Charging non-Europeans more to visit Louvre is discrimination, says major French union
Admission fees have also risen at other French key cultural sites
Foreign tourists represented almost 70% of the 8.7 million visitors to the Louvre in 2024
Viola Dolas/Shutterstock
January 2026 has seen some major French cultural institutions including the Louvre increase admission fees for non-European visitors.
Extra-européens (visitors from outside the European Economic Area, EEA) now pay €32 to enter the Louvre – €10 more than EU nationals / residents.
Almost 70% of the 8.7 million visitors to the Louvre in 2024 came from abroad, with American nationals making up the largest portion of foreign visitors.
All EU nationals, as well as French residency and visa holders, are exempt from the fees providing they can prove their residency.
The decision, which was announced in November 2025 after government officials initially shared the proposal at the start of 2025 as part of a €900-million plan to reform and restore the major Paris attraction, met with criticism in some quarters.
“They [the government] want to shift some of the maintenance and repair costs of the Louvre Museum onto foreign nationals [...] This is unacceptable – it is not right,” said Secretary of the CGT-Louvre union Gary Guillaud to France Culture.
Mr Guillaud described the announcement as “absurd price discrimination” counter to the role of museums as spaces to “promote universal access to culture.”
Funding the museum’s ‘structural problems’
The price increase is estimated to boost the institution's resources by €15 to €20 million per year, the Louvre told FranceInfo.
This money will fund works to “modernise and transform the Louvre in response to the museum's structural problems,” following the burglary at the museum’s Galerie d’Apollon on October 19 2025.
The price of admission to the Louvre already rose from €17 to €22 in January 2024 for all visitors, ahead of the Paris Olympic Games.
Price increases across more major sites
Entry prices have also increased in other major French cultural attractions.
On January 14, the price for non-EEA visitors to the château de Versailles saw the price of entry tickets increase to €35 during peak season (April 1 to October 31).
Citizens of an EEA country (or non-citizens resident in the country) pay €32. Tariffs are €32 and €22 respectively outside of peak season.
Non-EEA visitors pay €22 (€16 for EEA) to visit Centre des monuments nationaux site Sainte-Chapelle.
Non-EEA visitors to the château de Chambord pay €31 (€21).
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said that further French tourist attractions may also decide to update their pricing strategies this year.
