Planning your journey to Paris and questioning what unimaginable locations it’s best to add to your itinerary? Then it would be best to take a look at this text about the perfect museums in Paris!
We’ll allow you to in on the perfect Paris museums to view gorgeous artwork, study science and tradition, and usually soak within the wealthy cultural scene of Paris.
Irrespective of who you’re, whether or not it’s a nature fanatic, a historical past buff, an absolute Andy Warhol devotee, otherwise you’re making an attempt to flee a wet day in Paris, there’s something for everybody at these Paris museums.
On the lookout for lodging? We wrote a useful information on the place to remain in Paris for various budgets. Nonetheless, if you wish to splurge slightly simply to ensure you get the perfect out of the town, guide one among these unimaginable lodges with Eiffel Tower views. They’re merely mindblowing.
23 Absolute Finest Museums in Paris, From Louvre to Curie Museum
Hey, earlier than we begin speaking about the perfect Paris museums, we’ll drop you a useful tip. Shopping for the Paris Museum Cross can prevent some cash in entry charges, relying in your itinerary. You may learn our assessment within the put up above when you’ve got extra questions.
Click on right here to purchase your Museum Cross
1. Musée d’Orsay (Orsay Museum)
The Musée d’Orsay is the preferred Paris artwork museum beside the Louvre. And that is with good cause.
This Parisian museum is dwelling to an unparalleled assortment of Impressionist artwork. At each nook, you can be invited to absorb the splendor of one other oddly acquainted portray.
Whether or not you’ve first seen them in an artwork class, in a heist movie, or on the quilt of somebody’s diary, these work can significantly enchant you if you see them in actual life.
Whether or not it’s the swirling brushstrokes of Van Gogh’s well-known self-portrait, the darkish, masterful intonations of Manet’s portrait of Bertha Morisot, or the sheer pleasure that’s seeing Degas’ ballet ladies carry, you possibly can hardly go improper with the Musée d’Orsay.
You may also discover well-known artworks by Renoir, Monet, and Cézanne within the everlasting assortment.
That is among the many higher echelons of museums in Paris, however greater than that, there’s something so particular about this museum. From the constructing’s beginnings at a practice station to the magnificent artwork, Musée d’Orsay is to not be missed!
2. Louvre Museum
Ah, the Louvre.
This wonderful Parisian museum as soon as served as a royal residence for a lot of French royals, together with Louis XIV.
Within the Seventeenth century, Louis XIV moved to Versailles and solely years after did the Louvre shift right into a museum, extra exactly within the 18th century, and it’s nonetheless top-of-the-line on this planet.
That’s why visiting the Louvre Museum is among the greatest issues to do in Paris. In case your time within the metropolis is restricted, it would be best to make sure that to discover the one museum that pulls probably the most guests of any museum on the planet.
Lose your self as you make your method throughout 782,910 sq. toes of historical past that include roughly 380,000 objects and 35,000 artistic endeavors, from French work, drawings, sculptures, and archaeological finds, some items courting again to the start of time.
A number of the most well-known work within the Louvre are Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty of Main the Individuals, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa.
We strongly counsel you purchase a timed entrance ticket to avoid wasting plenty of time. A typical journey to this well-known museum will final between 2 to three hours.
If you wish to go to this Parisian landmark within the night, you are able to do so each Tuesday. You may be stunned by what number of issues you are able to do in Paris at night time.
Good to know: The Louvre Museum entrance ticket is included within the Paris Cross. Click on right here to learn the Paris Cross assessment.
3. Quai Branly Museum
The Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is a museum devoted to learning non-European civilizations from the Neolithic interval to the twentieth century.
Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the museum opened in 2006 after an extended historical past of spectacular collections passing from collector to state to a cultural establishment.
It inherited the collections from two museums, one among African and Oceanian Artwork and likewise from Musée de l’Homme, and now consists of over 370,000 artifacts from all around the world.
The Quai Branly Museum has a number of cultural objects like masks, pottery, and shields.
So far as Paris museums go, this is among the most diversified.
On high of that, this place affords a few of the greatest Eiffel Tower views, and consider it or not, it boasts an extremely romantic restaurant too. Les Ombres is a rooftop restaurant with jaw-dropping views.
