The Louvre Museum

The Louvre Museum is the largest art museum in the world and one of the most visited, occupying a former royal palace on the Right Bank of the Seine in the centre of Paris. The building began as a fortress under King Philippe Auguste around 1190, and the foundations of that medieval castle can still be seen in the Sully wing. Over the following centuries it became a royal residence, expanded by François I, Henri IV, Louis XIV and later Napoleon, before the court moved to Versailles. The museum opened to the public in 1793, during the Revolution, and the collections have grown ever since.

The scale is hard to grasp before you arrive. The collections run from antiquity to the mid-nineteenth century and are organised in departments: Egyptian, Near Eastern, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities, Islamic art, sculpture, decorative arts, prints and drawings, and paintings. The most famous works include the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, but equally rewarding are quieter rooms with Egyptian sarcophagi, the Code of Hammurabi, Michelangelo's Slaves and the great French canvases by David, Delacroix and Géricault. No one sees everything, so choose a few areas.

The building is part of the experience. Glass Pyramid, designed by the architect I. M. Pei and opened in 1989, stands in the Cour Napoléon and serves as the main entrance, leading down into a hall under the courtyard. Other entrances at the Carrousel and the Porte des Lions are often quieter. Inside, ornate ceilings, chandeliers and rooms such as the Galerie d'Apollon reveal the building's royal past, and the views from the windows over the Tuileries Garden show how the museum links into the city.

Time-slot booking is strongly recommended, since queues can be long, and many visitors find that Wednesday and Friday evenings, when the museum stays open late, are calmer. Some galleries close in turn and may be shut on hot days, so plan more than one route. A realistic visit lasts three to four hours, and families with children usually do better with a short focused list. The museum is large enough to warrant a second visit on a different day.

After the museum, the Tuileries Garden, free to enter, stretches west from the courtyard and offers shade, benches and fountains for a break. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel marks the garden's eastern end, and the Jardin du Palais Royal and the Conciergerie are within walking distance.