Louvre Evening Tour With Yves Private Tour Guide

Avoid the crowd and enjoy a Louvre evening private tour. Friday evening, the Louvre is open until 9:30 PM. Why visit the Louvre during the most crowded hours when you can enjoy a quiet after-hour private tour?

Photo of the Louvre pyramid at twilight to illustrated the Louvre guided tours.

Louvre in the evening in winter. Louvre evening tours are possible on Friday as the Louvre closes at 9:45 PM.

The Louvre Private Evening Tour in a Nutshell

From 130 € for 1 to 2 people + 45 € per extra person.

  • Guided tour in English
  • Genuine private tour = your party only (up to 6 persons)
  • Various tour themes are available 
  • Postgraduate (MPhil) certified French national guide
  • Friday evening only
  • Two meeting point options: outside or inside the Museum
  • Skip-the-line tickets not included to buy online (17 € per adult)

KNOW MORE / BOOK NOW

Yves Your Private Tour Guide in the Louvre

Certified French national guide
BA, Magna Cum Laude, Heritage Developpement & Preservation from Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers
Postgraduate from Paris Dauphine-PSL University

Know more about Yves, your private tour guide in Paris

Yves Last Louvre Evening Tour Reviews

Exploring the arc of art history at the Louvre

We took the evening Louvre tour with Yves and it was one of the highlights of our time in Paris. The Louvre can be overwhelming, so if your goal is to go and take a selfie with the Mona Lisa and call it good, that’s fine. I had been there before and wanted something more than just the standard audio tour. My wife and I were looking for a more unique experience with more depth exposing us to more about the works, the history of the museum, and the larger arc of art history as a whole, and that’s what we got from our tour with Yves! His selection of works to highlight during the tour was well chosen to get at that arc of art history to help the interested laypeople like us. Yves brought a ton of energy and knowledge that really drove the tour and got us involved from start to finish. As the tour went on, he was adapting some of the focus points to the topics/lines of questioning that we were focusing on throughout, providing a very personal feel to the end product of the tour. I have a technical mindset as well as an interest in history, and he picked up on that from my questions and deftly weaved elements of that into the tour as we progressed. It was obvious that he is guiding tours due to his passion for the subject matter. As a history enthusiast, I also really appreciated how he was very thorough in pointing out what he knew (and could back up with research) versus where there was some speculation in the historical consensus. As a private tour, I doubt there are any as affordable with this high of a product and I would highly recommend Yves as a guide for anyone looking for compelling depth and energy in a private tour.

GriffsDontJingle

May 2023 - Tripadvisor

Why Choose a Louvre Evening Private Tour?

The Louvre is the most famous and most visited museum in the world. Long entry lines are not the sole problem; crowded or very crowded galleries are another, often not only in high season. It may partially or totally spoil your Louvre experience.

Louvre Tour Huge Lines to Enter

Huge waiting lines to enter the museum on December 28th, 2022 around 10 AM to illustrate the interest in a Louvre Evening tour. Lines go in all directions and continue a long way after the small pyramid!

Photo of the crowd at Mona Lisa to illustrate the advantages of a Louvre private evening tour, Paris, France.

The crowd at Mona Lisa at pick hours during day time. Credit Brittany Chastagnier Unsplash.

Given this situation, a private Louvre evening tour is the best choice to make the most of your stay at the Louvre.

In the evening after 6PM the line for security control is usually much shorter. 

Instead of having a more and more crowded museum when doing your tour during normal daytime,

in the evening, the Louvre will become quieter and quieter while your tour goes on.

Furthermore, the crowds will not only become smaller and smaller but will change to more and more art Lovers.

You will experience another more peaceful Louvre, having even probably an impression of intimacy at the end of the evening.  

In fall and winter, this feeling of intimacy will be reinforced by the absence of daylight (there are a lot of crystal roofs in the Louvre).

In an evening tour, accessing the most famous works of art of the Louvre will, most of the time, be much easier.

