the museum to see the things we wanted to see in a shorter amount of time!

Tour guide was knowledgeable and full of energy. Really kind and made sure to check in with all the guests periodically.

Ina was an excellent and informative guide. We learnt so much about different artworks and different techniques that the artists used. The history of Le Louvre was fascinating too! Thank you :)

The crowds were so huge and oppressive we spent 60 minutes at the beginning of the tour in a snaking line to just get close to the Mona Lisa. No one but tall men got to take a picture much less see it! That took so much time our tour guide literally raced through the Louvre leaving many in our tour group behind. We could no longer hear her through the headset! And to top it off she spoke English with a heavy Russian accent since she was Russian. After 2 hours of the 3 hour tour, we gave up and turned in our equipment and went back to our hotel. What a waste of money and time!!

My wife and I were happy we did skip the line tickets ahead of time, the line up to get in are extremely large and it was well worth it getting your tickets in advance. The tour was three hours which only gives you a taste of what is in the Louvre and it is so large you cannot cover it all in one visit. Our guide Alister did a good job at getting us through the crowds and hitting the items everybody wants to see like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. You do feel rushed through but it's not the guide's fault and it's just the nature of the beast. Make sure you bring water in with you as we didn't and regretted it because the tour moved through and we would have lost them if we stood in line for water in the Louvre but overall we were happy.

Laura was great! She made our experience that much better. We learned a lot and kept our teens engaged!

The tour was great and the tour guide amazing. We managed to see all the major attractions of the museum. It was all i expected it to be. The tour was 3 hours long, but the museum is so large that it is realistically impossible to see even 1/3 of it.

First of all we had a fantastic guide (Nev). She was incredibly knowledgeable about the museum and the art. She made it so much more interesting. She even added a bonus for anyone who wanted to stay a few extra minutes at the end (Michelangelo statues!) Also, going at 630pm on Friday is key during tourist season. It felt empty - even the Mona Lisa room. This was our first night in Paris and it was the best way to start our visit.

There is no way that you can cover the Louvre in a short tour, but our guide Mustafa did an excellent job in showing us some great pieces of art and making sure that we made the most of our time. Mustafa was full of knowledge about the museum and the art work inside. Amazing trip.

Excellent tour! Our guide was pleasant and informative. I believe we saw and learned more in a shorter period of time than I would have been able to otherwise.

This is a great tour for your first visit to the Louvre. The Louvre is overwhelming with miles of halls and many thousands of pieces of art. This tour gives you a good orientation to the Louvre and it’s history as well as a few of its major works. Our guide was very knowledgeable and allowed us to not only hear the history behind the art but also to feel what the artist wanted to convey in the art.

Wow. What a disappointment. We disliked virtually everything about this tour. First and foremost, our guide was unbelievably rude. She was condescending and curt. I lived in Europe for several years, so I am well-aware of cultural differences that may manifest in a misunderstanding or challenge of communication. This was not the case. She was just rude. Related to that complaint but different enough to warrant additional comment was the pace of the tour. The Louvre is huge. The guide literally had us running so quickly to see everything (she frequently left the better portion of our group behind, forcing families to literally run to catch up) that we didn't get to actually stop and enjoy anything. As a group we collectively asked to spend more time in certain locations or skip others. This was met with absolute indifference. In the guide's defense, this may have been the required structure of the tour, in which case the company needs to rethink or repackage the tours. If I could do it all over again, I would never take this tour. I would go early, spend a little more time in line, then actually enjoy seeing the Louvre instead of paying all this money just to skip a line to see nothing.

My daughters and I enjoyed this tour and our tour guide, Mustafa, very much. Mustafa was very knowledgeable and passionate about the various subject matter he introduced us to. I do not believe without a tour guide that the museum would have been nearly as enjoyable. We would have had to spend a great deal of time reading plaques to try to get the significance of each piece and each wing we visited. He explained the significance and style of some of the ceiling paintings and the architecture and style of the wings we visited. The day that we went, the museum had just moved the Mona Lisa to a new wing in preparation for a larger Da Vinci exhibit in the wing where she normally lives and, thus, the way the tour normally goes was disrupted. Mustafa informed us that he would try to finish early to allow us some time to see the Mona Lisa but explained we would likely be in line for over an hour. Before we actually began the tour, he was informed that we would not be allowed to exit one way and re-enter the new wing with the Mona Lisa, which meant that the bulk of the tour would be waiting in line to see the Mona Lisa and trying to get close enough to actually see her, and which also meant we would not really get the rest of the tour. He gave the group the option, and the group chose to see the rest of the tour and try to see Mona Lisa on our own time. I was initially disappointed, mostly because my daughter, who is an art major, had been looking forward to seeing Mona Lisa; however, the tour was wonderful. What you get with this tour, or at least with Mustafa, is the chance to be educated with clarity and enthusiasm about different pieces of art, the different mediums and styles used, and/or the reasons for certain elements of the art (such as why noses were removed from some statues). You will get information about French history and significant paintings in French history. We enjoyed Mustafa's humor, and he was very willing to answer questions for any of our group. Although it would have been lovely to see the Mona Lisa, my daughters and I chose not to try to see it. None of us really wanted to wait in line and fight the crowds. We will go back another time and see her, hopefully when there is less waiting in line to be done. We did not leave the Louvre disappointed, and I think this tour was well worth the money.

This tour made getting into and through the crowded Louvre so much easier. The museum is huge and can be overwhelming so it is very helpful to have a guide to show you the highlights. Our guide, Julian, was lively and passionate and made the experience well worth it. Do it, and make sure to purchase water and a snack once you are in because it is tiring.

