What changed in 2026

Much of the Paris ticketing advice still circulating online predates this year. These are the changes that affect real bookings today.

• Two-tier pricing for non-EEA visitors. From 14 January 2026 the Louvre charges €32 to visitors who are neither citizens nor residents of the EEA, up from €22, while EEA citizens and residents pay €22. The Palace of Versailles Passport and Sainte-Chapelle introduced the same split.
• Eiffel Tower stairs need a reservation. The Tower’s official site states that from 29 September 2026, advance reservations are required for stairs tickets. New fares apply to visits from 11 January 2027, so prices in this guide are 2026 prices.
• Musée d’Orsay is under works until summer 2028. Since 10 March 2026 its reception areas are being rebuilt in phases. Online booking is strongly recommended, and Paris Museum Pass holders must now reserve a timed slot.
• The Catacombs reopened. They closed on 3 November 2025 for renovation and reopened on 8 April 2026.
• The Centre Pompidou is closed. It shut on 22 September 2025 and is due to reopen in 2030, so any “Pompidou ticket” offer today is not for the building itself.
• Versailles changes season on 1 November. The Passport drops from €35 to €25 for non-EEA adults (€32 to €22 for EEA), and the Gardens become free to enter.

How Paris attraction booking really works

It helps to sort attractions by how unforgiving they are, because that decides how early you must book and how much flexibility you should keep in the rest of your trip.

The practical consequence: book your two or three hardest slots first (usually the Eiffel Tower summit, Versailles and the Catacombs), then build the rest of each day around them.

Official sites, resellers and fake sites

Why official sites come first

Official sites charge the face value. Reseller listings for the same entry often add a booking fee: one major reseller lists the Musée d’Orsay €16 ticket plus a €2 to €6.50 fee depending on the listing. The Orsay museum also says it can only process orders made on its own ticketing site, which matters if you need to change or query a booking.

When a reseller is the right call

• The official dates are sold out and you have flexibility on price.
• You want a guided tour or a bundle (for example entry plus a cruise) that the attraction does not sell itself.
• You value free cancellation more than saving a few euros, since some official tickets are non-refundable (Versailles states this explicitly).

Where the real sites are

Eiffel Tower

Children under 4 enter free but still need a free ticket. A reduced disability rate applies to a visitor with a disability card in their own name plus one companion. These are 2026 fares; the Tower has published a new price list for visits from 11 January 2027.

How to book

• Lift tickets go on sale online 60 days before the visit date, and the summit sells out first. The Tower says it releases returned tickets a few days before each date, so it is worth re-checking.
• Stairs tickets are released on a shorter window than lifts, and have required advance reservation since 29 September 2026. The Tower’s ticketing FAQ has quoted 14 days at various points, so confirm on the calendar when you book.
• You can buy up to nine tickets per online order. Groups of more than nine, including the guide, must buy through the Tower’s professional ticketing site (ticketpro.toureiffel.paris) from 29 September 2026.
• If online dates are sold out, the Tower also sells tickets at its on-site ticket offices.

Practical details that affect your booking

• The summit is 276 m, the second floor 116 m, the first floor 57 m. The summit and the stairs are not suitable for people with limited mobility.
• Access to the summit can be restricted in severe weather or at busy times. Book summit tickets for a day you can afford to lose, or choose a second-floor ticket if the forecast is poor.
• There is no left-luggage facility, and large luggage is not allowed in. Bag checks apply.
• Opening hours vary by date. On the day this guide was checked the Tower was open 09:30 to 23:00, with last ascents at 22:45. Evening visits are a good way to avoid the daytime peak.

Official bundles worth knowing about

The official site sells guided tours with an official Tower guide (from €53.50 adult for the second floor, €66.70 to €71.70 for versions reaching the summit), summit tickets with a glass of champagne (€60.70 adult) and a summit-plus-brunch option at Madame Brasserie (€121.70 adult). Compare these against a reseller’s “skip the line” version of the same visit before paying extra, because the Tower’s own timed tickets already let you go straight to the lifts or stairs at your slot.

The Eiffel Tower is not included in the Paris Museum Pass or the Paris Pass family.

