Louvre Museum with Audio Guide

Booked a skip the queue with audio guide tour of the louvre. Got inside without a queue then waited 30 mins to see the Mona Lisa. From there, we couldn’t get back on track with our map and audio guide. We still saw so much amazing art. Just a shame we couldn’t spend longer there

The map we got from the museum front desk apparently was outdated. We were looking for display room of Mona Lisa, and it's in a completely different location than shown on the map. The audio guide the museum provided was Nintendo type screen, and we had a very difficult time using it. Took us almost 1 hours in line to see Mona Lisa. Feels like most visitors just come to see her. Other displays are average.

The Louvre is world famous and a 'must see'. It is recommended that tickets are bought online on the official website so as to avoid the large queue for the tickets, and preferably as early as possible. We reached at 0930 and spent close to six and a half hours there. The entry is made from the 'pyramid', the main entrance. It is unmistakable: a glass pyramid. The origin of the Louvre dates back to 1200s. Once a royal residence, it became a museum in 1793 during the French revolution and now holds works from the 7th millennium BCE to the 1850s. The collections are displayed on 5 levels (levels -2 to 2 through 0) in 3 wings, Richelieu, Sully and Denon. Originally the 3 wings are supposed to be interconnected, however, due to the absolutely astonishing craze for the Mona Lisa which was shifted from Room 711 in the Denon wing to a different room in Richelieu (level 2), certain rooms in the Sully wing were blocked preventing access to Richelieu wing. The audio guides (Nintendo 3DS) cost Euro 5 and are worth it. These are collected on Level -1 against a deposit of an ID card. Passports are not accepted; credit cards are. It takes a little while to get used to it, but thereafter it is a superb guide, giving information on the artworks and sculptures that are deemed important in each room. It is recommended that you get to know right away where the Mona Lisa is and see that first. We made this mistake and then had to stand in serpentine queues which inched its way from Level -2 (reception) via the Richelieu entrance to the +2 level. This queue is very tightly regulated and one gets about 30 secs or so before the Mona Lisa to take photographs/ selfies before getting shooed off. The museum map is handy and gives information on the important works in each wing. The Pavillion de l'Horloge is notable. da Vinci's works (other than the Mona Lisa) are in Denon. Some other famous works are 'the Venus de Milo', 'the winged victory of Samothrace' and the French crown jewels. We found the Denon wing the most interesting with its sculptures, Roman and Greek antiquities and paintings of Italy, Spain, GB and US. It becomes more and more crowded as the day goes along. One would require numerous visits to see all the attractions and we would love to visit again.