Nothing fairly screams ‘visiting Paris’ like a basic museum. The capital metropolis is full of points of interest and actions, whether or not you need to cruise the Seine or go to the displays in the Eiffel Tower. The metropolis is famed for its arts – internet hosting museums showcasing Asian arts, indigenous artwork, post-impressionist artwork, and ornamental arts. And Paris is a agency favourite for historical past lovers, with a wealth of World War II historical past and even tales of Napoleon Bonaparte and the ugly French Revolution. That’s all with out contemplating landmarks with their very own museum part, just like the Arc de Triomphe and displays inside the Eiffel Tower.
Most individuals go to Paris for an extended weekend. If you could have even simply 2 to 3 days in Paris, these Paris museums must be on the high of your itinerary. The better part is, relying on the place you keep in Paris, you may stroll to those museums or catch a fast Metro trip. The greatest museums in Paris are ready for you, simple to entry and stuffed with fascinating collections.
Best Paris Museums: 20 Amazing Museums in Paris
In this information, we’ll introduce you to probably the most unbelievable Paris museums. Get able to see every part from a Paul Guillaume assortment to wax museum displays and the jewel of the Louvre itself – the enduring Mona Lisa. The probability to go to a museum in Paris will not be one thing to cross up on. After studying this information, you’ll be well-equipped to kind a museum itinerary of a lifetime.
Get the Paris Museum Pass – Choose from 2,4 or 6 days with entry to greater than 60 of the highest monuments and museums in Paris, together with the Louvre and Versailles, and go to the Centre Pompidou.
1. Musée d’Orsay
Musée d’Orsay is nothing wanting creative magic. The grand museum is about in a former railway station, with humongous glass ceilings and one of the vital well-known clocks in the world. You can head on to the highest ground to look out from behind the glass clock face – admiring the Paris cityscape under. Of course, individuals don’t simply go to Musée d’Orsay for its structure, regardless of this being an enormous draw. It can also be one of the vital revered Paris museums. Musée d’Orsay has an enormous everlasting assortment of nineteenth to Twentieth-century European artwork.
Musée d’Orsay hosts artwork spanning from the years 1848 to 1914. Guests can admire paintings by massive names corresponding to Van Gogh, Monet, and Rodin. In brief, it’s a assortment of all the best names in the artwork world. You may also view particular items, like The Starry Night and Van Gogh’s iconic self-portrait. We simply needed to embrace it. Musée d’Orsay is phenomenal, from its distinctive setting to its invaluable displays. Included in the Paris Museum Pass.
Address: Esplanade Valery Giscard d’Estaing, 75007, Paris, France Opening Times: 9:30 am till 6 pm Tuesday to Sunday, staying open till 9:45 pm on Thursdays. Closed Mondays. Admission Cost: $15 through the official website.
2. Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Who doesn’t get blown away by ornamental arts? Musée des Arts Décoratifs is one among Paris’s most imposing-looking, palatial museum buildings – which is saying one thing. And inside, it hosts over 6,000 completely different objects in a set of high fashion. Musée des Arts Décoratifs sits simply exterior the Louvre, overlooking Jardins des Tuileries. It is an accessible museum to mix with a go to to the Louvre or Musée de l’Orangerie.
Inside, there’s every part from jewellery, lighting, high quality furnishings, crystals, and mannequins. This Paris museum is someplace to go to should you admire the high quality issues in life. Its displays are elegant, with a severe wow issue. Anyone in historical past, vogue, and artwork will recognize this museum. Watch for the Iris Van Herpen exhibit, which is a agency favourite.
Address: 107 Rue de Rivoli, 75001, Paris, France. Opening Times: 11 am till 6 pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website.
3. Musée de l’Orangerie
Musée de l’Orangerie is one other Paris favourite. This museum homes a world-renowned Twentieth-century European artwork assortment, most well-known for its Monet water lily murals. Think chunky framed work and a combination of everlasting and short-term exhibitions. While this museum is just small in comparison with another artwork museums in Paris, its compact measurement makes it simple for guests. It additionally experiences fewer crowds than its neighboring Louvre Museum.
