Art & Heritage
Paris Museum Guide: The City's Greatest Art Collections
Plan your museum visits
A guide to the museums of Paris
Paris is home to more than 130 museums, ranging from the world's largest art museum to intimate collection houses tucked into historic mansions. This guide covers the essentials — what to see, when to go, and how to make the most of your museum days in the French capital.
Paris is a city where art history lives on every street corner, and its museums are among the finest in the world. The Louvre, with more than 35,000 works on display, is the most visited museum on the planet and the largest art museum by area. Home to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, it occupies the former royal palace of the French kings and spans more than 8,000 years of human creativity. A single visit cannot do it justice — plan to spend at least half a day, and focus on two or three wings rather than attempting to see everything. The Louvre is open every day except Tuesday, and visitors can enter through the famous glass pyramid designed by I. M. Pei or through the less crowded Porte des Lions entrance on the Seine side.
Just across the river, the Musée d'Orsay holds the world's most important collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, housed in a magnificent former railway station built for the 1900 World's Fair. Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Manet are all represented in depth, with iconic works such as Monet's Impression, Sunrise, Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône, and Degas's ballerinas. The museum's grand central nave, preserved from its railway days, and its giant clocks overlooking the Seine make it one of the most architecturally striking museums in Europe. Like the Louvre, it is closed on Mondays, and the first Sunday of each month offers free entry to all visitors.
Beyond these two giants, Paris offers a constellation of smaller museums that reward deeper exploration. The Musée Rodin, set in the 18th-century Hôtel Biron and its sculptured gardens, provides an intimate encounter with the work of Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel. The Musée Picasso Paris, housed in the 17th-century Hôtel Salé in the Marais, holds more than 5,000 works by Picasso. The Centre Pompidou, with its distinctive inside-out architecture, houses the leading collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. The Musée du quai Branly, designed by Jean Nouvel, presents the arts and civilisations of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas in a stunning setting beside the Eiffel Tower. For those interested in decorative arts and fashion, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Palais Galliera offer world-class collections. Whether your interest is ancient antiquities, Impressionist masterpieces, or contemporary installations, Paris has a museum that will captivate you — and with many offering free entry on the first Sunday of each month, there is no better excuse to explore.
From our database
Museums at a glance
1st
Musée du Louvre
The world's largest art museum, home to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and 35,000 works spanning 8,000 years of human history in a former royal palace.
7th
Musée d'Orsay
The world's foremost collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, housed in a Beaux-Arts railway station built for the 1900 World's Fair. Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, and Renoir in depth.
4th
Centre Pompidou
Europe's leading collection of modern and contemporary art, housed in Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers's radical inside-out building. Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and major contemporary shows.