How to Visit the Louvre with Kids: Practical Tips & What to See

With more than 35,000 works of art spread across three wings and multiple floors, the Louvre can be daunting, especially with kids. So what’s the best game plan? Simply this: don’t feel you need to see everything. Instead, go for a focused 2-hour visit of these six highlights – a greatest hits tour, as it were. 

Here’s your itinerary for visiting the Louvre with kids, plus tips on how to skip the lines, avoid the crowds and keep everyone engaged with the artworks. 

1. Stay close to the Louvre. Booking a central hotel like Novotel Paris Les Halles places you and the kids a 10-minute walk from the Louvre – no need for public transport!
2. Book your tickets online in advance. Pre-booked tickets are for timed entry and help you cut down on waiting time. Children under 18 go free (remember to take photo ID for proof).
3. Choose your time carefully. Weekday mornings are quieter than weekends. Try to arrive just before the 9am opening time. Wednesday and Friday evenings are another excellent option, when the Louvre opens until 9pm. 
4. Use a lesser-known entrance. Most people make a beeline for the famed Pyramid, so head instead for the Carrousel (99, rue de Rivoli) or Porte des Lions (Quai François Mitterrand) entrances.

5. Download the free Louvre app. It has offline maps that you can use to plan your route before you arrive.

6. Bring a lightweight stroller or child carrier for kids under 5. Note only front baby carriers are allowed. You can also borrow a stroller or hire a front baby carrier on site. 

The sequence below will help you cover the Louvre's essentials with your kids with minimal backtracking.

Where: Denon Wing, Room 711, Level 1

Why: Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait, believed to be of a merchant's wife named Lisa Gherardini, was painted some 500 years ago. She sits in front of a hazy, dreamlike landscape, with a smile that’s one of the most debated in art history. This room is always crowded, so it’s good to tick off your list while you’re still fresh into your visit to the Louvre with kids. One important piece of expectation management: the portrait is small; 77cm by 53cm. Tell your kids in advance to prevent the “is that it?” reaction at the door. 

Fact to share: The Mona Lisa wasn’t always this famous. For most of its life, it hung quietly in French royal collections, and then at the Louvre, admired as a top-tier Renaissance work but not widely known. Its theft in 1911 made front pages worldwide, and when the painting was recovered two years later, the frenzy never died down. 

Extra fun: Ask your kids if they've noticed that she's looking directly at us, just like we're looking at her. What is she thinking and feeling?

Where: Denon Wing, Room 711, Level 1 – opposite the Mona Lisa

Why: Paolo Veronese's masterpiece is often overlooked in favour of its more popular neighbour. At nearly 10 metres wide, it depicts the biblical miracle of turning water into wine within a lavish 16th-century Venetian banquet. 

Fact to share: There are over 130 figures depicted. In addition to Jesus and Mary in the centre, Veronese has depicted himself as a musician in white, along with fellow artists Titian and Bassano.

Extra fun: Challenge your kids to find three interesting details in the painting. For older kids, this could be the lamb being carved on a butcher's block above Jesus, foreshadowing his death, while for younger kids it could be the little dog walking on the right side of the banquet table.

Where: Denon Wing, Room 703, Level 1, at the top of the Daru staircase

Why: The Winged Victory, or the Greek goddess Nike, is a massive marble statue carved around 190 BC. She stands at the top of the Daru staircase with her wings spread, leaning into an imaginary wind. Climb the staircase slowly – the reveal as she emerges is truly dramatic, even though she has no head or arms. 

Fact to share: It’s believed that the statue was originally positioned on the prow of a ship overlooking the sea, which explains her forward lean and the way her drapery seems to billow behind her in the wind.

Extra fun: Ask the kids: if she had a head, what expression do you think she’d have on her face?

Where: Sully Wing, Room 345, Level 0 

Why: The Venus de Milo, believed to depict the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite, dates back to around the second century BC. Over 2m tall, she’s inspired writers, painters and poets since her discovery, with over 70 published poems about her. 

Fact to share: Ancient Greek sculptures like this one were originally painted in vivid, lifelike colour. Her lips would have been red, her eyes detailed, her clothing brightly coloured. She probably also had real jewellery. 

Extra fun: Ask the kids how her arms might have been positioned. Could she have been holding a shield, reaching towards another figure, or simply adjusting her own drapery?

Where: Sully Wing, Room 338, Level -1
 

Why: The Sphinx, over 4m long and carved from a single block of red granite, meets you first as you descend into the Department of Egyptian Antiquities. It dates back more than 4,000 years and has the body of a lion and the face of a king. 
 

Fact to share: The face was recarved at least twice over the centuries as different pharaohs claimed the sphinx as their own portrait – a kind of ancient rebranding. The body is far older than the face currently on it. 

Extra fun: The famous Sphinx riddle from Greek mythology is: “What creature has one voice, but has four feet in the morning, two feet in the afternoon and three feet at night?” Challenge the kids with this riddle (the answer is “man”) or ask them to come up with one of their own!

Where: Sully Wing, Room 323, Level -1

Why: Tucked away in a dimly lit niche is the mummy of a man, his head wrapped with an unusual, intricate design. He is believed to have been between 20 and 30 years old when he died, and a recent CT scan revealed his name to be Bashiri.  

Fact to share: The mummification process itself took around 70 days. Canopic jars – which you can find on display – each held a specific organ removed during mummification. The heart was left inside the body, because the Egyptians believed it was the seat of intelligence and would be weighed against a feather in the afterlife to judge whether the person had lived well.

Extra fun: Challenge the kids to spot three hieroglyph symbols (perhaps an eye, an owl, a seated figure) as you walk through the galleries. What did these symbols represent?

Still have time and energy to spare? Consider weaving one or more of these optional stops into your Louvre with kids itinerary:
 

Remember that a short, well-planned visit to the Louvre with kids is more memorable than an exhaustive one. They’ll leave with vivid impressions and, perhaps most valuably of all, the desire to come back some day. Searching for more Paris inspo? Check out this guide to the best Paris attractions for teenagers and travel games to play while in transit or in a queue.   

Parents planning a visit to the Louvre with kids can follow a 6-stop itinerary in 2 hours covering must-see exhibits like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. To avoid crowds, visitors should book online in advance, and use the Carrousel or Porte des Lions entrances.