Paris Museums
Paris Museums –
please note that opening times were accurate at the time of the post so please verify with the museum before you go.
The Louvre is one of the best known Paris museums (and can be found here) but there are many other options for visitors. What is listed below is a select few. There are around 130 museums within the city limits of Paris!
Museum goers should remember that in general Paris museums are open 10:00 – 6:00pm, closed Monday and/or Tuesday as well as public holidays and that ticket sales generally stop 30 minutes before closing. Specific times by museum have been listed but should always be verified.
Orsay Museum
The Orsay Museum in Paris – Le Musée d’Orsay
Originally the location of the Palais d’Orsay, the Orsay Museum is actually housed in the old Orsay terminus which was built in 1900. It is the best known of Paris m is famous for its Impressionists collection.
Open: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9.30am to 6pm and on Thursdays from 9.30am to 9.45pm
Location: 62, rue de Lille
Metro : Solférino (line 12) , Musée d’Orsay station (RER: line C)
Musée Baccarat
One of the Private Paris museums- features Baccarat crystal
Open: From 1st March to 1st November: 9.30am-12.30 and 2pm-6.30pm
From 2nd November to 31st March: 10am-noon and 2pm-6pm.
In July and August: 9.30am to 6.30pm
Closed Tuesday and Sunday
Location: 11 Place des États-Unis
Metro : Charles de Gaulle-Etoile
Musée Carnavalet
(Hôtel Carnavalet)
This is the oldest of Paris’ municipal museums and although it is a history museum, it is also an art gallery. There are permanent collections as well as rotating exhibits. It was my immense privilege to see the Eugene Atget photography exhibit there in 2012.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 10:00am – 6:00pm, except public holidays, Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday
Location: 23 rue de Sévigné
Metro: Saint-Paul (line 1), Rambuteau (line 11) or Chemin Vert (line 8)
Foundation Henri Cartier- Bresson
The foundation hosts rotating exhibits of the works of various photographers with the ground floor being dedicated to the photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 1pm – 6:30 pm, Saturday 11am – 6:45 pm, Wednesdays until 8:30
Closed: Mondays
Location : 2 Impasse Lebouis
Metro : Gaîté (line 13)
Musée Dapper
An artistic and cultural place for Africa, the Caribbean and their diaspora
Open: Monday11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Wednesday11:00 am – 7:00 pm,Friday11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Saturday11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Sunday11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Location: 35 bis rue Paul Valéry
Metro : Victor Hugo (Line 2)
Musée National Eugène Delacroix
The Musée National Eugène Delacroix occupies the painter’s apartment as well as his studio, located in his private garden.
Open: daily except Tuesday, 9:30 am to 5 pm
Location: 6 rue de Furstenberg
Métro : Saint-Germain-des-Prés (line 4), Mabillon (line 10)
Musée d’Art et Historie du Judaisme (Museum of Jewish Art and History)
Located in the heart of the Marais this Paris museum is dedicated to Jewish culture in France and all over the world.
The museum’s mission is to present the two thousand-year history of the Jewish communities in France and to situate it in the broader context of the history of Judaism as a whole.
Open: Mondays to Fridays 11 am to 6 pm , Sundays 10 am to 6 pm,Late opening Wednesdays until 9 pm (exhibitions only)
Closed: Saturday
Location: Hôtel de Saint-Aignan
71 rue du Temple
Metro: Rambuteau (line 11), Hôtel de Ville (lines 1 and 11)
Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits
The museum contains both permanent and temporary expositions of letters and manuscripts of artists such as Balzac, Monet, Hugo and others. Look for the handwritten letter from Victor Hugo to George Sands.
Open: 10:00-7:00pm Tuesday – Sunday, Thursday 10:00-9:30pm
Location: 222 Boulevard Saint Germain
Metro: Rue du Bac (line 12), Sèvres-Babylone (line 12 or 10),
Saint-Germain des Prés (line 4)
Marmottan Monet Museum
Housed in a former hunting lodge, the soon to become Marmatton Monet museum inherited a private collection of paintings to include Pissaro, Monet, Manet, Siciley, and Renoir in 1934.
In 1967, Monet’s son bequeathed his inheritance of his father’s paintings to the Marmatton Monet which endowed the museum with the largest collection of Monet in the world.
The museum is located on the western edge of Paris near the Bois de Boulogne.
Open: daily 10a.m. – 6p.m., Thursdays until 8p.m.
Closed: Mondays, January 1, May 1, December 25
Location: 2 Rue Louis-Boilly
Metro: La Muette (line 9)
Note: If you are visiting the Eiffel Tower, walk across the Pont d’Iéna, through the Trocadero Gardens and pick up the line 9 metro at the Trocadero Metro Stop.
Musée Maxims
Assembled by Pierre Cardin, this museum of Art Nouveau collections is designed to represent the appartment of a renowned courtesan. Twelve rooms above the restaurant Maxims are furnished in pieces of Tiffany, Majorelle, Toulouse-Lautrec and other artists characteristic of the Belle Epoque.
Open: Guided tours Wednesday-Sunday at 2pm, 3:15pm, and 4:30pm
Location: 3 rue Royale
Metro : Concorde (lines 1, 8, and 12)
Picasso Museum (Hôtel Salé)
Housed in a renovated old house of the Marais, Hôtel Salé, this on of Paris museums consists of small rooms with the work displayed chronologically. This comprehensive collection covers 1894-1972.
Open: Re-opening June 2014 after a 5 year renovation
Location: 5 rue de Thorigny
Metro : Saint Paul (line 1 ) and Saint Sebastien-Froissart (line 8)
Musée Edith Piaf
Housed in a private residence where Piaf lived when she was 18, the museum houses a collection of Piaf’s person items.
Open: 1:00pm – 6:00pm m(call in advance to make an appointment 01 43 55 52 72)
Location: 5 rue Crespin-du-Gast
Metro: Ménilmontant (Line 2)
Musée de la Poupée (Doll Museum)
Created by two collectors, father and son Guido and Samy Odin in the historic district of doll-makers, this museum also offers children’s parties and doll appraisals.
Open : Tuesday – Saturday 10 :00 – 6 :00pm (reopens Feb1)
Location: Impasse Berthaud (near the intersection of rue Rambuteau and rue Beaubourg)
Metro: Rambuteau (line 11)
Paris Musem – Maison de Victor Hugo
This one of Paris museums contains more than 450 of Hugo’s drawings illustrating his work as well as first editions of his work.
Open : Tuesday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Wednesday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Thursday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Friday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Saturday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Sunday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Location: 6 Place des Vosges
Metro: Saint Paul (line 1) , Bastille (line 1 and line 8)
Musée de Rodin (Hôtel Biron)
Built between 1727 and 1732 Hôtel Biron houses nearly 300 works from Rodin’s collection. There is also a café located in the heart of the garden.
Open: 10:00 – 5:45 pm daily except Mondays
Location: 79 rue de Varenne
Metro: Varenne (line 13), Invalides (Line 13 and line 8)
Musée de la Vie Romantique (Hôtel Scheffer-Renan )
Located in the home of 19th c. painter Ary Scheffer in the quartier known as la Nouvelle Athènes, the museum houses works of Scheffer, his students (including Marie d’Orléans, daughter of Louis-Phillippe ) as well as portraits and memorabilia of George Sand. In warm weather, you can partake of tea in the rose garden.
Open : daily (except holidays and Monday) 10 :00 – 6 :00pm. (closed between 21 Jan and 17 Feb 2013)
Location: 16 rue Chaptal
Metro: Pigalle (line 2 and line 12)
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