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The Louvre Museum

Denon Wing Tickets

Included with The Louvre Museum tickets

Timings

RECOMMENDED DURATION

5 hours

Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

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Quick overview

Access: Included in all standard Louvre Museum tickets
When you'll see it: Start or midway point (typically the first stop for most visitors)
Visit duration: 60–90 mins self-guided/45–60 mins with a guide
Best time: Wednesday and Friday evening slots or first entry in the morning
Restrictions: No flash photography. No large bags or luggage allowed inside.

Crowd viewing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Denon Wing is included with all Louvre Museum tickets. No separate ticket is needed. It is one of the Louvre’s three main wings, and you can head there first from the Pyramid or Carrousel entrances, usually reaching its first rooms within 5–10 minutes of clearing security. Book reserved access, assisted entry, or a small-group guided tour so Denon is your first stop before the late-morning bottleneck builds around the Mona Lisa.

How to best experience Denon Wing

Best time to visit

Choose the first timed slot of the day, or the last 2 hours on a late-opening evening. Denon’s pressure comes from the Mona Lisa bottleneck, and once that room clogs, the whole wing slows. Avoid late morning if Denon is your priority.

How long to spend

Allow 60–90 minutes for a focused self-guided run to Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, and 2–3 major paintings. With a guide or audio guide, 2–3 hours feels better paced. Give it less than an hour, and most of your time goes to navigation.

Where it fits in your itinerary

Put Denon first if you care most about the Louvre’s headline works. You can reach it quickly from the main entrances, but the rooms are long, crowded, and visually dense. Start here while your attention is fresh, then decide whether Sully or Richelieu still fit.

Crowd patterns

Crowds build fastest around 10:30am–2pm, especially near Salle des États. The slowdown is not limited to one room; it ripples into nearby corridors and staircase landings. Earlier slots mean cleaner sightlines, shorter pauses, and less stop-start walking.

What to prioritize if time is short

Go straight to Winged Victory on the Daru staircase, then the Mona Lisa, then one large French canvas—either 'Liberty Leading the People' or The Raft of the Medusa. Skip side rooms first; Denon rewards a deliberate shortlist more than casual wandering.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most visitors burn energy in the wrong order: they crowd into the Mona Lisa room, then drift without a second plan. Pick your next 2 stops before entering Salle des États. Also, don’t judge Denon by that one room; the wing has far more range.

Best tickets to experience the Denon Wing

Ticket typeWhy choose it

Reserved access

Lock in a timed slot and start in Denon before the Mona Lisa zone reaches full late-morning congestion.

Assisted entry

Best if Louvre arrival feels stressful; a host gets you inside, oriented, and pointed toward Denon quickly.

Small-group guided tour

Best for first-timers who want Denon’s headline works explained without wasting time on wayfinding inside the museum.

Why it’s worth seeing

What makes the Denon Wing irreplaceable is density: no other part of the Louvre packs the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, monumental French painting, and the Grande Galerie into one route. Many visitors reduce it to one famous portrait, but its real strength is the sequence. If you’re planning a Denon Wing Louvre visit, follow the spaces below in order, and the wing starts to feel curated rather than chaotic.

Daru staircase: the reset point

Soon after entering Denon, the Daru staircase gives you the 'Winged Victory of Samothrace' at full height. This is more than a photo stop; it resets your pace and establishes the wing’s scale immediately. From here, most visitors continue into the Italian painting route, so this is the right moment to decide whether you are doing highlights only or staying deeper.

Grande Galerie and Salon Carré: the long approach

This stretch of Italian painting is not filler before the Mona Lisa. Walking through Titian, Veronese, and other Renaissance works gives you colour, scale, and narrative before Salle des États. If you skip it entirely, the Mona Lisa lands as a crowd event rather than the end of a deliberate artistic sequence.

Salle des États and the French giants: the crowded climax

Salle des États holds the Mona Lisa, but the sharper lesson is scale: Leonardo’s small portrait faces Veronese’s vast Wedding Feast at Cana. After that room, continue into Denon’s French painting galleries for Delacroix and Géricault. That progression turns celebrity viewing into something broader—portrait, revolution, propaganda, and shipwreck in one wing.

Historical and cultural significance

Most visitors don’t realise the wing is named after Dominique Vivant Denon, Napoleon’s first director of the Louvre, rather than a monarch or painter. The spaces along the Seine began as royal palace rooms and ceremonial architecture, then became the museum’s prime route for Italian painting and large-scale French canvases. Today, Denon carries the Louvre’s heaviest cultural traffic because several of its most recognised works are concentrated here.
👉 Explore the full history of the Louvre Museum

Notable figures

Dominique Vivant Denon | Director

Napoleon’s first Louvre director; the wing bears his name.

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Leonardo da Vinci | Painter

His Mona Lisa makes Denon the Louvre’s busiest wing.

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Eugène Delacroix | Painter

Liberty Leading the People anchors Denon’s French Romantic rooms.

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Théodore Géricault | Painter

The Raft of the Medusa gives Denon its most unsettling drama.

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Know before you go

  • Open: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from 9am–6pm; Friday from 9am–9pm.
  • Last entry: 1 hour before closing.
  • Rooms clear: 30 minutes before closing.
  • Closed: Tuesday, January 1, May 1, and December 25.

​Detailed timings

Address: Musée du Louvre, Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris

  • Nearest metro: Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre (Lines 1 and 7), about a 5-minute underground walk; Louvre-Rivoli (Line 1), about a 7–10-minute walk.
  • Best entry points: Pyramid entrance or Carrousel entrance; both let you turn toward Denon immediately after security.
  • Time to reach Denon: About 5–10 minutes to the wing itself, and around 10–15 minutes to Salle des États.
  • Direct access: Yes. Denon can be your first wing; you do not need to pass through Sully or Richelieu first.

​Get directions

  • Wheelchair access: Yes. The Louvre and Denon Wing are accessible for wheelchair users and stroller users.
  • Lifts: Elevators connect major levels; ask staff on arrival for the quickest Denon route.
  • Walking surfaces: Gallery floors are generally flat, but distances are long and some rooms can feel crowded.
  • Seating: Benches are available in some larger halls, but not in every room, so expect extended standing.
  • Physical effort: Easy to moderate; the main challenge is distance and crowd navigation rather than steep climbing.
  • Photography: Non-flash photography is generally allowed, but flash, artificial lighting, and selfie sticks are prohibited.
  • Bags: Large bags and suitcases are not permitted; free lockers are available for smaller items.
  • Re-entry: Not permitted once you leave the museum.
  • Security: All visitors go through mandatory security screening, even with reserved access.
  • Route control: During high-flow periods, some circulation routes may be signposted to reduce backtracking.

Frequently asked questions about the Denon Wing

Yes. Entry to the Denon Wing is included with every valid Louvre Museum ticket. No separate ticket exists.

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