Learn subsequent: Finest Eating places With a View of the Eiffel Tower
4. Musée de la Vie Romantique (Museum of Romantic Life)
The Musée de la Vie Romantique is a monument to the town of affection. It’s a museum of romantic life and homes work by a number of romantic painters.
The museum constructing itself as soon as belonged to Ary Scheffer, a Dutch artist who constructed the villa within the Nineteenth century.
The bottom ground of the picturesque constructing pays homage to a feminine French author who wrote below the pseudonym George Sand. Numerous modern items accompany Scheffer’s work on the primary ground.
The constructing additionally homes a tea room so you possibly can take pleasure in a wonderfully blissful afternoon soaking in France’s most lovely romantic artworks. It is among the most enchanting museums in Paris.
5. Musée Nationwide D’Artwork Moderne De Paris (Fashionable Artwork Museum)
Though it might appear paradoxical to incorporate the phrases “fashionable” and “museum” in the identical sentence, the Musée D’Artwork Moderne, the MAM, is devoted to fashionable artwork exhibitions from way back to the Sixties.
Consequently, it’s each a celebration of older types of contemporary artwork and its evolution and development as modern artwork into the twenty first century; thus, the Musée D’Artwork Moderne creates a historic timeline and predictions, in contrast to different museums in Paris.
Because the title implies, fashionable and modern artwork exhibitions are commonplace on the Musée D’Artwork Moderne, that means that it’s the good location for followers of contemporary artwork and anybody seeking to see the present state of latest artwork!
Oh, and it boasts Europe’s largest assortment of contemporary artwork!
On the lookout for free issues to do in Paris? Effectively, then you’ll love this place. The everlasting assortment is with out cost, making it one of many greatest free museums in Paris.
Additionally, the everlasting assortment consists primarily of work from famed fashionable artists, whereas the particular timed exhibits and non permanent exhibitions are topic to an entrance payment.
Handle: 11 Av. du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris – sixteenth arrondissement
6. Musée De l’Orangerie (Orangerie Museum)
The Musée de l’Orangerie is located within the Tuileries Gardens and may be thought of one other heavy hitter. It’s because it boasts Claude Monet’s astonishing water lilies work, amongst different work.
Apart from the water lilies, works by Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, and Renoir grace the partitions of the Musée de l’Orangerie.
The Orangerie was constructed on the behest of Emperor Napoleon III and was used to retailer orange timber through the winter to maintain them from succumbing to frostbite.
The previous Orangerie was reworked into an artwork gallery after World Warfare I. The museum on the time was meant to offer dwelling artists with a spot to show their artwork.
Monet, who died in 1926, donated his water lily portray to the brand new museum, which was finalized in 1922.
No matter your cause for going to the Musée de l’Orangerie, whether or not it’s the mixture of artwork and nature, a eager architectural curiosity, or an obsession with Monet, you should have a stunning time at this Paris artwork museum.
7. Musée Marmottan Monet (Marmottan Museum of Monet)
And if that wasn’t sufficient of a Monet repair, go to probably the most intensive assortment of his work at Musée Marmottan Monet. This beautiful assortment is housed in a beautiful former searching lodge.
Collector Paul Marmottan bequeathed his dwelling and assortment to make it a museum when he died in 1932.
Michel Monet, the son of the prolific artist, donated 165 of Monet’s works to this museum. The museum can also be lucky to have works by Gauguin, Renoir, Monet, and Berthe Morisot in its assortment.
On high of the impressionist masterpieces the museum boasts, there are additionally a number of illuminated manuscripts and different items of Center Age and Renaissance artwork.
A number of sculptures and distinctive items of furnishings function at this museum.
8. Musée Rodin (Rodin Museum)
The Musée Rodin is called after prolific sculptor Auguste Rodin, most well-known for his The Thinker sculpture.
The museum is situated within the former Hôtel Biron, the place Auguste Rodin lived within the years main as much as his demise. The museum was opened to the general public in 1919.
The museum homes the various works of Rodin, together with over 6,500 sculptures, roughly 8,000 pictures, round 8,000 drawings, and plenty of different items of superlative artwork.