Louvre

Reading the rules correctly

• EEA means citizenship or residence, not where you flew from. The EEA is the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Residents need a residence permit or a visa valid for more than three months. Carry the proof, since the EEA rate and under-26 free entry both depend on ID.
• One ticket covers two museums. A Louvre ticket also admits you to the Musée national Eugène-Delacroix on the day of your Louvre visit or the day after.
• Exits are final. The Louvre states that leaving ends the visit, so plan lunch inside or finish before you go out.
• Free evenings are busy. The Louvre recommends booking a time slot even for free entry, and the crowd is larger than on a normal Friday evening.
• Evening visits (Wednesday and Friday until 21:00) are an easy way to find slots when daytime ones are gone.
• Strikes happen. Staff action has delayed openings and closed rooms at times in recent years, so check the museum’s homepage the morning of your visit.

A guide at the Louvre is a separate decision from a ticket. For group tours the museum caps groups at 20 people, and guided groups pay €28 per person for admission. See guided tours for how to judge whether one is worth it.

Palace of Versailles

What the Passport actually is

The Passport is the one ticket that includes a timed tour of the Palace, plus the Trianon estate (Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, Queen’s Hamlet, from noon), temporary exhibitions and the Gardens. Only the Palace visit needs a time slot; the rest of the estate can be explored freely through the day. Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

Booking advice specific to Versailles

• Book the Palace slot first, then plan the day around it. The Palace is open 09:00 to 18:30 and closed on Mondays, on 25 December, 1 January and 1 May. Trianon opens at noon, so a morning Palace slot followed by a Trianon afternoon works naturally.
• The late-admission Passport is a real saving if you do not need the whole day: €28 instead of €35 in high season for non-EEA adults, and €18 instead of €25 in low season.
• If Palace slots are gone, the official site offers Trianon-only tickets, and in high season a combined Musical Gardens plus Trianon ticket (€20, €17 EEA) aimed at people who cannot get a Palace slot.
• Free entry covers the Palace and Trianon (not the high-season Musical Gardens) for under-18s of any nationality and EEA citizens or residents under 26.
• Paris Museum Pass holders must still obtain a free Passport ticket, which carries the timed Palace slot.

The timing is useful this week: the Gardens admission charge ends after 31 October, and from 1 November the lower Passport prices apply.

Musée d’Orsay and Orangerie

• Price: €16 standard admission on the museum’s ticketing platform. Free for under-18s, EU nationals or long-term residents aged 18–25, Paris Museum Pass holders and several other categories.
• Closed Mondays. There is a late opening on Thursdays from 18:00.
• Reservation: works to rebuild the reception areas started on 10 March 2026 and run until summer 2028. The museum says online booking is strongly recommended. A standard ticket does not strictly require a time slot, but Paris Museum Pass holders must book a timed slot, and the first Sunday of each month (free for all) requires a reservation.
• Entrances changed. Ticket types are directed to different doors during the works, and visitors with luggage use entrance 2 at the forecourt. Arrive at least 15 minutes before a timed slot.
• Orangerie (Monet’s Water Lilies) shares the same ticketing group, recommends reservations and requires a free reservation on first Sundays.

Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie

Under-18s enter free. Many pages still show €13 and €21; those are pre-2026 prices. Book through monuments-nationaux.fr. Sainte-Chapelle runs on timed entry, and everyone passes through the Palais de Justice security checks first, so allow time even with a reserved slot. The stained glass is best seen on a bright day, so a morning slot is a sensible default.

The combined ticket is the better value if you want both: it costs less than buying the two separately. Paris Museum Pass holders get in free but should still book a slot.

Notre-Dame

• The cathedral is free. It reopened in December 2024. A free online reservation is recommended because of the volume of visitors; there is nothing to pay for entry.
• The towers cost €16 and reopened on 20 September 2025. The climb is self-guided, takes about 50 minutes and reaches a 360-degree view at 69 metres.
• Towers must be booked online through the Centre des monuments nationaux. There is no ticket office on site and no entry without a reservation. Under-18s are free but still book a slot.
• Bad weather can close the towers. In an exceptional closure, e-tickets bought through the official service are refunded automatically to the card that paid.

