Brits could soon pay more to enter the Louvre to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting, as French president Emmanuel Macron announces major overhaul of the world’s most visited museum
Brits will soon have to pay more to enter a popular French attraction.
Under new plans by Emmanuel Macron, foreign visitors from outside the European Union will have to pay more to enter the Louvre in Paris. The plans were announced as part of the French president’s speech on how he anticipates raising money for the attraction, which has recently experienced packed crowds, leaks, and outdated facilities.
During his visit, Mr Macron also revealed that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting will be granted a dedicated space in the Louvre, following worries regarding overcrowding in the area it is currently. The new dedicated room will be accessible to visitors through a designated ticket.
“Conditions of display, explanation and presentation will be up to what the Mona Lisa deserves,” he said.
The world’s most visited museum will also undergo a full-scale renovation, which Mr Macron said would be finalised by 2031. The renovation will include a new entrance near the River Seine and the creation of underground rooms to increase the size of the museum.
The president did not disclose how much the refurbishment would cost, but said the bill would not fall on French taxpayers. However, a French official said that it is estimated to cost between €700 to €800 million (£585.7 to £669.3 million) over the next decade.
The project has been named ‘Louvre New Renaissance’ and will include a design competition for the new entrance.
His visit followed a leaked memo from the Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, last week, stating that parts of the museum were in “very poor condition”. The memo also detailed that sections of the museum “are no longer watertight, while others experience significant temperature variations, endangering the preservation of artworks”.
Des Cars bluntly shared: “Visiting the Louvre is a physical ordeal; accessing the artworks takes time and is not always easy.
“Visitors have no space to take a break. The food options and restroom facilities are insufficient in volume, falling below international standards. The signage needs to be completely redesigned.”
The memo also acknowledged the French Government’s current budget limits but expressed that the Louvre desperately needed an expensive overhaul.
Des Cars went on to claim that one of the museum’s newest editions — a glass pyramid designed by the Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei – had “major shortcomings”. The pyramid, which was used by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, for a state dinner as the Paris Olympics kicked off in July, was also noted as creating a “greenhouse effect” on hot days, “making this space very inhospitable for the public who pass through and the agents who work there”.
The memo also detailed how there needed to be a reassessment of how the Louvre’s most popular attraction, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, is presented as crowds gather to get a glimpse of the painting.
The last time the museum was renovated was back in the 1980s, when the glass pyramid was revealed. In 2024, the Louvre received over 8.7 million visitors, of which, more than 75 per cent were foreigners.
