Yes, if you want to understand the collection rather than just find the Mona Lisa. The Louvre's official audio guide is made for its galleries, and in a museum this big, a voice that explains what you are looking at changes the visit. But if you only plan to see a few famous works, or you are more curious about the palace and the city around it, you can skip it and use something else. Here is how to decide, and how to plan a visit that works either way.
What the official audio guide does well
The Louvre rents its own audio guide in several languages. You can rent one at the museum's audio guide counters on the day, subject to availability, and the official site explains the current price and how to reserve one in advance. It is made for the collections, so it goes deep where an outdoor tour cannot, from the antiquities to the great French paintings.
Its value grows with your time. If you have a full morning or more and like to wander, it gives the quieter rooms between the famous works a voice. If you are in and out in ninety minutes for the big three, you may not use it enough to need it.
Plan the visit before you go
The Louvre is too big to see in one visit, so plan before you walk in. Book a time slot on the official site, which the museum recommends even for visitors with free admission, and check it for current hours, prices and any late openings. The glass Pyramid is the main entrance, and at busy times the museum also opens other entrances, such as the Carrousel and the Porte des Lions.
Then pick a wing or a short list. The collection is spread across three wings, Denon, Sully and Richelieu, and trying to see everything is the fastest way to see nothing. Look at the museum's map on the official site before you go, so you know where your short list hangs.
What to see first
Most first time visitors come for three works. The Mona Lisa hangs in the largest room in the museum, behind glass, with a crowd in front of her for much of the day, so see her early or late. The Winged Victory of Samothrace stands at the top of a grand staircase, and the Venus de Milo is in the Sully wing.
Then step off the main path. Close to the Mona Lisa, the vast French paintings include Géricault's Raft of the Medusa, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People and David's Coronation of Napoleon. In the Richelieu wing, the Napoleon III Apartments show the gilded taste of the Second Empire. And downstairs in the Sully wing you can walk along the moat of the medieval fortress the Louvre grew from, past the base of its round keep.
The other options
Free audio tours. Some apps offer free Louvre tours that walk you through the highlights. Rick Steves Audio Europe is a well known example, and if you only want the main masterpieces with good commentary, it is worth downloading before you go.
A human guide. A guided tour suits you if you want live answers and someone to steer you through the crowds. It costs more and runs on a schedule, but for a first visit full of questions it can be worth it. Here is our honest look at self guided tours versus guided tours.
TourTour. TourTour tells the story of the Louvre as a place, and of the Paris around it. The Paris tour narrates 100 stops in 13 languages, about two hours and fifty minutes of listening across 8 walking routes, and it works offline once downloaded. As you reach a stop, its story starts on its own. The Louvre story opens with "The world's largest art museum, in a former royal palace." The Louvre Palace, the Medieval Louvre Castle, the vanished Tuileries Palace and Place du Carrousel are stops too, and the route Palaces and the Pyramid is an 8 stop loop through the Louvre complex, from the medieval castle at its heart to the sun filled gardens of the Tuileries.
What TourTour does not do is walk you gallery by gallery through the paintings. For the collection itself, the official guide or a free museum tour goes deeper. Where TourTour helps is before and after, in the courtyard, around the Pyramid, through the Tuileries and on across Paris. It also maps photo spots, with directions to where you stand for the shot. You can see every stop on the Paris audio tour page.
A few lines of history for the courtyard
Stand in the courtyard by the Pyramid and you are surrounded by eight centuries of building. Philip Augustus raised a fortress here around 1190 to guard the city. Later kings turned it into a palace, Francis I began rebuilding it in the Renaissance style, and it stopped being the main royal home only when Louis XIV moved the court to Versailles. The museum opened in 1793, during the Revolution, and the glass Pyramid by I. M. Pei arrived in 1989.
So, is it worth it?
If you will spend half a day or more inside and want to understand the art, the official audio guide is worth it. If you are there for the famous few, a free museum audio tour and a good plan will do. And for the palace, the Pyramid, the Tuileries and the rest of Paris, in your own language and offline, TourTour is on the App Store. A city is one purchase that is yours to keep, with no subscription, and through Apple Family Sharing up to six people in your family can use it on their own phones.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official Louvre audio guide?
Yes. The Louvre offers its own audio guide in several languages. Check the official site for the current price, the language list and how to get one.
Can you see the whole Louvre in one day?
Not really. The collection is spread across three wings, so pick one wing or a short list of works and leave the rest for another visit.
Does TourTour work inside the Louvre?
You can play any stop from the map, including the Louvre, the Louvre Palace and the Medieval Louvre Castle. TourTour tells the story of the place rather than every painting, so for the collection itself the official guide goes much deeper.