The change arrived quietly in the middle of January and it reshapes the arithmetic of a trip here. The Louvre introduced two prices for the same ticket: one for residents of the European Economic Area, one about ten euros higher for everybody else, which means Americans, Britons, Canadians, Singaporeans and most other visitors. Versailles and Chambord announced their own versions, and the culture ministry has signalled that differentiated pricing is the direction for national museums generally. The reasons are a vast renovation programme, deep budget cuts and the security overhaul that followed the theft from the jewellery gallery. The effect for a traveller is simpler: museum admission is now the line in the budget that moves.
Plan the tickets, then, in the same week as the flights. The main museum runs on timed entry that is effectively compulsory and closes one day a week, and the walk-up queue is a poor second option. Passes only pay for themselves at a certain pace, so count the sights you will actually reach in a day. Visitors from outside Europe should also expect the newer border routine, fingerprints and a photograph rather than a passport stamp, with the separate online authorisation for visa free travellers still moving its start date. Compare flight and hotel prices for Paris first, since the airport and the district you sleep in decide how much of the day goes into transit.
The booking rules differ from one landmark to the next. The cathedral on the island is free to enter and intends to stay that way, a proposed tourist charge having been rejected by the diocese, but the free timed slot that shortens the queue is released only a couple of days ahead, so it cannot be locked in early; the tower climb and the treasury are separate paid tickets. The tower on the river sells lift slots well in advance and the summit goes first. The royal chapel with the stained glass and the underground ossuary sell timed entries that run out faster than expected. Guided tours hold their own allocations, sometimes the only way into a sold out slot.
Half of the best of Paris is still free. The churches, the cemeteries with their famous residents, the covered passages, the riverbank, the markets and the parks cost nothing. Several city run museums keep free permanent collections, and the national ones open without charge on certain days, which are also the days everybody else has the same idea. A walk from one arrondissement into the next, with a detour into whichever courtyard is open, remains the most underrated thing to do here.
Where you stay changes the city you get. Le Marais has boutique hotels and apartments around the Place des Vosges, central, expensive and lively well into the evening. Saint-Germain has classic hotels and small guesthouses near the Jardin du Luxembourg, quieter, older money, and a short walk to the river. The Latin Quarter has budget hotels and hostels in the lanes below the Panthéon, the obvious choice for a first visit on a tight budget. And Montmartre has family guesthouses and small hotels on the slopes under the Sacré-Cœur, village like, steep and a longer metro ride from everything.
Moving around is where visitors lose time needlessly. The old paper tickets are gone: fares load onto a reusable card or a phone, zones have been abolished for the metro and suburban trains, and a day pass covers the city but not the airports, which need their own ticket. From the main airport the suburban express train reaches the centre in half an hour; a prebooked transfer or a taxi earns its cost with luggage, small children or a late landing. Walking covers more than people expect. For the classic day trips, the palace outside the city and the cathedral town to the south west are reachable by regional train, and both charge the same higher rate to non European visitors. Check transfer, tour and hotel prices for France travel in one go, because the timed entries are what the rest of the day has to bend around.
Season matters less here than almost anywhere. Summer is hot and crowded, with much of the city on holiday in August and a fair number of restaurants shut. Autumn and spring are the good compromise. Winter is grey, quiet and the one time the museums are pleasant. Whenever you go, the timed slots are the constraint, not the weather. Personally, I would spend the money on one great museum booked at opening time rather than three booked badly, and give the rest of the day to the streets, which have not yet found a way to charge admission.
Q: How much more do non European visitors pay now?
A: At the main museum the difference is about ten euros a ticket, with residents of the European Economic Area keeping the old rate. Other national sites have announced their own versions, so check each one.
Q: Is the cathedral free to visit?
A: Yes, entry is free and the diocese has rejected a proposed visitor charge. The free timed reservation that shortens the queue only opens a couple of days ahead, and the towers and the treasury are separate paid tickets.
Q: Is a museum pass worth buying?
A: Only at a certain pace of sightseeing. Count the paid sights you will realistically enter in a day, remember the biggest ones still need their own timed slot, and compare with the individual rates.
Q: What is the best way in from the airport?
A: The suburban express train for speed, a prebooked transfer or taxi for luggage, late arrivals or a group. City day passes do not include the airport journey, which needs a separate ticket.
Q: Do the day trips cost more as well?
A: The palace and the great cathedral outside the city have introduced or announced higher rates for visitors from outside the European Economic Area, so budget for the same split.
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