Paris Louvre Museum: Higher entrance fee for non-EU visitors in 2026, Macron announces

The announcement comes after the Louvre Museum director revealed the dire state of the famous Parisian arts gallery last week.

Transcript

00:00French President Emmanuel Macron had made the Paris Louvre Museum a symbol of his election

00:17victory back in 2017.

00:20He now wants to invest in its renovation.

00:22On Tuesday, the French president announced a major transformation plan after the museum's

00:27director raised alarm bells last week, claiming that the world's most visited museum is in

00:34a dire condition, suffering from water leaks and severe temperature changes that threaten

00:40its precious artworks.

00:42The president's entourage told us that the estimated renovation plan will cost between

00:47700 to 800 million euros over 10 years, emphasizing that the project will not burden French taxpayers.

00:57One of the major announcements included a higher entrance fee for non-EU visitors in

01:03January 2026.

01:05This will go towards repairs.

01:07Another part of the project includes a separate room and entrance ticket to see the Queen

01:14of the Louvre, the Mona Lisa.

01:16Currently, da Vinci's masterpiece is displayed in one of the largest rooms of the museum

01:22and the long queue that forms in front of it tends to overshadow the rest of the artworks

01:26in that space.

01:27Finally, a grand new entrance will be built by 2031 to tackle the issue of overcrowding.

01:34The creation of the new rooms and the entrance will be financed through ticket sales from

01:39the Paris Louvre Museum as well as the Louvre in Abu Dhabi and also through donors.

01:45Once renovated, Macron said that the Louvre will aim to welcome 12 million visitors per

01:50year compared to the current 9 million.