The museum is dwelling to a 7.4-acre sculpture backyard. The constructing homes the remainder of the works by Rodin and his contemporaries.
As well as, it boasts a portray by Vincent Van Gogh, one by Claude Monet, and even one by Edvard Munch (of The Scream fame) depicting Rodin’s sculpture, The Thinker.
The Thinker isn’t the one well-known sculpture of Rodin on show. The Kiss can also be accessible for viewing, as is The Gates of Hell.
Moreover, the works of Rodin’s protégé and mistress, Camille Claudel, are on show. Rodin’s work additionally grace the partitions of the museum.
The expertise of visiting the Musée Rodin is an overwhelmingly excellent one. The gorgeous 1927 home is sufficient cause to go to.
With all of the sculptures and work added in, you’re in for an actual deal with at probably the most implausible museums in Paris!
Websites like these make the French capital one of many most lovely locations on this planet!
9. Musée Curie (Curie Museum)
Beforehand the laboratory of Nobel Prize Winner Marie Curie, the Musée Curie was opened in 1964 and housed numerous exhibitions and devices to coach guests on the historical past, science, and implication of synthetic radioactivity.
Following the recognition of the museum, Marie Curie’s precise chemistry laboratory was decontaminated and reconstructed, thus permitting guests to soundly enter and discover the actual area and gear, which was instrumental in bettering our understanding of the makes use of and risks of radiation and oncology.
Marie Curie stays a central determine in scientific analysis and a figurehead for bettering entry to STEM for girls within the twenty first century.
Though everlasting exhibitions are free, the museum does enable guests to donate cash to the Musée Curie.
Handle: 1 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris – fifth arrondissement
10. Picasso Museum
The Picasso Museum is situated within the former Hôtel Salé and was based in 1974.
The museum consists of 5,000 works, together with 297 work, over 1,700 drawings and notebooks, and 360 sculptures and 3D works. This constitutes probably the most intensive assortment of Picasso’s work.
The museum contains donations from Picasso’s heirs and later his spouse’s heirs. Some notable artworks embrace Guernica, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, and The Weeping Girl.
The museum additionally holds 50 items of Diego Giacometti furnishings in addition to engravings, archives, and pictures by Picasso. This is among the greatest Paris museums devoted to cubism.
On high of all this, there are work by Cézanne and different creative renderings by Modigliani, Matisse, and Degas, to call a number of.
11. Louis Vuitton Basis
The Louis Vuitton Basis is an artist’s haven based in 2014.
The constructing, designed by Canadian-American Frank Gehry, is actually in contrast to the opposite structure on this listing up to now.
As an alternative of quaint Seventeenth-century searching lodges, this gorgeous constructing is a spectacle of glass and metal, which permits pure gentle to light up the halls.
The museum showcases primarily modern artwork and classifies its assortment into 4 classes: contemplative, expressionist, pop, and music & sound.
You may see artwork from well-known artists like Joan Mitchell, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Takashi Murakami. This is among the most thrilling museums in Paris.
Learn subsequent: 19 Finest French Designers of All Time
12. Musée Des Beaux-Arts (Metropolis of Paris Museum of Nice Arts)
Starting life after the French Revolution within the Jesuit Church, the growth of the Musée des Beaux-Arts led to the switch of the museum’s intensive assortment to the Petit Palais.
Nonetheless, the continuing assortment growth resulted in quite a few renovations and extensions to the museum.
A spotlight of the museum’s extensions consists of the sculpture backyard, which doubles as a venue for social and enterprise occasions, making it probably the most numerous museums in Paris.
Consequently, Musée des Beaux-Arts is an area of studying and discovery and a contemporary venue to fulfill like-minded individuals, interact in enterprise discussions, and set up networks in one among Europe’s most iconic cities!
Whereas the everlasting collections are free, particular exhibitions that are usually proven after 7 pm, require an entrance payment.
Handle: Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris – within the eighth arrondissement close to the Avenue des Champs-Elysées
13. Muséum Nationwide d’Histoire Naturelle (Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past)
The Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past. In case you are a science lover, that is the place for you!
The museum hosts a group of full skeletons of creatures lengthy since extinct – together with dinosaurs – and different paleontological finds, together with fossils.