This tour was exceptional . Of course the museum was the star, but the tour guide, Lauren, was outstanding. His knowledge, passion and attention to every detail made the difference. Highly recommended..

I rated the Louvre a 5. The guide, Nev, not so much. I was very disappointed. She talked entirely too much about irrelevant topics. We didn’t get to see the Mona Lisa because she had some of her “personal favorites” she wanted to show us first and the line was long. My daughter and I finally went off on our own to try to see it but at this point the line was about a 2.5hr wait. It’s disappointing to miss seeing this piece of art work, especially when that was one of the two things I went to the Louvre to see. Personally I don’t think you need a guide. Just a map and a full day to be able to walk around. 3 hrs is not enough time.

This was a walking tour with no more than 25 people. Guide used a nice speaker system so we could hear the discriptions and was very helpful. Once the tour ended it was great to be able to stay in the Louvre and go back to see somethings in greater depth.

Our guide was perfectly knowledgeable, very prompt and savvy with the crazy queues, funny and personable! Loved it!

When we reached the Paris city vision center we waited for almost 2 hours but there was no guide available because they were overbooked. So we had to leave Paris without visiting Louvre Museum.

Our guide Jean-Luc was very knowledgeable and passionate about the art inside the Louvre. He managed to get us into Mona Lisa just at the right time to miss the crowds and showed us all the classics. Overall an amazing tour!

I would highly recommend Laura. She was a great guide with great information. She was easy to follow and we were able to navigate the vast museum’s highlights with little difficulty through the crowds.

Not an art aficionado, but was an informative experience and worth doing with a guide. While seeing the Mona Lisa was the highlight, the system used to get guests in and out of that area needs improvement.

We had a wonderful guide who helped us through some amazing exhibits at the Louvre including Mona Lisa. All during the heat wave. He was very patient and made the day enjoyable.

Mustafa was very informative and showed us all the items we wanted to see. We was courteous and tried to keep everyone together even though people wandered off.

It was the busy season and we waited over an hour before seeing the first painting. I would do something different. Our guide Fab was wonderful and was the best part of this booking.

Thank you to our gracious guide Laura P (for Paris) We circumvented the crowds, heard some interesting insights from a true Parisian, and really enjoyed my day at the Louvre

When asking yourself which locations you really need a guided tour for, this one is it. The Louvre is enormous and the self guided audio tour would be daunting. Our guide, Yulie, was friendly and knowledgeable and knew the Louvre inside and out. A must see, but make sure you have a guide.

This tour was tops. Skip-the-line tickets allowed us to take the back group entrance and the group security entrance, and we waited for maybe 15 minutes total to get inside and begin the tour. Worth every penny. Aleister (Alistair?) was a wonderful guide. He was funny, witty, and his Scottish lilt gave a +10 to the day (think David Tennant, not Douglas Henshall). The tour hit the main pieces in the Louvre, and included a tour of a section I would have never known existed--the original fortress wall reconstruction. Aleister provided interesting facts about various exhibits, as well as suggesting the best vantage points for photos. You can stay in the Louvre after the tour ends, so we ended up spending 8.5 hours wandering through the Louvre that day. Take advantage of eating lunch on the outdoor veranda over the pyramid courtyard. You won't regret it. I can't recommend this tour enough.

Abby, our tour guide was fabulous. Even though many people were crowded into the Louvre, Abby guided us through quickly and efficiently. She was informative and knowledgeable. I highly recommend this tour.

My wife and I took this tour in early May 2019. It was great, easy to meet up with the group, quick access to the Louvre, and a great 3 hour tour by a real professional guide. Our English speaking tour guide was from Scotland and had a tremendous knowledge of the Louvre. I recommend this tour to anyone want to go to the Louvre and after seeing the lines there this is the quickest way to get in.

My husband and I had a really great time on this tour. We met at the location, Arc du Carrousel, which was not difficult to find. Our tour guide, Violet (City Wonders) walked us in and guided us throughout the museum. She was very friendly, funny, and knowledgeable about the history and artifacts of the museum. We did a late tour, beginning at 630pm. There were so many things to see that we did not have an opportunity to visit any gift shops or boutiques when we concluded so keep this in mind if these things interest you.

1st time visitor, we were advised to join a tour. Glad we did bc it's a complete mob scene and thanks to our guide, we got a good brief run thru the museum. Our guide was interesting and friendly.

Ruben was very informative and knowledgeable about the works of art we saw. In a short time he gave us great insight into the sites we were most interested in seeing He was efficient with our time as well as we did not have much extra time

The tour guide was outstanding. She met us as described in the literature and spent a full 3 hours guiding us through the Louvre. She provided excellent background information and presented the tour group with a variety of experiences that included fine art, sculpture, decorative arts, and furniture. An excellent introduction to the Louvre. The guides English was excellent, she was very friendly, and encouraged questions to make the experience more personal. I highly recommend this tour!

As described, well worth while especially on busy days. Good information on Museum and art works. the Louvre is an amazing place for sure.

Outstanding! Our guide was not only very knowledgeable, but fun to listen to. She provided theories, and anecdotes for the amazing pieces we saw. We avoided very long lines and she knew where the "secret" bathrooms were along the way.

This was our first visit to the Louvre. The museum is overwhelming! I can’t imagine doing it without a guide! Our guide was incredible! She has a love and appreciation for art which made the tour both interesting and educational!!!!! Highly recommend!!!!