Trust & Methodology

Most travel pages tell you a museum is "a must." None of them tell you what it costs this month, which day it's free, or what to do once you're through the door. This page exists because trust comes from showing the work, not claiming it. Here's how we verify what we publish, how we make money, and how to actually use a guide when you're standing at the entrance with a queue behind you.

How we verify the Museum Prices Tracker

The European Museum Prices Tracker covers 40 European museums, with four numbers each: base ticket, skip-the-line cost, free days this month, and peak wait time. It's re-checked on a fixed schedule, not whenever we get around to it.

The tracker updates the first Monday of every month. On that day we re-check each museum's official ticket page against its GetYourGuide equivalent and log what moved. Every row carries a "Last verified" date, so you can see exactly when that specific museum was last confirmed rather than trusting a single sitewide "updated" stamp. The "What changed this month" section records the deltas — price moves, free-day calendar shifts, and exhibitions that bumped a base ticket.

Different numbers move at different speeds, so we check them at different rhythms. Full price re-checks of all 40 museums run quarterly (January, April, July, October). Free-day calendars are checked monthly, because they shift with public holidays and special openings. Wait times are revised every two months to track seasonality, since a July queue is not a February queue.

Two rules keep the numbers honest. We use the cheapest entry tier that gets you into the permanent collection — for the Louvre and Versailles that's the non-EEA adult rate, the price most international visitors actually pay. And the skip-the-line figure is the GetYourGuide product that matches the official entry, not a marked-up tour, so the comparison is like for like.

Between updates, prices can still shift. If you find a row that looks wrong, email [email protected] — we check it against the official page and patch within 48 hours.

How we make money

Art Visit Guide is free to read and carries no display ads. It's funded by affiliate commissions: when you book a ticket or tour through one of our links, the booking platform pays us a percentage out of its own margin. You pay exactly the same price you'd pay going to the platform directly — the commission costs you nothing.

Our primary booking partner is GetYourGuide. Most "Book your ticket" buttons on the site are GetYourGuide affiliate links. We also use Tiqets and Viator in cases where they carry the better product for a given museum. These are clearly the booking destinations on each guide.

The part that matters for trust: being paid a commission on a booking is not the same as being paid to recommend. No museum, operator or reseller pays to appear in a guide, to rank higher in a list, or to change a single word of what we write. There are no sponsored posts. When the official museum website is cheaper or simpler than any reseller — which happens often, and we'll name it when it does — we send you there and earn nothing. A recommendation only means something if we're willing to make the one that pays us least.

How to use the 3-minute routes on the move

Each guide is built to be read in about three minutes and then used inside the museum, on your phone, one room at a time. A few things make that work better.

Load it before you go in. Open the guide at the entrance while you still have wifi or data. Once it's loaded it stays readable as you walk — no app to install, and no signal needed inside, which matters because many museums have dead zones in the galleries.

Follow it room by room. The route is ordered the way the building actually flows, pointing you to the few works worth your attention and telling you what to skip without guilt. You don't have to read ahead; glance at the next stop as you reach each room.

Sort the ticket out first. Check the price and free-day notes before you travel, not in the queue. If a free day or a timed-entry slot applies, booking ahead is the difference between walking in and standing outside for an hour.

These are visit guides, not audio tours. The goal is to get you in front of the right things quickly, then out of the way so you can look. See better, in less time.

Frequently asked questions

Does Art Visit Guide accept paid placements or sponsored guides?

No. No museum, tour operator or ticket reseller pays to appear in a guide, to rank higher in a list, or to change what we write. We earn through affiliate commissions on bookings, which is a separate thing from being paid to recommend. If that ever changes, this page changes first.

Do I pay more when I book through your GetYourGuide links?

No. The price is identical to what you'd pay going to GetYourGuide directly. GetYourGuide pays us a commission out of its own margin when you book through our link, at no extra cost to you. When the official museum site is cheaper, we say so and link there instead — even though we earn nothing on it.

How often is the Museum Prices Tracker updated?

The first Monday of each month. We re-check every museum's official page and its GetYourGuide equivalent. Each row carries a "Last verified" date so you can see exactly when that specific museum was last confirmed, and the "What changed this month" log records every price move and free-day change.

What if a price is wrong or out of date?

Between updates, prices can shift. If you spot an outdated row, email [email protected] — we verify against the official page and patch it within 48 hours.

Do I need signal or the app to use a 3-minute route inside the museum?

No app, and no signal needed once it's loaded. Open the guide on your phone before you go in — over wifi or data at the entrance — and it stays readable as you walk the rooms. Many museums have patchy signal inside, so loading it first is the safe move.

Last verified: June 2026