Louvre Tours – With Expert Louvre Tour Guide
Are you looking for a Louvre tour with a true expert Louvre tour guide? You are in the right place. We offer a wide range of Louvre tours in English, from first-timer Louvre highlights tours to multiple themed tours for art lovers, from two-hour tours to full-day custom-made tours. Prices start at 179 € for a two-hour tour for two people without Louvre tickets and Louvre right-to-speak fees (€ 20 per tour).
We are sorry to announce that, since January 14th, the Louvre has restricted private tours to a maximum of 3 hours. Consequently, for now, our 4-hour tours, so popular among art enthusiasts, are no longer possible. Also, full-day tours will now only be possible with two 3-hour tours on the same day, which drastically increases their cost.
Overview of the Louvre with the pyramid and the Tuileries garden in the background, Paris, France.
SUMMARY
- The Louvre Tours in a Nutshell
- Transparent Degressive Pricing
- Yves Louvre Tour Guide
- The Four Main Louvre Tours
- Louvre Themed Tours
- Louvre Special Tours (Custom – Full-day)
- Full-Day Combo Historical Heart of Paris + Louvre Tour
- Clarification Skip the Line Tickets – When to Come
- ♿ Accessibility – Wheelchairs in Louvre Tour
- Other Louvre FAQs
- Reviews: What our Guests Say
📌 The Louvre Tours in a Nutshell
- 💬 Tours in English(also possible in Spanish or French)
- 💰Fully transparent pricing, no hidden costs
- 🎟️ Louvre tickets are not included
- 🔒 Genuine private tours = your party only (up to 6 persons)
- 🎓 Expert Licensed Louvre Tour Guide
- 📐 Exclusive Tours all curated by your guide
- 💳 Online booking and payment, all curated by your guide
- 📅 Available all year long (subject to availability)
🎟️⚡Louvre Gate Reserved for Private Tours
You can access this true skip-the-line privilege via our Louvre Private tours.
We cannot 100% guarantee this privilege, as the Louvre may temporarily close the gate for contingencies.
During peak hours, many private tours start at the same time, and you may line up there as well (though obviously not as long as at the main gate). See also our section on skip-the-line tickets clarification.
💰 Transparent Degressive Pricing – No Hidden Costs
Genuine Private tour with truly degressive pricing from €89.50 per person (2-hour tour for two people) to €69.17 per person (3-hour tour for six people)
These prices are for guiding services only. Since Louvre’s new rules took effect on January 14th, 2026, to these prices have to be added €28 per person for Museum tickets and an extra €20 per tour for Louvre”right-to-speak” fees.
| Group Size | 2-Hour Tour | 3-Hour Tour | 4-Hour Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 people |
€179
€89.50 pp. |
€235
€117.50 pp. |
No More.
|
| 3 people |
€219
€73.00 pp. |
€280
€93.33 pp. |
No More
|
| 4 people |
€259
€64.75 pp. |
€325
€81.25 pp. |
No More.
|
| 5 people |
€299
€59.80 pp. |
€370
€74.00 pp. |
No More
|
| 6 people |
€339
€56.50 pp. |
€415
€69.17 pp. |
No More
|
| Group Size | 2-Hour Tour | 3-Hour Tour | 4-Hour Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 people |
€179
€89.50 per person |
€235
€117.50 per person |
No More
|
| 3 people |
€219
€73.00 per person |
€280
€93.33 per person |
No More
|
| 4 people |
€259
€64.75 per person |
€325
€81.25 per person |
No More
|
| 5 people |
€299
€59.80 per person |
€370
€74.00 per person |
No More
|
| 6 people |
€339
€56.50 per person |
€415
€69.17 per person |
No More
|
🎓 Yves Louvre Tour Guide
📐 Yves, our Louvre Tour Guide, Has Personally Curated all our Louvre Tours!
🏛️ French Ministry Licensed | 📚 Art History Expert | 🎓 Postgraduate | 🎓 BA Magna Cum Laude | 💬 English • Spanish • French
🏆 5× Travelers' Choice | ⭐ 250 Five-Star Reviews
Learn more about your guide →
“Tour in January 2026
It’s worth calling out: there’s a vast difference between someone who “leads tours” and someone who can genuinely teach a place. Most of the guides out there are trained in the business of tourism and offer a pleasant enough–albeit superficial–experience that speeds through dates, highlights, and anecdotes. That’s perfectly fine, but it’s not the same as an education.
Yves is a rare exception.
