Charging non-Europeans more to visit Louvre is discrimination, says major French union
Admission fees set to rise elsewhere in four more of France’s key cultural sites
Foreign tourists represented almost 70% of the 8.7 million visitors to the Louvre in 2024
Viola Dolas/Shutterstock
Five major French cultural institutions, including the Louvre, will soon increase admission fees for non-European tourists.
From January 14, 2026, extra-européens (visitors from outside the European Economic Area, EEA) will have to pay €32 to enter the Louvre – €10 more than the current admission price.
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, announced yesterday (November 27) after government officials initially shared the proposal at the start of this year as part of a €900-million plan to reform and restore the major Paris attraction, was 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 on November 28.
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.
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 are also set to increase in four other major French cultural attractions.
From January 14, non-EEA visitors to the château de Versailles may see the price of entry tickets increase by €3 to reach €35 during peak season, however this has not yet been confirmed by officials.
For the Centre des monuments nationaux (Sainte-Chapelle), non-EEA visitors will be asked to pay €22, rather than €16, from January 1.
Tickets to visit the château de Chambord will cost €31, an increase of €10. It is unclear whether this will happen on January 1 or January 14.
Admission to the Opéra de Paris will also increase in price, however further details have not yet been announced.
Culture Minister Rachia Dati said that further French tourist attractions may decide to update their pricing strategies early next year.