The neatest thing to see contained in the Musée de l’Orangerie is the Monet water lily murals assortment. This is a bucket-list-worthy piece for any artwork fanatic. The piece stretches round an enormous curved wall – a sole exhibit in a plain white room that’s stated to evoke the sensation of an oasis in the center of Paris. Musée de l’Orangerie is the place to go to if in case you have a ardour for the humanities.
Address: Jardin des Tuileries, 75001, Paris, France Opening Times: Open 9 am till 6 pm Wednesday till Monday, staying open till 9 pm on Fridays. Closed Tuesdays. Admission Cost: $12 per particular person through the official website.
4. Grand Palais
The Grand Palais could also be closed for renovations till later in 2024, however this artwork nouveau corridor simply had to be talked about in this information. The construction was created in 1900, and its daring, columned exterior and greenhouse-like ceiling are a much-loved sight in Paris. The Grand Palais famously hosts a quickfire rotation of short-term exhibitions, from Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso to an exposition on Prosper Merimee. If you just like the sound of an ever-evolving and shifting arts middle, the Grand Palais must be on the high of your must-visit.
You by no means fairly know what you’ll count on, which is half of the attract. Check out the official website and see what displays coincide together with your journey. We’ll excitedly await its extremely anticipated 2024 reopening.
Address: 3 Avenue du General Eisenhower, 75008, Paris, France Opening Times: Temporarily closed, reopening later in 2024. Admission Cost: N/A – varies relying on the exhibit.
5. Musée National d’Art Moderne
Technically, this museum is the Centre Pompidou. The Musée National d’Art Moderne – a nationwide fashionable artwork museum – is about inside the bowels of Paris’ famed Centre Pompidou. It covers the Twentieth to Twenty first-century historical past of recent and modern European artwork, together with avant-garde and impressionist artwork. You’ll discover a mixture of completely different modern artists. Musée National d’Art Moderne covers a few of the newest artwork historical past in comparison with different Paris museums.
Musée National d’Art Moderne is about throughout two flooring in the Centre Pompidou, 4th and fifth. The 4th degree has modern artwork from the Sixties onwards whereas the fifth ground has fashionable artwork from 1905 to 1965. Make positive to see Xavier Veilhan’s Le Rhinoceros and Donald Judd’s Stack, which resemble a seemingly floating Jenga-like pile of squares in the minimalism part.
This huge advanced additionally homes a large library and music middle in the Center Pompidou. The constructing is greatest identified for its exterior, although, with a dramatic exterior staircase jutting up its wall. The design makes it seem like the Centre Pompidou is consistently below scaffolding, with a community of criss-crossing metallic bars. The Centre Pompidou is a modernist-looking constructing, and its structure makes it an attraction in its personal proper. You can simply snap photos without spending a dime from the surface earlier than visiting the National Museum of Modern Art. It is included in the Paris Museum Pass.
Address: Place Georges-Pompidou, 75004, Paris, France Opening Times: 11 am till 9 pm from Monday till Sunday, opening till 11 pm on Thursdays. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website. It is included in the Paris Museum Pass.
6. Rodin Museum
Rodin Museum is a straightforward decide when planning a Paris itinerary. This Paris museum has a selected area of interest – sculptures inside an excellent 18th-century mansion. It is the world’s greatest assortment of Rodin’s sculptures, all laid out throughout a serene, manicured backyard and ethereal halls inside the mansion. The museum options some unbelievable sculptured scenes. There’s one thing simply further partaking about sculptures. And should you aren’t often an artwork fanatic, the additional immersive high quality behind 3D displays would possibly win you over.
If you may solely see one exhibit in the Rodin Museum, make it The Thinker. This sculpture is Rodin’s most iconic work. Take benefit of admiring items by different artists, too, because the Rodin Museum affords a couple of displays from different artists corresponding to Van Gogh. Think of it because the cherry on high.