What distinguishes him immediately is the depth of his intellectual formation. His command of art history from a French perspective underlies strong visual analysis techniques; it is closer to what one would expect from a university educator than from the tourism industry. He doesn’t rush you through masterpieces or rely on canned interpretations. Instead, he teaches you how to look–how composition, form, historical context, and artistic intention work together to produce meaning.
The experience feels structured, coherent, and thoughtful. Rather than overwhelm you with information, Yves builds understanding patiently, helping the Louvre make sense as a whole rather than as a checklist of famous works. You leave not just having “seen” important art, but having gained tools you can use in any museum.
Equally important, this rigor is delivered with care, wit, and humanity. Yves is attentive, responsive, and genuinely invested in your understanding. Complex ideas are made accessible without ever being simplified or flattened.
If you are looking for a quick “highlights tour,” there are many options in Paris. If you want an experience that respects your intelligence and meaningfully deepens your relationship to art and culture, Yves is exceptional. This was not just a tour of the Louvre. It was an education.”
Grays Gulch – Google Business Review
“Incredible Louvre tour with Yves
Nov 2025 • Family
Absolutely a unique and terrific experience. We did the Louvre tour with Yves and his incredible knowledge about the exhibits in the museum and enthusiasm for the Louvre made our 3 hours with him the highlight of our visit to Paris. We cannot recommend Broaden Horizons and Yves enough!
Absolutely the best.“
Gordon D – Grand Rapids, MI – Tripadvisor,
✨ The Four Most popular Louvre Tours
Our Louvre tour offer is very flexible, and our four most popular tours are combinable. Meaning that you can, for example, choose to do an extended three-hour off-the-beaten-track evening tour. Any other coherent combinations are possible. Tour content is also, whenever possible, adjustable with your tour guide at the beginning of the tour.
2 hrs, from €179 For 2
Louvre Highlights Tour
This tour is designed for first-time visitors to the Louvre who want to discover the museum and its most iconic artifacts. A comprehensive introduction to the Louvre architecture and history, and a fantastic selection of its famous masterpieces: Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace, da Vinci, David, Delacroix, etc.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
2 hrs, from €179 For 2
Off the Beaten Track Louvre
The Louvre Alternative Tour (also called the Another Louvre Tour) is for those returning to the museum or seeking a more peaceful, off-the-beaten-track Louvre. A more peaceful tour in the lesser-visited part of the Louvre to discover its hidden gems!
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
3 or 4 hrs, from €235
Louvre Tour Extended
The Louvre Tour Extended is for those who are not afraid of receiving a lot of information and walking a lot. Unfortunately, since January 14th, 2026, the 4-hour version of this tour is no longer available as the Louvre forbids tours longer than 3 hours. The Louvre extended tour is very flexible and can be a mix of highlights and of the beaten track, or can even include more thematic aspects of the Louvre whenever the corresponding gallery is open.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
2 hrs, from €179 For 2
Louvre Evening Tour
On Wednesday and Friday evenings, the Louvre closes at 9 p.m. An evening tour is the best way to maximize your chances of discovering the Louvre’s most famous masterpieces in the best possible condition. Indeed, in the evening, the Louvre is usually a lot less crowded. If it fits your schedule, do not hesitate. An evening tour is the best way to visit the Louvre, in our opinion.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
📜 Louvre Themed Tours
⚠️ Warning /Disclaimer about the Louvre-themed tours: We are happy and proud of our vast Louvre-themed tour offer. Nevertheless, themed tours in the Louvre are not an easy business, as we cannot guarantee the corresponding gallery of a themed tour will be open on the day of your tour.
Indeed, the Louvre’s planning of open galleries has a very short horizon, and anyway, the Louvre staff can close any gallery they want, when they want, without prior notice.
Consequently, if this unfortunately happens, you will have to decide with your guide which substitution tour you prefer. We won’t refund the tour for such contingencies. We are sorry about that constraint, but it is the only way we have to organize themed tours. You are asked to accept these conditions when booking a themed tour.
Napoleon
Louis XIV, the Sun King, abandoned the Louvre for Versailles (1682).
Napoléon restarted the Louvre project, and Napoléon III, his nephew, finished it.
The Bonaparte family is still very present in the Louvre, from architecture to artifacts, sculptures, and paintings.
2 hrs, from €179 for 2
Napoleon in the Louvre
At its beginning, the Louvre was called “Musée Napoléon”, and the links between the French Emperor and the Famous Museum are strong—a tour reserved for the fans of the French imperial era.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
Italian Renaissance
The Louvre has an amazing Italian Renaissance collection, which was begun long ago by the kings of France, first and foremost François I, who received Leonardo da Vinci at the end of his life.