A Louvre Evening Tour is your best chance to approach the Venus de Milo and, even more, the Mona Lisa without being totally overwhelmed by the crowd.

Usually, after 9 PM or 9:15 PM, they are really fewer people in front of Mona Lisa, so at the end of the tour or just after it, you will optimize your chance to see it at the best possible conditions

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa – da Vinci. Credit: The Yorck Project – GNU Free Documentation License.

An evening tour is the best solution to make the most of your Louvre discovery. Don’t miss it, furthermore, if it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

During winter, the special evening experience with continue after your Louvre Tour.

You will fully enjoy the charm of the city of light at night when leaving the Louvre as the famous museum is in the very center of Paris.

Louvre at Night

The Louvre and its Pyramid at night.

Photo of Comédie française at night just beside the louvre.

The Comédie Française at night, just beside the Louvre.

What is the content of the Louvre evening private tour?

There is no specific content for the Louvre evening private tour. Still, it makes a lot of sense to dedicate your Louvre evening private tour to discovering the usually most crowded Louvre galleries. The Louvre consists of three wings:

  • Sully,
  • Denon,
  • Richelieu.

The most crowded wing is the Denon one. There are the Victory of Samothrace, Mona Lisa, and the other Da Vincci masterpieces, the jewel of the French Crown, and the most famous 19th-century French paintings (Coronation of Napoléon, Raft of the Medusa, etc.).

Then comes the Sully Wing where are the Venus de Milo and the ancient Egypt collection.

Two of our tours focus on the most crowded part of the Denon and the Sully wings; they are the ones for which an evening tour makes tremendous sense.

The Louvre Classic Discovery Private Tour

The Louvre Italian Renaissance Painting Private Tour

Both tours can be directly booked from this page.

Photo of the Venus de Milo to illustrate the Louvre private evening tour, Paris, France.

Typically Venus de Milo’s gallery is very crowded during day time. An evening tour will give you a much better experience there. Credit Jean Carlo Emer Unsplash.

Photo of The Crucifixion by Andrea Mantegna

The Crucifixion by Andrea Mantegna, one of the famous masterpieces at the beginning of the famous Great Gallery in the Denon Wing, that you will be able to admire in much better conditions. Credit: The Yorck Project – GNU Free Documentation License.

Photo of the Daru Staircase to illustrate the advantages of a louvre private evening tour, Paris, France. - Kazuo-ota Up

At nightfall, a nearly empty Daru Staircase (Denon Wing) with the Nike of Samothrace in the background.

Enjoy the Italian Renaissance Masterpieces till the end in a more practicable Great Gallery to discover the works of Caravaggio which are closing the period. Credit: The Yorck Project – GNU Free Documentation License.

Our Other Louvre tours At Night: The Empty Gallery Experience

All our Louvre tours may be booked as an evening private tour if the corresponding gallery is open on Friday (always check that before all, as the Louvre opening calendar is far to be unchangeable).
There is an important disequilibrium between the Louvre galleries. Meanwhile, at pick hours in Denon wing, the Great Gallery with its Italian paintings is always very crowded; at the same time, French or Dutch & Flemish painting galleries in Richelieu or Sully wings will probably be nearly empty.

So if you book a French or Dutch & Flemish painting tour on Friday night, we will probably be nearly alone in the related galleries where you will have the impression having the Louvre Museum only for you. An amazing experience.

To book these tours as Friday evening tours, just go on the corresponding Louvre tour page and book a tour departure time at the end of Friday afternoon.

 

Women Alone in From of the Marie de’ Medici Cycle by Peter Paul Rubens_px<br />

Women alone in Marie de Medici’s Cycle by Peter Paul Rubens. Richelieu wing, Louvre.

Combine Louvre 4 hours Extended Tours and Louvre Evening Tour

For an extensive discovery of the Louvre in the best condition combining the Friday evening solution with our Louvre 4 hours tour is an optimum choice.

