The Louvre museum in Paris is HUGE.

To see all 380,000 exhibits, on the 4 floors, of the 3 different wings – you would need to roll your wheelchair/your companion would need to push you –

for 12 kilometres!

You don’t need to cover all 12 kilometeres though, but make sure that your companion is wearing comfortable shoes.

Most importantly though, pick up a Museum Map from the Information Desk.

Why? There are steps everywhere, but an accessible alternative route is usually always available. The alternative route can sometimes be rather circuitous though, and might also involve using a lift (and all lifts don’t stop at all floors). So without a map – you are very likely to get quite lost.

And the bad news: If you had your heart set on seeing the Winged Victory sculpture (Winged Victory of Samothrace), you’re going to be disappointed. To be seen up close and personal, Winged Victory requires climbing steps (the Daru staircase). There are also steps on each side too. But the Louvre’s website has a great photograph of Winged Victory of Samothrace for you to look at instead.

And now the (three) very good news stories for wheelchair using visitors to the Louvre in Paris:

1. Queueing. The main entrance to the Louvre at the Pyramid has 4 different queues. One queue for visitors without tickets, one for visitors with tickets/Museum Passes, one for Louvre members/supporters – and a priority queue for staff (AND disabled visitors – so no waiting in line).

And as the queues at the Paris Louvre are infamously long, this is a major plus;

2. Free entry for wheelchair users and a companion. And as paid tickets at the Louvre are not cheap for most visitors to Paris, again, this is a major plus;

3. The Mona Lisa. The painting itself is a lot smaller than you might think. And, normally, visitors can’t get that close to it (it’s hanging on the opposite wall of a large room).

And the room that the Mona Lisa is located in in the Louvre is always crowded with visitors – just about everyone who comes to Paris and the Louvre wants to see the Mona Lisa (and as wheelchair users view the world from waist-height anyway, under normal circumstances all you would see is the back of a crowd of people).

The wonderful people at the Louvre in Paris realise this though. There is nothing normal about the way that wheelchair users are catered for in the Louvre.

When you reach the room that hosts the Mona Lisa, you will be ushered to a special viewing area – in FRONT of the crowd. So you will be able to really enjoy Da Vinci’s masterpiece – rather than be stuck looking at peoples’ backsides.

Exceptional! And well done to the Louvre for being so proactively brilliant when it comes to accessibility!

Your Museum Map will also show you where the many accessible toilets are located too (but my advice is not to wait until the very last minute before seeking one out – as some of those alternative routes can take a bit of time to follow).