If a website offers “Notre-Dame entry tickets” for the cathedral interior, it is reselling a free reservation or bundling it into a tour. That can be reasonable if you want a guide, but know what you are paying for.

Arc de Triomphe

The monument’s admission, which covers the museum inside and the rooftop terrace, is priced by season by the Centre des monuments nationaux: €17 in low season and €22 in high season for individual visitors. Seasons are generally described as roughly April to September for high season, so late October falls in the lower price. I could not confirm the exact season dates or whether timed slots are compulsory from the official pages, so check the booking calendar.

Remember the access rule: you cannot cross the roundabout. Use the underground pedestrian passage from the Champs-Élysées or Avenue de la Grande Armée. The Arc is included in the Paris Museum Pass.

Catacombs

• Release timing. Several visitor guides report that official tickets are released exactly seven days ahead at 10:00 Paris time and sell out quickly. I could not confirm the window on the official page, so check the booking calendar on the day you plan to book. Set a reminder for 10:00 French time, seven days before you want to go.
• Capacity is small. Guides report 200 people inside at once, which is why slots go fast.
• Physical demands. The route involves a long descent and climb (guides report 131 steps down and 112 up) and is not suited to people with limited mobility or claustrophobia.
• If official slots are gone, use a reseller that the Catacombs lists as authorised, or a small-group guided tour. Avoid sellers not on the official list.

Seine cruises

Sightseeing cruises run about an hour to an hour and a quarter, with commentary or audio guides, and no stops. Operators and boarding points:

• Bateaux Parisiens: Port de la Bourdonnais, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
• Bateaux-Mouches: Pont de l’Alma.
• Vedettes du Pont Neuf: Square du Vert-Galant, near Notre-Dame.
• Vedettes de Paris: on the left bank by the Eiffel Tower (listings name Port de Suffren and Pont de Grenelle, so check your voucher).

Operator price listings put standard adult sightseeing fares at roughly €16 to €20 in 2026, with children aged 4 to 11 around half that. Treat these as ballpark figures, because operators run web-only offers and they move. Compare the operator’s own site with a reseller listing and check the cancellation terms. Cruises are not included in the Paris Museum Pass.

Cruise choice is mostly about where you want to start: a boat leaving beside the Eiffel Tower fits an evening after a Tower visit; one from near Notre-Dame suits an Ile de la Cité day.

Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou closed to the public on 22 September 2025 for a renovation expected to last until 2030. Its major exhibitions are being hosted at the Grand Palais in the meantime, and its collection is touring through a programme of partner venues. Do not buy a ticket for the building.

Paris Museum Pass: the maths

The Paris Museum Pass gives one entry to each of 50-plus museums and monuments in Paris and the surrounding region. It is valid for 48, 96 or 144 hours from your first use, and excludes temporary exhibitions and guided tours. It does not include the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs or cruises, and you still need timed slots at the busiest sites (including the Louvre, Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle, Orangerie, Versailles and the Notre-Dame towers).

Prices. Sources that cite the official issuer put the pass at €85 (2 days), €105 (4 days) and €125 (6 days). I also found reseller and affiliate pages quoting €90/€109/€139 and €110/€129/€159 for 2026, which are higher; fees and markups are the likely reason, so compare the final checkout total against €85/€105/€125.

Two honest limits. First, for EEA citizens and residents the single-ticket prices are lower (Louvre €22, Sainte-Chapelle €16, Versailles Passport €22 in low season), and under-26s from the EEA enter many national sites free, so the pass is much harder to justify. Second, the pass does not skip security queues and does not replace reservations. Its real value is the price and not having to buy at every door.

Guided tours: when they are worth it

A guide is worth paying for where the building is hard to read without help (the Louvre, Versailles, the Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie pair) and much less so where the experience is the view (the Tower, the Arc, a cruise).