2 hrs, from €179 for 2
Italian Renaissance Painting Tour
An in-depth look into the Italian Renaissance, from its origin in ancient Rome and Greek sculptures to its end with the beginning of the Baroque.
A tour with the most famous painters of the period: Giotto, Fra Angelico, Paolo Uccello, Botticelli, Mantegna, Perugino, Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Caravaggio, Titian, Veronese, etc.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
A 3-hour Italian Painting Tour (from Cimabue to Tiepolo) from the 13th to 18th centuries is coming soon.
French Painting Tour Set
Why follow French painting tours in the Louvre? Although the Louvre is world-famous for housing the Mona Lisa, it is also the largest museum in the world, with a massive collection of French paintings.
Moreover, as most French painting rooms are not part of the Louvre’s classical tourist route, you will also probably discover and appreciate a quieter and less crowded Louvre Museum.
The Louvre is the best place to learn about French canvases. We proposed a series of dedicated tours.
2 hrs, from €179 for 2
French Painting 17th Century
The French call the 17th century “Le Grand Siècle” (the great century), the one of Louis XIV, the Sun King, and the creation of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, when France dominated the arts for over 250 years.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
2 hrs, from €179 for 2
French Painting 18th Century
18th-century French painting with Watteau, Boucher, Chardin, Fragonard, Greuze, Vigée Lebrun, David, Gerard, etc. Spend two amazing hours back in the century of enlightenment.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
2 hrs, from €179 for 2
French Painting 19th Century
This 19th-century French Painting Louvre tour is the final in our Louvre painting series. It is dedicated only to the first half of the 19th century; to discover the second half of this century, you will have to visit other museums and follow our Musée d’Orsay tour.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
Crash Course French Painting From the 14th to the 19th Century
A three-hour tour in 5 parts to understand the evolution of French painting from the 14th to the 19th century.
- 14th & 15th C. International Gothic
- 16th C. French Renaissance – Italian & Flemish influence
- 17th C. Baroque versus Classicism
- 18th C. From Rococo to Neoclassicism
- 19th C. The Age of Romanticism
3 hrs, from €235 for 2
French Painting Crash Course
Crash Course. French Painting from the 14th century to 19th-century Romanticism. Five hundred years of art history in +/- 3 hours.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
Combo With Orsay Museum and Orangerie Museum
The Louvre collection stops at the mid-19th Century; if you want to continue your discovery of French paintings after 1850, you just have to cross the Seine River from the Louvre Gardens (Jardin des Tuileries) to reach the Musée d’Orsay.
D’Orsay is the best place in the world to learn about the French Art Révolution of the second half of the 19th century, including the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists, including Manet, Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Cassatt, Pissarro, Cézanne, Toulouse Lautrec, Signac, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. See our Orsay Museum Private Tour.
You can even continue your art Journey further away with the Orangerie Museum, which has two famous immersive rooms exclusively dedicated to Monet’s Water Lilies. The Orangerie also houses the prestigious Walter & Guillaume painting collection, which includes works by Soutine, Modigliani, Picasso, Matisse, Douanier Rousseau, Utrillo, Renoir, etc. See our Orangerie Museum Private Tour.
Dutch and Flemish Painting
The Louvre owns the biggest collection of Flemish and Dutch paintings outside Belgium and the Netherlands. Our tour gives a chronological overview of the field with Van Eyck, Memling, Metsys, Patinier, Bruegel, Pourbus, Hals, Ruisdael, Vermeer, Rubens, Van Dick, Rembrandt, etc. Three versions of the tour are available.
2 hrs, from €179 for 2
Flemish Painting
Understand the development of painting in Flanders, from Flemish Primitives with Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, Memling, Bosch, Matsys, Pieter Brueghel, etc., to the Flemish Baroque of Rubens, Van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, and more.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
2 hrs, from €179 for 2
Dutch Painting
Starting with its origins in humanism and the Reformation in the Habsburg Netherlands, this Louvre painting focuses on the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age, featuring Rembrandt, Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals, Van Ruisdael, Ludolf Backhuysen, Frans Post, etc.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
3 hrs, from €235 for 2
Louvre Flemish & Dutch Paintings
A 3-hour tour from Flemish Primitive to Dutch Golden Age. More than 250 years of artistic evolution, featuring the most famous painters of the northern schools: van Eyck, van der Weyden, Memling, Bosch, Brueghel, Rubens, van Dyck, Rembrandt, Vermeer, etc.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
- Ancient Egypt Louvre Tour
The Louvre Museum houses one of the world’s most important ancient Egyptian collections. France’s first contact with ancient Egypt began with the young Bonaparte’s 1798 expedition to Egypt, which marked the inception of modern Egyptology.
