Many national museums in France, including the venerable Louvre in Paris, will be offering free admission in the coming months, the country's Culture Ministry announced.

Christine André, a spokesperson for the ministry, announced on Friday that 18 museums will be participating in an experiment to get the public to experience high culture.

The Louvre in Paris will be one of 18 national museums in France offering a free day to visitors.
(Jacques Brinon/Associated Press)

"French museums are ready for more visitors, and we hope to draw in a new public, especially young people.... It's a question of money for some people," André said.

Until June 30, some national museums will extend free admission to their permanent collections to everyone, while others will offer it to those under 26, for one evening a week.

Some of those museums include the Centre Pompidou and Quai Branly in Paris and the Marine Museum in Toulon, in the south.

The program will likely draw more tourists, André said.

"If the French start seeing long lines in front of the museums, they'll start to tell themselves: Hey, foreigners are taking advantage of this — we'd be morons not to!" André said.

She said it would cost around 220 million euros ($325.5 million Cdn.) to make up for the lost ticket sales. Lost funds will be offset by private donors and state financing.

Shortly after his election to the French presidency last spring, Nicolas Sarkozy indicated his government might apply the British model to France's national museums.

National museums in Britain were made free full-time in 2001. That led to a 62 per cent jump in attendance in the first year, with 2.7 million new visitors.

French Culture Minister Christine Albanel has said she might expand the trial program depending on its results.