Questions that separate good tours from bad ones

• Is the admission ticket included? At the Louvre, the €12 guided-tour fee does not include entry, and everyone on a tour still needs an admission ticket unless they qualify for free entry. A “cheap” tour that excludes admission can cost more than a bundle.
• Is the guide licensed? Versailles restricts self-guided group tours to groups led by a guide with a professional tour guide card, and the Louvre gives certified guides (French ministry or national museum alliance accreditation) special handling. Ask the operator to confirm the guide’s accreditation.
• How big is the group? The Louvre caps guided groups at 20. Larger numbers mean more waiting and less listening.
• What does “skip the line” skip? Usually only the ticket-office queue. Security screening and timed entry still apply. At the Eiffel Tower your own timed ticket already goes straight to the lift or stairs at your slot.
• What are the cancellation terms? Official Versailles tickets are non-refundable, so a reseller with free cancellation up to 24 hours can be worth a few euros.
• Official guided options exist. The Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Versailles all run their own, which are the benchmark to compare against.

A booking timeline

Plan around closing days

Most of the stress of Paris sightseeing comes from collisions between your itinerary and the weekly closing day.

So Monday is a Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Sainte-Chapelle day, and Tuesday is the one for Orsay, Versailles or the Catacombs. Late openings help too: the Louvre stays open to 21:00 on Wednesday and Friday, Orsay opens late on Thursday, and the Eiffel Tower is open into the late evening. Check public holidays: the Louvre closes on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.

Free and cheaper ways in

• Notre-Dame cathedral: free, with a free reservation recommended.
• Louvre: free for everyone on the first Friday of the month after 18:00 (not July and August) and on 14 July, with a booked slot.
• Musée d’Orsay: free for all on the first Sunday of the month, reservation mandatory.
• Versailles: the Gardens are free to enter in low season (1 November to 31 March), and the late-admission Passport lowers the Palace price.
• Under-18s: free at the Louvre, Versailles, Sainte-Chapelle and the Arc; check each site for proof requirements.
• EEA citizens and residents under 26: free at the Louvre, Versailles, Orsay (ages 18–25) and other national sites, with ID.
• Eiffel Tower: go second floor by stairs (€14.80) if you mainly want the atmosphere, then pay the higher fee only if the summit view matters to you.

Common mistakes

1. Booking the Eiffel Tower summit last. It is the scarcest ticket; fix it first.
2. Assuming the pass replaces a reservation. It does not at the Louvre, Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle, Versailles or Orangerie.
3. Buying the wrong price tier. Check whether you qualify as EEA, and carry ID, because staff may ask for proof at the door.
4. Treating old blog prices as current. €22 as the Louvre price for everyone, and €13 for Sainte-Chapelle, are out of date for most visitors.
5. Stacking too many timed slots in one day, especially with Versailles, which needs a half-day plus travel.
6. Buying a Centre Pompidou ticket while the building is closed.
7. Forgetting security time. A timed slot gets you to the front of the ticket queue, not past bag checks. Arrive 15 to 30 minutes early.

Frequently asked questions

How this guide was checked

Every price, hour and rule here was compared against the attraction’s own web pages on 26 October 2026 where available. Where official pages did not state something, the guide says so and labels it as reported by visitor guides. Specific items I could not confirm from an official source:

• The Catacombs’ seven-day release window and 200-person capacity (visitor guides).
• The Eiffel Tower stairs-ticket release window (the official FAQ has quoted different figures over time).
• Arc de Triomphe season dates and whether slots are mandatory.
• Seine cruise prices (operator price listings, which vary by offer).
• The Paris Museum Pass official price (cited by sources that reference the issuer; resellers differ).

Prices, hours and rules change often, and the Eiffel Tower has already announced new fares from 11 January 2027. Re-check the booking page before you pay.

Sources

• Eiffel Tower: prices and opening times
• Eiffel Tower: tips for buying tickets
• Eiffel Tower: official ticketing FAQ
• Louvre: hours and admission
• Associated Press: Louvre price increase for non-EU visitors
• Palace of Versailles: 2026 ticketing
• Musée d’Orsay: renovation works and access (French)
• Musée d’Orsay: ticketing FAQ (French)
• Centre des monuments nationaux: 2026 rates
• Towers of Notre-Dame (Paris Region)
• Paris Catacombs: official site
• Paris tourist office: Centre Pompidou closure
• Paris Museum Pass 2026 pricing (secondary source)
• Catacombs booking window (visitor guide)
• Bateaux Parisiens price and departure listing (reseller)