Address: 77 Rue de Varenne, 75007, Paris, France Opening Times: Open 10 am till 6:30 pm from Tuesday till Sunday, closed Mondays. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website.
7. Louis Vuitton Foundation
This futuristic fashionable artwork museum is likely one of the most bizarre-looking Parisian museums. The glass domes seem like a Parisian model of the Sydney Opera House. But should you love fashionable and modern artwork, it is likely one of the greatest museums to go to.
You’ll need to spend some time snapping photos of the Louis Vuitton Foundation’s eccentric exterior. When you end, although, there’s a ravishing inside ready space with a combination of a brief and everlasting assortment. The lovely portrait Ladies and Gentlemen by Andy Warhol and a naturalistic piece exhibiting a brown leaf ensnared inside a tree referred to as Acacia e Foglie di Zucca. The museum in Paris has tons of thought-provoking displays to admire.
Address: 8 Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi Bois de Boulogne, 75116, Paris, France. Opening Times: 11 am till 8 pm Wednesday till Monday, closed Tuesdays. Admission Cost: $20 per particular person through the official website, with reductions for below 26s, college students, and artists.
8. Petit Palais
Petit Palais is one other sensible museum across the Jardins des Tuileries. The grand constructing has an imposing entrance with nice columns and a palatial high quality. As an artwork museum, it has loads of well-known masterpieces on show, together with works by Gustav Courbet and Giovanni Boldini. Make positive to take a look at the rotation of short-term exhibitions in the museum’s West Wing, which included works by Ilya Repine in the previous.
However, whereas all of that is very spectacular, one factor significantly units Petit Palais apart as an artwork museum in Paris. It is completely free to enter. You can add this artwork museum to your listing of the most effective free issues to do in Paris, and it’s a straightforward strategy to spend a few hours entertained with high-caliber paintings.
Address: Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008, Paris, France. Opening Times: 10 am till 6 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. 10 am till 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Closed on Mondays. Admission Cost: Free.
9. Musée National Picasso-Paris
Musée National Picasso-Paris is about in an awe-inspiring Seventeenth-century constructing and hosts one of many world’s largest collections of Picasso works. And if that sentence didn’t promote you, we don’t know what is going to. Pablo Picasso is definitely one of the vital well-respected artists of all time. An worldwide celebrity, Picasso was a number one artist of the Twentieth century and co-founded the Cubist motion.
Inside, you may view items by Picasso and by different artists like Sophie Calle to rejoice Picasso’s life and achievements. Don’t miss the blue-painted rooms marking Picasso’s unbelievable Blue Period. The museum’s assortment is a ravishing ode to the late artist, with an autobiographical museum format.
Address: 5 Rue de Thorigny, 75003, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 10:30 am to six pm from Tuesday till Sunday. Closed on Mondays. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website.
10. Musée du Quai Branly
If indigenous artwork is extra up your road, that is the artwork museum in Paris for you. This artwork museum was based by Jean Nouvel, and it boldly celebrates modern artwork and tradition from communities throughout Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Quai Branly Museum in Paris addresses paintings by analyzing historic, spiritual, social, and cultural influences. And it gives a captivating platform for indigenous tradition and artists in Paris’s coronary heart.
We’d advocate a go to should you’d desire to push apart classics like Claude Monet and embrace a extra worldwide artwork assortment. The museum is conveniently positioned proper on the foot of the Eiffel Tower, making it a straightforward addition to your itinerary. And the sheer quantity of fascinating displays and items makes it effectively value a go to.
Address: 37 Quai Jacques Chirac, 75007, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 10:30 am till 7 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Open 10:30 am till 10 pm on Thursdays and closed on Mondays. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website.