For this combination, we start our tour around 4.30 PM or 5 PM with an end of the guided tour planned around 9 PM.

Typically this kind of tour is made of two parts.

The first 2 hours are dedicated to exploring some usually not too-crowded areas of the Richelieu wing, such as Napoléon III’s Appartements, French paintings, Dutch or Flemish Paintings, etc.

A second part at later hours focuses on Denon wing most popular areas (Da Vincci paintings, Vénus de Milo, Coronation of Napoléon, etc.).

Sculpture photo of the facade of the Louvre Museum to illustrate the Louvre Private Tour in Paris, France.

The first part of the Evening Tour may be an opportunity to discover the amazing paintings of Georges de la Tour, the French master of chiaroscuro. Credit: The Yorck Project – GNU Free Documentation License.

Man with a glove by Titian, Louvre, Paris, France

At the end of the tour the room where is Mona Lisa is becoming more practicable, a great opportunity to discover the Louvre Venetian Masterpieces which are also there, as the Amazing “Man with a Glove” by Titian. Credit: The Yorck Project – GNU Free Documentation License.

What if You Cannot Attend a Friday Evening Tour?

If you can’t attend a Friday Evening Tour, or if the Friday night tour slot you want is already booked.

If you have already seen the main Louvre artifacts and paintings (Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, etc.) or if seeing them during your tour is not mandatory for you.

Then there is an easy alternative solution:

THE LOUVRE ALTERNATIVE TOUR

An off-the-beaten-track Louvre discovery, mainly based on the Louvre Richelieu Wing the lesser visited part of the Louvre which is nevertheless full of amazing artefacts & paintings.

French sculptures From dark-ages to 19th century.

Nothern school painting (Dutch & Flemish).

French paintings From 16th to 19th century.

Napoleon III appartement.

Napoleon I artefacts.

Dark ages artefacts, etc.

Louvre Cour Puget - French Sculpture 17 to 17 C. in Richelieu Wing

The Louvre alternative tour. 17th Century French Sculpture at Cour Puget.

Things to know before Booking

Clarification: Skip-the-Line Tickets Are Just Standard Online Ones

Louvre website says "All visitors, including those entitled to free admission (including Paris Museum Pass bearer), must book a time slot. Buy your ticket online on 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!

Louvre Museum Tickets Fare

Museum tickets are not included in the tour price.

  • Online Louvre tickets: 17 € per adult
  • Free for all kids under 18 years old
  • Free under 26 years old for the European Union residents

Restrictions

  • Private tour means a tour for you & your party only, not that the museum is privatized.
  • Tour duration & content are purely indicative, they may vary due to contingencies.
  • In case of unexpected closed galleries you accept to follow a substitution content.
  • Prices do not include transportation, food, drinks or any other extra services.

Attention Points

  • Check the Louvre galleries closure schedule before planning your Louvre coming
  • Tour on foot in Louvre's huge galleries, so good health & comfortable shoes are mandatory
  • Photos are authorized, but without flash. Selfie sticks are not allowed.
  • WARNING proof of ID is mandatory as tickets are nominative!
  • WARNING print your tickets or at least upload them before coming to the Louvre (last minute problem uploading tickets may spoil the tour)

Meeting Point

Easy one Inside or outside the museum (detail during booking)

Access: Metro Line 1 station Palais-Royal

Book your Louvre Private Tour

Just request the date, time, number of people you want for your Louvre tour in our calendar and follow the below 4 steps online easy process.
(1) Receive our OK email (48h free pre-booking)
(2) Buy your Louvre tickets online (compatible schedule)
(3) Once you have your tickets pay your tour online
(4) Receive our
confirmation (email)
Nota bene: Step (1) free pre-booking is lost if no step (3) payment is received after 48h. Buy your ticket on Louvre official web site. Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Open hours:  9 am - 6 pm. Any exit is final.