Come January, visitors outside the European Union can expect to pay $37 per ticket, an increase the institution says will help finance security updates.
Rhea Nayyar
December 1, 2025
— 2 min read
The Musée du Louvre's palatial exterior and iconic pyramids are reflected in a puddle of water. (image via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Planning to stop by the Musée du Louvre next year? That'll be €32 (~$37) if you live outside of the European Union.
Last Thursday, the museum board approved the €10 (~$12) price hike for non-EU visitors, who make up the majority of the museum's annual attendance, starting January 14. The Louvre projects that the yearly multi-million-euro revenue increase will help fund its security system overhaul and massive renovation in the wake of the brazen daytime heist that took the institution by surprise.
The museum raised its admission fees by €5 at the start of 2024, citing rising energy costs. Within weeks of its implementation, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the 2026 price hike for non-EU visitors as the museum would soon proceed with operation “Nouvelle Renaissance,” which will completely update its security and accessibility measures, temperature controls, and fire- and water-proofing throughout the building; alleviate pinch points for overcrowding and add additional entries; and, most notably, and develop a new and improved visitor experience for the Mona Lisa, who will be getting her own room at long last.
With an estimated price tag of up to €800 million (~$930 million), “Nouvelle Renaissance” was hatched in light of Louvre President Laurence des Cars's written warning to Macron elaborating on the museum's myriad shortcomings and necessary repairs. Following the theft of the nation's crown jewels in October, however, the museum's egregious security oversights have been publicized extensively after des Cars's testimony to the French Senate.
Adding insult to injury, the museum was forced to temporarily shutter one of its Greek ceramics galleries in November to address structural problems from the floor above, further emphasizing the urgency for the Louvre's total overhaul.
The museum did not immediately respond to Hyperallergic's request for comment.
Per the BBC, the museum estimates that the forthcoming price hike will likely generate an additional more than €15 million (over ~$17.5 million) in annual revenue.
In its 2024 report, 77% of the Louvre's 8.7 million visitors came from abroad — primarily from the United States (13%), China (6%), and countries directly neighboring France. Visitors from Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein are exempt from the increase on account of the nations' inclusion in the European Economic Area.
The Louvre's $37 ticket price eclipses the current $30 baseline that has become the standard across museums in the United States. Certain French labor unions, including the CFDT culture unit, which represents certain staff at the Louvre, have criticized the museum's tiered pricing as “absurd and unjust,” arguing that “people from the Middle East will pay a higher price [than French visitors] to access foundational and symbolic works of their own culture.”