Another Frenchman, Champollion, discovered a little later the secret of the translation of ancient Egyptian writing: the Hieroglyphs. Champollion was the first Curator of the Louvre’s Ancient Egypt Department.
Stele with hieroglyphs. The Ancient Egypt hieroglyphs writing system was deciphered by Champollion.
⭐ + 🛠️ Louvre Special Tours
Full-Day Louvre Tour
Full-day Louvre tours are possible. Tour guide only for you, +/- 7 hours of visit + a mid-day lunch pause of +/- 1.5 hours inside the Louvre (food and beverage not included). Contact us.
Louvre Custom Made-Tour
Special subjects, artists, or eras requests are welcome: contact us.
🔀 Full Day Combo Historical hearth of Paris + Louvre Tour
With this combo tour, you can discover the historical heart of Paris and the Louvre on the same day. These “full-day” tours (+/-7 hours duration) are only for those who are really tour fans and are not afraid to walk all day long.
There are two versions of the tour.
One shows you the Quartier Latin and Île de la Cité area, then there is a standard (daytime) Louvre Tour, and then the tour continues to the Tuileries Garden, Place Vendôme, and Place de la Concorde.
The other includes Quartier Latin, Île de la Cité, and le Marais, ending with a Louvre Evening Tour, knowing that in the evening, the Louvre is usually less crowded than in the daytime.
7 hrs, from €380 For 2
Paris – The Essentials all day with the Louvre Tour included
A full-day private tour of Paris (+/- 7 hours) designed explicitly for first-timers who want a first discovery of the historical heart of the French capital, and with a Louvre private day tour included.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
7 hrs, from €380 For 2
Paris – The Essentials All day with Louvre Evening Tour included
A full-day private tour of Paris (+/- 7 hours) specifically designed for first-timers who want a first discovery of the historical heart of the French capital, and with a Louvre private day tour included.
🔒 Private tour
🎓 Licensed Tour guide
⏱️ Flexible schedule
🎟️ Museum tickets not included
🚧 Louvre Tours in Preparation
Art of Islam
In one of the quietest parts of the Louvre, under the Cour Visconti. There is the “Baptistère de Saint Louis,” a 14th-century Islamic art jewel, a hammered brass basin that was used as a baptismal font for future French Kings.
Near Eastern Antiquities
On May 1st, 1847, officials inaugurated the world’s first Assyrian Museum in the Louvre. Nowadays, the Near Eastern Antiquities Departmentcovers three areas: Mesopotamia, Persia, and the Levant(Cyprus, Lucia, Lydia, Cilicia, and Phoenicia).
The department is full of amazing artifacts: The department is full of amazing artifacts: ʿThe Statue of Ebih-Il (2400 BC), the Superintendent of Mari’s ancient city-state. The Code of Hammurabi (1792 – 1750 BC); The Cour Khorsabad (Circa 700 BC) with the Lamassu of the palace of Assyrian king Sargon II; Frieze of Archers of Darius’s Palace (550 – 486 BC); Passing Lion (Babylon, reign of Nebuchadrezzar II, 605 BC–562 BC), etc.
History of Sculpture Through the Ages
From ʿAin Ghazal Statue (Circa 7000 BC) to 19th-century Romanticism.
Rubens, the Master of Flemish Baroque, and Marie de’ Medicis’ friend
Rubens, from the Romanist painter to the preeminent Baroque leader. His friends and collaborators included Van Dick, Jan Brueghel, etc. The tour will focus on Rubens’s principal masterpieces at the Louvre, his 24 paintings for the Marie de’ Medici Cycle.
The Louvre and the Bible.
From Ancient Mesopotamia to Baroque painting …. soon!
The Louvre Museum.
🛈 Clarifications Skip-the-Line-Tickets – When to Come to the Louvre to Make the Most of Your Stay
Skip-the-Line Tickets Are a Marketing Concept; They are Just Standard Online Timed Tickets
The Louvre website says, “All visitors, including those entitled to free admission (including Paris Museum Pass bearers), must book a time slot. Buy your ticket online at www.ticketlouvre.fr… During off-peak times, there may also be a limited number of time slots for same-day visits available for booking at the museum. However … to guarantee your entry … we strongly advise booking your time slot in advance online.” Conclusion: no magic. During your time slot, you are entitled to enter the online booking security line, so yes, you skip the line… of those who come without a ticket.
