What to know as Louvre tickets are becoming 45% more expensive for many

PARIS (AP) — Long lines beneath I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid have become as much a part of the Louvre experience as the “ Mona Lisa ” itself.

Now, the world’s most visited museum is putting a higher price on that pilgrimage as it scrambles to fund renovations and security after strikes, overcrowding and October’s French Crown Jewels heist. The Louvre was closed yet again Monday because of a staff walkout.

On Wednesday, the Paris landmark is introducing a two-tier ticketing system that raises admission for most non-Europeans to 32 euros ($37), up from 22 euros ($26) — a 45% hike overnight.

The change affects tourists from most non-European Union countries, including from the U.S., where visitors typically make up the Louvre’s largest share of foreigners.

French labor unions have pushed back, saying it undermines the museum’s universal mission.

Some still eligible for free admission

Under the new structure, visitors who are neither citizens nor residents of European Union countries or Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will pay the higher rate, the Louvre says.

The museum over the years has been strained by heavy visitor numbers, aging infrastructure, periodic strikes and the rising costs of security and maintenance. Such challenges are common for France’s biggest museums.

France’s CGT Culture union has denounced the differentiated pricing, arguing it turns access to culture into a “commercial product” and creates unequal access to national heritage.

The Louvre notes that some categories remain eligible for free admission, including visitors under 18 and some younger residents of European countries.

The last price hike was in January 2024 when the standard entry fee increased from 17 euros to 22.

How a heist changed the context

French museums had already been considering higher fees for visitors from outside Europe before the Oct. 19 theft of French Crown Jewels from the Louvre, valued by investigators at about 88 million euros ($102 million).

The daylight robbery, carried out in minutes, intensified scrutiny of the protection of priceless national heritage. It also amplified debate over how major cultural institutions should pay for upgrades and whether visitors should carry a bigger share of the cost.

The Louvre has not said the price change is directly tied to the heist.

Elsewhere in Europe, the standard entry to Rome’s Colosseum, along with the Forum and Palatine Hill, is 18 euros ($20), and an adult ticket for Athens’ Acropolis is 30 euros ($33).

Strike, strike — and strike again

The Louvre has repeatedly been forced to confront its internal stresses in public.

In June, a wildcat strike by gallery attendants, ticket agents and security staff delayed the museum’s daily opening, leaving thousands of visitors stranded beneath the pyramid.

Workers said the Louvre had buckled under mass tourism, citing unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and deteriorating working conditions.

By December, unions said the heist and the building’s condition had turned their long-running grievances into a national reckoning. Louvre workers voted to continue on striking until what they consider real change comes to the timeworn former royal palace.