There are additionally over 7,000 taxidermized animals. Moreover, a group of distinctive large-scale minerals may be considered on the museum. Furthermore, a subdivision of the museum hosts an array of vegetation for the character lover in you and a zoo.
Lastly, the museum additionally acts as a coaching facility for college kids, lecturers, and professionals. It publishes educational articles and books for most of the people.
14. Dalí Museum
The Dalí Museum constitutes the gathering of Salvador Dalí’s nice surrealist works by Beniamino Levi, an artwork vendor.
The museum was reopened in 2018 after renovations. The everlasting assortment has over 300 Dalí artworks on show.
This consists of etchings, sculptures, surrealist furnishings, and objects. Previous exhibitions embrace ones on road artwork, pictures, jewels, and letters.
You by no means fairly know what you’ll find on the Dalí Museum, however one factor is for positive: you can be surprised by the various Dalí artworks gracing this museum’s partitions – and flooring.
15. Maison De Balzac (Balzac’s Home)
Positioned within the former residence of acclaimed Nineteenth-century French author Honoré de Balzac, the Maison de Balzac is a transformed literary museum and top-of-the-line free literary museums to go to throughout your subsequent keep in Paris!
Renovated in 2012, the literary dwelling come museum consists of 5 completely different rooms which home the creator’s furnishings, trinkets, memorabilia, and writing supplies from Honoré de Balzac’s writing profession within the Nineteenth century.
The primary ground features a library devoted to Honoré de Balzac’s writing items, books about Honoré de Balzac, and historic newspaper and journal articles from the Nineteenth century that highlighted Honoré de Balzac’s success.
Entrance is free to everlasting exhibitions, whereas timed particular collections cost an entrance payment.
Handle: 47 Rue Raynouard, 75016 Paris – sixteenth arrondissement
16. Musée de Cluny (Cluny Museum)
The Musée de Cluny is a museum dedicated to medieval artwork. It is among the museums in Paris with probably the most historical past behind it.
It’s located within the former residence, which was inbuilt 1485, of the abbots of the city of Cluny. The constructing homes Roman thermal baths and a Gothic chapel.
Probably the most well-known piece within the assortment is undoubtedly The Woman and the Unicorn tapestries.
Nonetheless, the gathering additionally consists of stained glass items, sculptures, gold- and silverwork, jewellery, and on a regular basis objects from the Center Ages.
17. Musée Bourdelle (Bourdelle Museum)
The recognition and the variety of items on show make it top-of-the-line museums in Paris, that means it ought to be on anybody’s radar as soon as it has been reopened to the general public!
The museum pays homage to its namesake, famend sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, by housing over fifty lovely sculptures whereas preserving his authentic studio.
The aim is to showcase Bourdelle’s creative evolution and life story chronologically.
Bourdelle, a scholar of Auguste Rodin, was a French artist who mentored Alberto Giacometti.
Whereas the museum has bronze, marble, and plaster sculptures from different artists, it additionally has a group of work and sketches from Bourdelle’s personal assortment.
On high of Bourdelle’s private assortment, the museum additionally showcases over 500 works of French artists, like Eugène Delacroix, Auguste Rodin, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.
Whereas everlasting exhibitions are free, restricted reveals could also be topic to an entrance payment.
Handle: 18 Rue Antoine Bourdelle, 75015 Paris – fifteenth arrondissement
18. Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou, named after the previous French president, joins Fondation Louis Vuitton in carving out their very own area of interest by making a constructing as distinctive because the artwork inside it.
This modern artwork museum is constructed from glass and industrial pipes.
It incorporates over 100 000 artworks, together with items from Kandinsky, Chagall, Matisse, Mondrian, Rothko, and Warhol. The museum additionally hosts a library and a cinema and places on exhibits and live shows.
19. Musée Jacquemart-André (Jacquemart-André Museum)
The Jacquemart-André Museum is just breathtaking. The constructing is as lavish because the artwork it homes.
This mansion was commissioned by Edouard André and his spouse, Nélie Jacquemart, within the Nineteenth century. In truth, Nelie was an artist herself, and so they have been bonded by their shared love of artwork.