11. Musée Nissim de Camondo
Musée Nissim de Camondo is a homely museum showcasing residential finery like 18th-century French furnishings and ornamental artwork furnishings. The Bella Epoque museum is about in a chic mansion on the outskirts of Parc Monceau, and it’s a extremely photogenic place to spend a day. This gorgeous museum in Paris has luxurious and movie-set-style surroundings at each flip. If you need to really feel like you’re stepping again to expertise the final word 18th-century wealth, that is the spot for it.
Get able to channel your interior Marie Antoinette. There’s every part from elegantly laden white material dinner tables to a grand sweeping staircase to make a dramatic entrance. Don’t miss out on getting the audio information, which brings the gorgeous set to life with tales and background historical past.
Address: 63 Rue de Monceau, 75008, Paris, France Opening Times: Open 10 am till 5:30 pm from Wednesdays to Sundays. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission Cost: $12 per particular person through the official website.
12. Louvre Museum
Who hasn’t considered visiting the Louvre in the case of the most effective Parisian museums? The Louvre is probably the most visited museum in Paris and most identified for its grand glass pyramid. The former palace was constructed on the town’s outskirts to permit royals time to flee any nasty riots. However, it’s now one of the vital acknowledged artwork museums worldwide. There’s every part from Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings to Roman sculptures. Plus, it’s the largest museum on Earth by sq. meter exhibition house.
Out of all of the displays in the Louvre, you have to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. This is likely one of the most well-known portraits of all time. Despite many guests commenting on how small it’s in actuality, it’s simply a bucket listing piece of paintings to see in particular person. The Louvre additionally opens at night time on choose evenings, one of many greatest issues to do in Paris at night time. Could you see the Mona Lisa exterior the same old hours?
Address: Louvre Museum, 75001, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 10 am till 6 pm from Wednesday to Monday, staying open later (till 9:45 pm) on Fridays and shutting on Tuesdays. Admission Cost: $17 per particular person through the official web site.
13. Musée du Luxembourg
Passionate about Twentieth-century portray and feminine artists? Musée du Luxembourg is the Paris museum greatest suited to you. The museum is fantastically positioned in the Jardin du Luxembourg. It opts out of the basic everlasting exhibition type of museum working, as an alternative sometimes providing two annual exhibitions. For 2024, this might be Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso and Match – an exhibition analyzing the way forward for the connection between design and sport. This is, after all, impressed by the Olympics.
For Musée du Luxembourg, we’d extremely recommend checking forward to see if the exhibition pursuits you. If not, we’d nonetheless advocate visiting the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg, the place you may admire the museum’s exterior without spending a dime whereas having fun with walks amongst flowerbeds.
Address: 12 Rue de Vaugirard, 75006, Paris, France. Opening Times: Opens 10:30 am till 7 pm from Tuesday till Sunday, and 10:30 am till 10 pm on Mondays. Admission Cost: $15
14. Musée Carnavalet
Musée Carnavalet is one other one among Paris’ gems. Why? This museum is constructed into two neighboring Parisian mansions, offering a dramatically elegant setting. Visitors get pleasure from a captivating mixture of artwork and historical past displays from the sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries. This contains Marcel Proust’s bed room, historic work, and tales from the French Revolution. Don’t miss the manicured backyard, which has a hedge maze.
The Carnavalet Museum is a ravishing place to go to in Paris. The mansion setting provides the museum the sensation of exploring a non-public assortment. And furthermore, it’s really free to go to – making it probably the greatest free issues to do in Paris.
Address: 23 Rue de Sevigne, 75003, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 10 am till 6 pm from Tuesday till Sunday. Closed Mondays. Admission Cost: Free
15. Musée de l’Homme
An anthropology museum may not be the primary place you’d count on to go to in Paris. However, should you get pleasure from human historical past, it’s simply one of many main Paris museums. The museum was established in 1937, and its title roughly interprets because the ‘Museum of Humanity.’ It is a mixture of pure historical past displays and storytelling in regards to the folks that inhabited Europe. There’s a everlasting assortment and rotating short-term exhibitions, like Lekha Singh – Women Carry The World and Picasso and Prehistory.
