Brit tourists to pay MORE than EU citizens to visit iconic French landmark, Macron announces in blow to holidaymakers
Brit tourists to pay MORE than EU citizens to visit iconic French landmark, Macron announces in blow to holidaymakers
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BRITISH tourists will have to cough up more money than their EU counterparts to visit the Louvre as part of a £670million revamp announced by French President Emmanuel Macron. There may also be a separate charge just to get a glimpse of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece the Mona Lisa - Macron hinted at in his speech in front of the world-famous painting.
![[Couple taking a selfie in front of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/500-million-renovation-plan-needed-967535091.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Within the £670million revamp are also plans to give the enigmatic Mona Lisa her own room, create a new entrance, and open an array of new underground rooms - all to be completed by 2031. Macron said that these extravagant changes would be funded without sacrificing French taxpayers’ money and instead be financed by worse-off non-EU visitors as well as by donations from patrons.
![[Person photographing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/mona-lisa-italian-artist-leonardo-967535156_516520.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The decision comes after Louvre President Laurence des Cars painted a grim picture of the famous landmark last week, saying in a letter to the culture minister that it was threatened by “a worrying level of obsolescence.”. The world’s most popular museum is plagued by water leaks, overcrowding and severe temperature changes.
![[Person photographing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/500-million-renovation-plan-needed-967535157.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
In response to the message, Macron organised a speech at the museum where he announced “the new renaissance of the Louvre.”. “The project must be a new stage in the life of the nation for art, the history of art and its transmission,” he added. The current price to visit all sections of the Louvre including the Mona Lisa is around £18.
![[Woman posing in front of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/woman-poses-louvre-pyramid-designed-967535068.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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