The everlasting assortment is dedicated to Renaissance artwork and 18th-century French portray. It consists of works by Giovanni Bellini, Jacques-Louis David, Rembrandt, and Botticelli.
20. European Home of Pictures
The European Home of Pictures is looking your title if you happen to like to marvel on the glory of a developed picture.
Nonetheless, if you’re fairly critical about your personal pictures, you may also peruse their library.
Apart from its huge assortment of pictures by main photographers like Sabine Weiss, Brassaï, Michel Journiac, and Alice Springs, the museum additionally holds a stellar assortment of 30,000 reference works and 750 movies as regards to pictures and its most influential contributors.
The museum is situated within the 18th-century Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre and has been there since 1996. It is among the best museums in Paris for pictures fans.
21. Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Museum of Ornamental Arts)
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs, recognized in English because the Museum of Ornamental Arts, is exclusive in that its emphasis is so nice on objets d’artwork as an alternative of extra conventional artwork kinds.
Located within the western wing of the Louvre, the museum is a spectacle for individuals who benefit from the finer particulars.
The museum homes ornamental arts and design, trend and textiles, uncommon paperwork, and posters from numerous eras.
So, if you wish to see a Gown à la française, an Artwork Nouveau poster, and a vase from the 18th century, you may have come to the suitable place!
The museum homes a jewellery gallery, two flooring devoted to furnishings, ceramics, promoting posters, and trend, and flooring dedicated to fashionable and modern furnishings.
There may be additionally a library with intensive works, together with 120,000 books and exhibition catalogs. Seventeen thousand uncommon books from the fifteenth century and onwards are included on this assortment.
22. Pasteur Museum
The Pasteur Museum is situated within the former dwelling of Louis Pasteur. For those who didn’t know, Louis was the French chemist who invented pasteurization, which was named after him.
He’s additionally partly answerable for creating vaccines in opposition to rabies, anthrax, and fowl cholera.
This can be a fascinating go to for these considering science and historical past. The home the place he lived in his later years has been made to look precisely because it did when he lived in it.
The bottom ground of the home constitutes a Byzantine-style funerary chapel.
This was on the behest of his spouse, who wished his physique to be at peace in his dwelling reasonably than on the Panthéon as the federal government had wished. His spouse was later laid to relaxation on the foot of the altar.
On the museum, you possibly can see Louis Pasteur’s examine, his science collections room, and his personal dwelling quarters. It actually is among the most unusual Paris museums on the market!
23. Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts)
Based in 1794 by Henri Grégoire, this science museum of technological innovation is Europe’s first of its form.
The museum has over 80,000 objects and 15,000 drawings in its everlasting assortment, of which about 2,500 are on show in Paris.
A few of its highlights on everlasting show embrace the unique mannequin of the Statue of Liberty, a few of the first planes made, and the primary mechanical calculator.
Handle: 60 Rue Réaumur, 75003 Paris, France
Extra Paris Museums Value Mentioning
Gustave Moreau Museum
Musée de l’Armée
Palais de Tokyo
Cité de l’Structure et du Patrimoine
Musée d’Artwork Naïf Max Fourny
Musée Nissim de Camondo
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais
Petit Palais
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23 Absolute Finest Museums in Paris, From Louvre to Curie Museum
1. Musée d’Orsay (Orsay Museum)
2. Louvre Museum
3. Quai Branly Museum
4. Musée de la Vie Romantique
5. Musée Nationwide D’Artwork Moderne De Paris (Fashionable Artwork Museum)
6. Musée De l’Orangerie
7. Musée Marmottan Monet
8. Musée Rodin
9. Musée Curie (Curie Museum)
10. Picasso Museum
11. Louis Vuitton Basis
12. Musée Des Beaux-Arts (Metropolis of Paris Museum of Nice Arts)
13. Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past
14. Dalí Museum
15. Maison De Balzac (Balzac’s Home)
16. Cluny Museum
17. Musée Bourdelle (Bourdelle Museum)
18. Centre Pompidou
19. Musée Jacquemart-André (Jacquemart-André Museum)
20. European Home of Pictures
21. Musée des Arts Décoratifs
22. Pasteur Museum
23. Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts)
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