Paris Museums
Guide to the Best Museums in Paris
Artists from all over the world come to Paris, Capital de las Artes, seeking inspiration in its museums and galleries.
Paris is home to the École des Beaux-Arts, where many famous European artists such as Degas, Delacroix, Monet, and Renoir trained.
The Louvre is the largest and most famous museum in the world, home to works of art such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo statue. The Musée d'Orsay houses the world's largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces.
On the other hand, the Centre Georges Pompidouhouses a collection of modern and contemporary art.
To save money on museum tickets, you can buy the Paris Pass, which includes a Paris Museum Pass.
Most Popular Museums in Paris
A list to help you decide which Parisian museum to visit
Louvre Museum
France's majestic museum. With 35,000 works of art, it has become the most famous and visited museum in the world. It opened its doors to the public in 1793.
Musée d'Orsay
Housed in a former train station, this museum focuses on 19th-century fine arts, including Impressionist works by artists such as Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, and Monet.
Centre Pompidou
The Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou is a high-tech architecture building that showcases one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary art in the world.
Musée de l'Orangerie
The Orangerie houses famous Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, including Monet's Water Lilies, composed of eight panels displayed in an oval room.
Musée Rodin
Rodin himself transformed this mansion into the museum it is today. The museum's collection, greatly beloved by the French, also includes works by Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir.
Musée Picasso
The Musée Picasso in Paris displays numerous works by the Spanish artist as well as pieces by fellow artists, housed in a beautiful 17th-century building in the Parisian neighborhood of Le Marais.
Musée Grévin
Paris's wax museum. Inaugurated in 1882, it contains more than 500 figures depicting popular and prominent personalities from around the world.
Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac
The Musée du quai Branly in Paris displays indigenous art, cultures, and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.
Natural History Museum
Located in the Jardin des Plantes (a former medicinal plant garden created by Louis XIII in 1635). It is one of the most important natural history museums in the world.
Paris Army Museum
The Paris Army Museum (Musée de l'Armée) is housed in the Les Invalides building, where you can visit Napoleon's tomb and an outstanding military collection.
Fondation Louis Vuitton
A museum dedicated to contemporary art, located within the Bois de Boulogne, one of the largest parks in Paris. Spectacular temporary exhibitions.
Musée Jacquemart-André
A Parisian mansion from the Haussmann era, where you can admire a private collection that includes works by Rembrandt, Anthony van Dyck, Bernini, and Botticelli.
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
Located in the Parc de la Villette of Paris is the largest interactive science and technology museum in Europe.
Paris Museum of Modern Art
Made up largely of works donated by collectors and artists, this museum showcases pieces by artists such as Rouault, Picasso, Dufy, Gromaire, and Matisse.
Victor Hugo's House
You can visit, in this building beside the famous Place de Vosges of the Le Marais neighborhood, the home where Victor Hugo lived with his wife for 16 years in the mid-19th century.
Museum of the Middle Ages
Also known as Museo Cluny, it is housed in a building dating from the 15th century and contains one of the most remarkable medieval collections in the world.
Fondation Cartier
It showcases all forms of contemporary art with no restrictions on style or discipline, from painting and sculpture to video and photography. It closes during the installation of new exhibitions, so confirm before your visit.
Cité des Enfants
Within the Cité des Sciences et l'Industrie complex, this learning space is specially designed for children aged 2 to 7.
Balzac Museum
In the Trocadero neighborhood, just a few steps from the Eiffel Tower, stands the house where Honoré de Balzac lived — one of the great figures of world literature.
National Library
The country's most important library, located alongside the Seine, opened to the public in 1998 with a collection of over 30 million volumes, as well as a modern digital library.