I went to Paris – and didn’t go inside the Louvre!

This post was originally written during our adult gap year. It reflects how I felt after months of travelling – and why I think it’s perfectly okay to skip a “must-see”.

I went to Paris (three times!) – and didn’t go inside the Louvre.

There you have it, my shameful secret. I’m fairly sure everyone who visits Paris for the first time goes to see the Mona Lisa. I really have no excuse.

I was even in Paris on a first Sunday of the month, when entry was free at the time. What was I thinking?

Skipping must-see attractions doesn’t make you a bad traveller. Sometimes it simply means you know what you enjoy.

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Travel seems to me to have become all about “must-sees” and checklists. “Oh, you simply have to go and see this in that city!”

After months of travelling through Europe, I began to wonder whether the popularity of some attractions was about the attractions themselves, or the expectation that you have to visit them if you are in a particular city.

When a “must-see” isn’t for you

Here’s an example from our time in Bucharest. One of the attractions that kept coming up as a must-see was the Palace of the Parliament.

For those like me who knew little about this place, it is an enormous building begun during Romania’s communist years. It’s certainly impressive to look at from the outside.

We paid to do the tour inside. In 90 minutes, we were told we had seen only 4% of the building, mainly huge reception rooms of all different types.

The rooms were big and seemed never-ending, but there was little about them that held our interest.

Maybe a different guide would have regaled us with more interesting stories, but really, we were bored stiff for most of the tour.

Why was this recommended so highly?

Was it just because it was popular to say so? Maybe other people truly enjoyed the building and it was just us who found it less than interesting.

With our limited time, I would have gone elsewhere had I known what was to come. We had done a free walking tour the day before and had many interesting places pointed out to us.

This is by no means the only time we have walked out of an attraction and thought our money and time were perhaps not well spent.

Why I skipped the Louvre

We skipped a few of the “big name” attractions on our trip, starting with not going inside the Louvre in Paris.

Another confession – I am not an art lover! I have tried over the years to appreciate it, but often it’s just paint splashed onto canvas to me.

I don’t mind going to the occasional art museum, usually when my arty daughter is with me. She does appreciate these things.

The Louvre, though, seemed too big, with too many people, just to see a small painting that I’d seen a thousand times in pictures. Surely it couldn’t be too different?

Yes, I know there is much more to the Louvre than the Mona Lisa. But that alone wasn’t enough to make me want to spend my time there.

Besides, what other plans would I give up to spend that time at the Louvre?

Do I feel like I missed out? Not at all.

Would I go to the Louvre next time I am in Paris? I don’t know. If all the stars aligned and I felt like going, then sure, but not just to tick it off a list.

You don’t have to visit everything

Four months in Europe taught me there is a seemingly unlimited number of museums, castles and churches, most of which get listed as must-see places in their town or city.

After a while, they all started to blend together for me. Another Roman ruin, another castle, another church. It’s not just Europe either, because in Asia the same thing can happen with temples.

When travelling to only a few cities, it can be fun to visit another church. When it’s weeks in a row, though, my enthusiasm starts to wear thin.

I was finally becoming more discerning about what we did and didn’t visit. If I didn’t feel like going to another museum or church, even if it was THE place to visit, then I didn’t!

In my opinion, it is better to skip something now and perhaps visit another time when I’m not so museum’ed, church’ed or temple’d out.

Other things we chose to skip

All of these were conscious choices:

1. Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
2. The Accademia Gallery in Florence, home to Michelangelo’s famous David statue.
3. Going to the opera in Vienna.
4. Going inside Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.
5. Drinking beer in Germany.

And which things did we do that we found less than exciting?

1. Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest. Those enormous rooms just didn’t hold our interest.
2. The museum we visited alongside the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. The chapel itself was great.
3. St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. I preferred other cathedrals we visited in Italy, without the queue.
4. Swarovski Crystal Worlds near Innsbruck. It wasn’t a highlight for us.
5. Bratislava Castle’s “fabulous” gardens. They had recently been redone when we visited and perhaps needed more time to grow into themselves.
6. Prague’s astronomical clock. Pretty to look at, but we didn’t think the show on the hour was worth waiting for. We were left saying, “Is that it?”

None of this means you won’t love those places. We all have different interests, and even the timing of a visit can change how much we enjoy it.

For me, travel is too precious to spend it doing things simply because I feel I should.

Just because “everyone” says this is the place to go, doesn’t mean it’s the place for me at this time.

Want to read some more of my ramblings? Give these posts a go.
How to be a Travel Blogger
Six Months of Travel – Curious Facts & What I Have Learnt
Would you travel for a World Expo?