We visited The Louvre museum in Paris on our recent trip in November, 2024. Our main purpose was to see the three Caravaggio paintings housed there, which you can read all about here! Apart from the excitement of checking out these incredible paintings, most of the rest of the museum for me was a massively frustrating, and really made me question tourism, especially over-tourism, in general.

I had been to the Louvre before, about 15 years ago, and when I visited in January in the late twenty-oughts, the place was pretty dead, apart from the room where Mona Lisa hangs out. I arrived first thing in the morning at open, and there was no line to get in. I didn’t even pre-purchase tickets! I just walked right in and got a ticket! I then sat down with a museum map at a cafe, had a coffee and a croissant with zero people anywhere near me, and mapped out the most famous artworks that I wanted to see. Then I walked around for about an hour, and left pretty satisfied I had done my duty to check out some famous stuff.

This time, we had a pretty specific purpose in going – the aforementioned Caravaggio paintings, some other works of Baroque Art that we wanted to check out for the Baroque Art Accessibility Consortium, and I was interested in Napoleon’s apartments – something that I skipped last time. Our experience this time, though, was quite the opposite of what I expected.

First, we pre-purchased a timed entry ticket, which is an absolute must these days. Tickets for General Admission cost 22 Euros, but if you’re under 18, tickets are free. We stood in a very long queue outside even with these timed entry tickets, and it still took about 20 minutes just to get through that line. Then, inside, the place was already massively jammed with people about one hour after the museum opened. The Louvre estimates that it allows about 30,000 visitors there PER DAY. Bananas.

Some folks are walking around with audio guides, stopping here and there to listen about some painting or another that is of interest to them. Some folks, like us, were there for a very specific purpose and we beelined it to the art we wanted to see most. Most folks, though, are walking around aimlessly (and completely unaware of their surroundings) not knowing or probably even caring what they are looking at. Most folks are there because they feel like they have to, or just to say that they were there and saw the Most Famous Painting In The World, like I did 15 years ago (back before over-tourism was a problem). Let me just get on my soapbox for one minute and say: If you are one of these latter people, don’t bother going. Don’t do it for the ‘gram; don’t do it because you think you have to; and definitely don’t do it just to say you did it. You’re literally ruining it for everyone else. I’m here to ask you to start practicing mindful tourism, before places like The Louvre, or the streets and canals of Barcelona and Venice completely lose their charm and allure.

We ended up spending six exhausting hours here. The Louvre is a maze and not easy to get around. We lost our way several times, even with the map, and had to backtrack a few times. You can never see everything that’s here in one day, and you shouldn’t try. If you actually care about art before the Impressionist movement, come here and marvel at the massive collection. In fact, I would encourage you to check out the BAAC Louvre Quick Itinerary for a nice, one hour tour of this museum. If you don’t care, you should definitely skip The Louvre. Apart from some neat Egyptian artifacts and Napoleon’s apartments, there is nothing for you here.

We did have a lovely little break at the Cafe Richelieu/Angelina. We arrived well before noon, and so we didn’t wait in line at all. Each Cafe and Restaurant at the Louvre is completely jammed with long lines around noon, so I would recommend getting there early, or eating at an off time, or skipping food here altogether. I enjoyed a small, crispy, and gooey Croque Monsieur, and Brian had a massive cobb salad. This was a great place to refuel mid-touring. The bathrooms near this Cafe are also not quite so full, as they are not anywhere near The Most Famous Painting In The World.

A few highlights at the Louvre for me were the newly-restored Arcimboldo Four Seasons paintings. These figures, made up of various fruits and flora are really cool looking, and considering these were painted in the mid-1500’s, are a surprising change from the other, mostly religious works from the time.

I also enjoyed revisiting one of my favorite sculptures of all time, Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss by Canova. I have always loved this gorgeous, seductive, delicate sculpture, and I was excited to show it to Brian, who was also taken by the elegant pose.

Of course, the Caravaggio paintings were the highlight for both Brian and me. Luckily, we’ve ticked the three paintings off the list, and hopefully we’ll never need to return to the Louvre again.