Included with The Louvre Museum tickets
Timings
RECOMMENDED DURATION
5 hours
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The Richelieu Wing is included with all Louvre Museum tickets. No separate ticket is needed. It is 1 of the Louvre’s 3 main wings, reached from the central hall after security, and you can choose to start here rather than follow a fixed route. Book a reserved access ticket or a guided tour if you want to reach its courtyards and apartments before the museum’s midday pinch points.
Start Richelieu in the first weekday entry slot, especially on Wednesday or Friday if you want the option of late-hours pacing. By 11am, the courtyards and apartments slow down noticeably, so don’t save this wing for midday.
Give Richelieu 60–90 minutes for the courtyards, Napoleon III Apartments, and 1 gallery cluster. Allow about 2 hours if you add Near Eastern antiquities or northern European painting rooms. Under 45 minutes, it feels like a corridor, not a wing.
Put Richelieu first if it is a priority. From the Pyramid or Carrousel entrance, you can reach it early and move outward from quieter rooms. If you do Denon first, you’ll likely reach Richelieu after your energy drops.
Richelieu is usually calmer than Denon, but circulation thickens between 11am and 2pm near Cour Marly, the main escalators, and the Napoleon III Apartments. Wednesday and Friday evenings are often easier for slow viewing, so avoid midday if you want space.
Start with Cour Marly, cross to Cour Puget, and finish in the Napoleon III Apartments. That trio gives you Richelieu’s clearest mix of sculpture, scale, and palace interiors. Skip deep side galleries before those core spaces.
Most visitors look at the sculpture courts only from ground level and miss the upper walkways. Also, don’t assume Richelieu is a quick add-on; the distances are long, and backtracking wastes more time than expected.
| Ticket type | Why choose it |
|---|---|
Reserved access | Lock in a museum slot and start Richelieu early, before the courtyards and apartments slow down around midday. |
Guided tour | Best if you want context in the apartments and help navigating a wing many self-guided visitors underestimate. |
Assisted entry | Good for first-timers who want help through arrival, then the freedom to explore Richelieu independently. |
What makes the Richelieu Wing irreplaceable is that it shows 3 Louvres at once: a palace, a sculpture museum, and a deep antiquities wing. Many visitors don’t realize these galleries were occupied by France’s Ministry of Finance until 1989, which is why parts of Richelieu feel newer in museum terms than their 19th-century ceilings suggest. Follow the wing in order, and its courtyards, apartments, and monument-scale rooms start making sense.
After you follow Richelieu signs from the central hall, the 2 glazed sculpture courts are the wing’s clearest starting point. Cour Marly holds large outdoor sculptures once made for the Tuileries gardens, while Cour Puget feels denser and more theatrical. Walk the floor first, then the upper perimeter, because the sculptures change completely when viewed at balcony height.
From the courtyards, go up to the Napoleon III Apartments to see the wing as an imperial interior rather than a neutral museum shell. The reception rooms, chandeliers, red velvet, and painted ceilings explain why Richelieu feels different from Denon’s painting-led route. This zone is compact, so it works well as a controlled midpoint before returning to deeper galleries.
Continue into Richelieu’s quieter rooms for objects that many first-time visitors miss altogether. The Near Eastern galleries include monument-scale Assyrian guardians and the Code of Hammurabi, while upper-level painting rooms shift the pace from spectacle to close looking. This final stretch rewards visitors who want fewer people, longer sightlines, and a better sense of the Louvre’s breadth beyond headline works.
For almost 140 years, much of the Richelieu Wing was not museum space at all: it housed the French Ministry of Finance until the Grand Louvre project moved those offices out in 1989. Built largely in the mid-19th century under Napoleon III, the wing shifted from imperial palace extension to government workspace, then reopened to visitors in 1993 as part of the modern Louvre. Today it functions as 1 of the museum’s main public wings.
👉 Explore the full history of the Louvre Museum
Completed much of the Second Empire Louvre and shaped the north wing visitors know as Richelieu today.
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Commissioned the New Louvre expansion that gave the Richelieu Wing its grand palace scale.
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Launched the Grand Louvre project that returned former Finance Ministry rooms to the museum.
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Designed the Pyramid circulation system that made access to Richelieu far clearer for modern visitors.
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Yes. Entry to the Richelieu Wing is included with every valid Louvre Museum ticket. No separate ticket exists.
No. Any Louvre ticket gets you in. Reserved access saves time, and guided tours help if you want context in a large wing.
No. The Richelieu Wing has no independent entrance. Enter through the Louvre, clear security, and follow Richelieu signs from the central hall.
Whenever you choose. Richelieu is 1 of the Louvre’s 3 main wings, and you can start there immediately after entering.
Allow 60–90 minutes for a focused visit, or about 2 hours if you add the apartments, courtyards, and antiquities.
Sometimes. Many Louvre guided tours include part of Richelieu, but not every route does. Check the tour description before booking.
Yes. It is usually calmer than the Mona Lisa route, though Cour Marly and the Napoleon III Apartments still get busy around midday.
Yes. The wing is accessible, with step-free routes and elevators inside the museum. Distances are long, so plan for rest breaks.
Yes. Individual rooms can close for loans, maintenance, or exhibition changes. Check the Louvre map and your booked route on the day.
Richelieu leans toward sculpture courts, palace rooms, and major antiquities displays. It usually feels calmer than Denon, and more spatially dramatic than Sully.
Link: Louvre Museum main attraction page
Link: Denon Wing shoulder page
Link: Louvre history and architecture shoulder page
Inclusions #
Expert English, French, Spanish or German-speaking guide (as per option selected)
2 to 3-hour private guided tour of the Louvre
Timed access to the Louvre
Small group of up to 20 guests (as per option selected)
Semi-private group of 6 to 10 guests (as per option selected)
Private tour for your group of up to 6 guests (as per option selected)
Headsets when appropriate
Get escorted past Louvre ticket lines with a hosted intro, then explore on your own with smart tips to find the masterpieces faster.
Inclusions #
Reserved access to the Louvre Museum
Hosted introduction to the museum and its highlights
Accompaniment to the museum’s main highlights for orientation (as per option selected)
Exclusions #
Guided tour inside the museum (visit is self-guided after the introduction)
Audio guide (available to rent at the museum)
See Paris in two complementary ways: understand its artistic legacy inside the Louvre with a licensed guide, then step back and take in the city’s grand scale from the Seine.
Inclusions #
1.5 to 3-hour English guided tour of the Louvre
Timed access to the Louvre
Small group tour up to 20 people
Headsets when appropriate
1 – 1.5-hour Seine River cruise with onboard audio guide available in 10+ languages
Cover Paris’s most iconic sites in one day with a guided small-group tour for a seamless experience.
Inclusions #
Entry to Notre-Dame Cathedral
Walking tour of Île de la Cité
Entry to Louvre Museum
Entry to Sainte-Chapelle
Entry to Conciergerie
Entry to Musée de l'Orangerie
Lunch included (as per option selected)
Private Louvre tour with reserved entry and a licensed guide for up to 6 guests.
Inclusions #
2-hour private guided tour of the Louvre Museum
Reserved entry to the Louvre Museum
Licensed private guide for groups of up to 6 people
Private tour in English, Spanish, or French (as per option selected)
Exclusions #
Food and drinks
Gratuities
Access to temporary exhibitions