See our specific page explaining in detail what you get with “the skip the line tickets,” what is the best moment to visit the Louvre to avoid the crowd, and the three ways to get real skip-the-line privilege access to the Louvre.
One of these three ways is to take a private tour with a licensed guide, such as Yves in Broaden-horizons. Indeed, these guides have access to a reserved special gate of the Louvre when leading tours with small groups of up to six people. We can’t guarantee this privilege, as the gate may be closed due to contingencies on the day of your tour. The Louvre may also decide to suppress that gate without prior notice. If this happens, we will write it here as soon as we know it.
Anyway, there are more than one entry gate in the Louvre, so whatever happens, if you are on a Broaden-horizons tour, your guide will do his best to optimize the situation.
♿ Accessibility – Wheelchair in Louvre Tours
The Louvre has excellent accessibility. People in wheelchairs are welcome on our Louvre tours, but please always contact us before booking. Some themed tours may be difficult (or even impossible) to organize. Whatever tour we speak about, the itinerary and content will differ from the usual ones due to elevator constraints. Sometimes, problems may occur (elevator out of order). Your guide will, in function of the contingencies of the day of the tour, define a step-free, wheelchair-friendly itinerary on the go throughout the museum.
❓FAQS – More about the Louvre
Q: How Long Does It Take to Visit the Louvre?
If you are an art lover, planning a whole day there makes a lot of sense.
The tour also helps you understand how the museum is organized and find your bearings there.
Q: What Are The Rules to Follow in The Louvre?
Q: Is It Possible to Go Outside and Come Back with the Same Louvre Ticket?
Q: Is it Possible to Spend All Day in The Louvre & Eat There?
Q: Is it Possible to Have a Guide for the Whole Day?
⭐ What our Guests Say
“The Louvre – 2hr Tour
Sept 2025 • Family
We had an outstanding tour with Yves as he showed us the best of The Louvre! His knowledge and understanding combined with the enthusiasm he brought to our tour provided a excellent experience. We moved quickly from area to area while he gave us the facts and history of the artifacts we viewed. Yves was clearly prepared for our varied questions and did his best to take us through the vast museum efficiently. We followed his advice and timed the tour to finish at the museum’s closing time which provided us excellent views of the most popular exhibits. I highly recommend this tour with Yves. We will arrange a Louvre tour with him again when we return.“
Mark R • Tripadvisor
“Don’t delay, book this today!
Aug 2025 • Family
Our tour with Yves was a highlight of our 3 weeks in Europe and was worth every penny! Yves clearly knows the Louvre inside and out, and we saw so much more in our 2+ hours than we ever would have on our own. Yves listened carefully to my daughter’s interests and picked up that my husband was a history buff, and he tailored the tour effectively. He walks fast, talks a lot, and knows how to zip around the crowds. Most impressive was his knowledge of art, art history, and his ability to make the art come alive with his detailed stories and descriptions. Skipping the long lines to get in was only one of the many advantages of this tour. It was hands down the best museum tour we’ve ever had! Don’t delay, book this today!“
Carrie R • Portland, OR • Tripadvisor
A Tour de France of the Louvre
I booked the alternative tour for my partner and myself to have a different take on the Louvre. We met Yves at the entrance and he asked for our preferences and what we liked and adjusted the tour accordingly. We had a Tour de France with Yves, unforgettable, we walked 9km in 2 hours and got amazing insights into some of the most amazing art pieces, and no, not only the Mona Lisa. Yves advised us to do the Friday evening tour to avoid the crowds and I can only highly recommend that. We had a fantastic time!
The highlight of our trip!!
“This was the best investment and hands down the highlight of our trip!! We booked a tour of the Louvre with Yves. The Louvre is huge and there is so much to see. In two hours, Yves managed to show us an incredible amount. He is deeply knowledgeable about art history, and it was amazingly helpful to have him contextualize what we were seeing for us. We are already planning to book with him again the next time we are in Paris. Don’t hesitate—this is an experience that is worth every penny!!”
Louvre, daytime tour
The tour and Yves was really a wonderful experience. Made the crowded Louvre a pleasure and taught us a great deal about history and the art within. We had a mix of ages from 6 to 75 years, thus many different needs. Yves accommodated and supported the whole group while keeping his personable and educational approach. I wish we had known of Yves earlier in our trip, we would have used him in other areas of France. We will definitely rebook and recommend Yves highly for others.
Fun at the Louvre
“If you really want to enjoy an art museum and do a deep dive into art history you must take a tour at the Louvre with Yves. I don’t remember a tour that was so much fun and informative.”
Gigi – April 2023 – Tripadvisor