We’d recommend checking forward to see what displays coincide together with your journey to Paris. Keep your eye out for the Incan mummy, too, which is labeled because the ‘movie chachapoya.’ The Museum of Humanity is definitely one of the vital shocking and various Parisian museums, so we simply had so as to add it to this information. Nothing else covers such numerous human historical past prefer it in the French capital.
Address: 17 Place du Trocadero et du 11 Novembre, 75116, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 11 am till 7 pm from Wednesday to Monday. Closed on Tuesdays. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person, however free for college kids.
16. Musée Marmottan Monet
Musée Marmottan Monet is exclusive as a result of it’s the world’s largest assortment of Claude Monet works. Claude Monet is likely one of the most main impressionist artists of all time. He is very revered for his backyard and panorama works, the place he completely combines capturing temper and nature. This artwork museum is – virtually completely – devoted to Claude Monet. You can stroll by spacious exhibition rooms, admiring heavy gold framed work, together with a few of Monet’s famed water lily scenes.
Musée de Orangerie is healthier if you wish to see the huge show of the Claude Monet water lilies. Still, Musée Marmottan Monet affords far more selection in phrases of Monet’s works. If you’re an artwork fanatic, you’ll get a extra in-depth have a look at Monet and his work at Musée Marmottan Monet.
Address: 2 Rue Louis Boilly, 75016, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open from 10 am till 6 pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Open later (till 9pm) on Thursdays and closed on Mondays. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website.
17. Musée Grevin
Are you prepared for one of the vital enjoyable Paris museums? This museum’s assortment is nearly completely wax figures, depicting a combination of French historic figures and fashionable celebrities. Musée Grevin is like Madame Tussauds however upscale Paris type. The figures are set in a dramatically luxurious setting, with checkered flooring and excessive vaulted ceilings coated in gold. You wander by the grandeur – making the presence of celebrities and historic figures much more plausible.
The wax figures embrace individuals like Lionel Messi (together with his palms up in celebration), Marilyn Monroe, and even that squirrel off of Ice Age, who spends the entire time chasing a nut. The vary of figures and characters makes Musée Grevin interesting to all ages.
This is likely one of the most family-friendly Paris museums, which is value a point out. We’d extremely advocate it when visiting Paris with younger youngsters. And it is a superb compromise for these desirous to lighten the temper after historic points of interest in Paris.
Address: 10 Bd Montmartre, 75009, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 10 am till 6 pm from Monday till Friday and 9:30 am till 7 pm on the weekend. Admission Cost: $19 per particular person through the official website.
18. Musée de Cluny
Musée de Cluny is likely one of the most uncommon Paris museums. This museum is the National Museum of the Middle Ages – displaying every part from historical past to medieval artwork. The spectacular assortment contains tapestries, crafts, and extra. It is a captivating perception into the medieval interval. And in case you are keen about early historical past, it’s half historical past and half artwork museum. In brief, the National Museum of the Middle Ages is a must-visit.
Of all of the museum displays, ensure to see the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry room. Nothing fairly summarises the medieval interval like a wonderful outdated tapestry. This room in the artwork museum comprises six lovely tapestries in complete, all stored in low lighting to stop harm. It is a magical expertise with an actual sense of ambiance. To be transported again to the Middle Ages, the Lady and the Unicorn room is by far our favourite.
Address: 28 Rue du Sommerard, 75005, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 9:30 am till 6:15 pm, Tuesday till Sunday. Closed Mondays. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website.
19. Eiffel Tower
If pure historical past and artwork aren’t your factor, head to the gorgeous Eiffel Tower. Nothing compares to this big construction. And over the centuries, the tower has turn out to be synonymous with Paris. If you need to expertise Paris, head to this world-famous tower. You can catch the elevator up the constructing, stopping to see the displays in the higher tiers earlier than admiring the views over Paris.
