The Louvre Museum, an iconic national art museum in Paris, France, the most visited museum in the world, located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city’s 1st arrondissement, home to some of the most canonical works of western art has announced to rise ticket price by 45% for most non - EU visitors from 14th January 2026.
The move will increase the cost of tickets for visitors from countries including China, the UK and the United States from €22 to €32, while EU residents and those from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, countries which are part of the trade agreement with the European Union known as the the European Economic Area, will pay the current price.
With this increase the museum hopes will boost in revenue by around €17.5 million annually. This hike aims to fund security improvements and essential repairs, particularly after the October 2025 heist, and is part of a larger modernization plan.
The Louvre is in search of funds to finance a €1.1 billion upgrade, €450 million of which would be earmarked for urgently needed maintenance and the restoration of basic infrastructure.
The Louvre previously increased its ticket prices by 30% in 2024, ahead of the Olympic Games, but has since faced a series of hefty budget cuts, including the loss of 7% of its public subsidies. These subsidies, which in 2015 amounted to half of the Louvre’s budget, now represent only a quarter of it.
In 2026 the culture ministry is set to lose another €216 million from its budget, with funds for museum and cultural heritage it particularly hard by a loss of €58 million.
The increase, rejected by the unions is part of a government process to relaunch the instution once a royal residence, advanced by President Emmanuel Macron and the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.
Staff unions have denounced the project as an unprecedented challenge to the universal mission of the museum since its birth in 1793.
Other initiatives encouraged by the French culture Minister Rachida Dati apart the Louvre Museum include four other national museums and monuments announced new entrty prices for non - EU visitors:
· The Château de Versailles: The iconic former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 18 kilometres west of the city of Paris will charge €35 during the high season to €25 in the low season.
· The Château de Chambord: The largest château in the Loire Valley, built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francis I, highlighted by its very distinctive French Renaissance architecture will raise is tickets from €19 to €29.
· The Saint - Chapelle and the Opéra Garnier: The Sainte - Chapelle, emblematic royal chapel within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century and the Opéra Garnier, a historic 1.979 - seat opera house at the Place de l’ Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris will also have an increase concerning entrance prices.
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