The displays in the tower inform the story of the event of Paris’ cityscape. It additionally tells of Gustave Eiffel’s mission in constructing the tower, which is an fascinating backstory for anybody scaling this construction. Historical displays, tales, and nice views – what extra might you need? It doesn’t get a lot better than standing on the highest tiers of Paris’ great landmark tower.
Address: Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue, Anatole France, 75007, Paris, France. Opening Times: Open 9:30 am till 10:45 pm from Monday till Sunday. Admission Cost: $15 per particular person through the official website.
20. Catacombs of Paris
While not a conventional museum, we simply needed to embrace the Catacombs of Paris in this information. These hallowed tunnels run for miles below Paris, and a small part is open for tourism. You head underground through a steep flight of stairs, coming into a number of exhibit rooms explaining the historical past of the catacombs. From there, you enter the tunnels, famously lined by an ornate combination of skulls and bones. The catacombs are dimly lit by yellow-tinged lighting, and the entire scene is ridiculously atmospheric.
If you desire a Paris museum with a ‘bite,’ the Catacombs of Paris affords an enormous chunk of cultural historical past. It is good for somebody after a museum expertise exterior of admiring conventional paintings. Make positive to snap a couple of photos of this gruesome-looking labyrinth.
Address: 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014, Paris, France. Opening Times: 9:45 am till 8:30 pm from Tuesday till Sunday. Closed Mondays. Admission Cost: $28 per particular person through the official website.
If you intend to see loads of museums in Paris, the Paris Museum Pass is a good possibility. It affords skip-the-line entry to greater than 60 museums. You can select from 2, 4 or 6 days. See extra particulars right here.
Best Museums in Paris: FAQs
As you may see, the Paris museums are tremendous distinctive. Whether you like modern artwork or need to admire stained glass home windows and ornate structure, the French capital has a museum to get your coronary heart fluttering. Paris additionally has a few of the most lovely museum buildings, internet hosting displays in all places, from a former railway station to an ex-palace.
Before you head off, although, keep in mind to take a look at these widespread FAQs. This is a good part to condense the data we’ve simply given you.
What museums are a must-see in Paris?
The Louvre, Musée de l’Orangerie, and Musée d’Orsay are all must-visits in Paris. This well-known trio is the basic number of artwork museums, with an excellent assortment of everlasting and short-term exhibitions. You also needs to cease by the enduring Eiffel Tower with historic displays on its higher flooring.
Is the Picasso Museum Paris value it?
Absolutely, the Picasso Museum is a ravishing ode to Pablo Picasso and his iconic works. Any artwork fanatic ought to prioritize a go to.
What museum in France do vacationers go to most?
The Louvre is definitely France’s most well-known museum. The glass-shaped pyramid is a postcard picture of Paris, and the Louvre homes the well-known Mona Lisa portrait – that means it attracts thousands and thousands of vacationers yearly.
What are the three musees in Paris?
The high three most visited museums in Paris are the Louvre Museum, Musée d’Orsay, and Pompidou.
Feeling impressed? Paris is the town of inspiration in the case of museums and sightseeing. Location-wise, most of the museums are positioned across the Eiffel Tower. You can wander alongside the River Seine, strolling the famed stretch between Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. From right here, you may entry the Musée de l’Homme, Musée du Quai Branly, Petit Palaias, Musée de l’Orangerie, Louvre Museum, and quite a few vogue museums like La Galerie Dior. If you’re caught for time, take a look at our final one-day itinerary and prioritize this part of Paris. The excessive focus of museums in this space of Paris means you may simply mix a pair in in the future.
You might have the other scenario. Do you could have greater than three days in Paris? Then, use your time properly by heading out of the town middle for a day. We’ve received a whole information on the most effective day journeys in Paris. Expand your data exterior the confines of an inner-city museum, and steadiness your keep by venturing out on a day journey.
Paris is an unbelievable metropolis. When it involves displays and tales, Paris takes preservation exceptionally critically. We hope you could have a beautiful time experiencing the most effective museums in Paris.
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