Paris Museums: Prices, Opening Hours and Tickets (2026)

Paris museums are the reason many people come to the city in the first place, and they are also the easiest thing to get wrong: half of them are shut on Monday, the other half on Tuesday, and prices have moved a lot in the last two years. This guide covers 58 Paris museums and monuments in a single searchable table, with 2026 gate prices, closing days, Paris Museum Pass coverage and booking links. Everything below was rechecked in 2026, including the new two-tier pricing that now applies to non-EEA visitors at the Louvre and the Sainte-Chapelle.

Paris museums: prices, opening days and tickets at a glance

Gate prices as of 2026. Partner tickets often include skip-the-line access and may cost more than the gate price.

Map of museums in Paris

Use the map below to see where each museum sits. Most of the big names are clustered along the Seine between the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, while the free municipal museums are spread across the Marais, Montmartre and the western arrondissements.

Paris museum prices in 2026: what you will really pay

There is a lot of confusion about a supposed “tourist tax” on Paris museums. Here is the honest version: only two sites currently charge non-European visitors more than European ones.

• Louvre: €22 for EU/EEA residents, €32 for everyone else.
• Sainte-Chapelle: €16 for EU/EEA residents, €22 for everyone else.

Everywhere else in the table, the gate price is identical whatever passport you hold. A ticket to the Musée d’Orsay costs €16 for a Parisian, a Berliner and a visitor from Chicago alike.

The real gap for a non-European visitor is not the ticket price, it is the free-admission schemes. Almost all of them (under-26 free entry, first-Sunday free days for some sites, jobseeker exemptions) are reserved for residents of the European Union or the European Economic Area. A 22-year-old from Madrid walks into the Louvre for nothing; a 22-year-old from Melbourne pays €32. That single rule accounts for most of the price difference visitors experience.

A last thing worth knowing about Paris museum prices: online booking fees of €1 to €2.50 are common at the national museums, and temporary exhibitions are almost always charged separately, even at the museums whose permanent collections are free.

Which Paris museums are open on Monday and Tuesday?

This is the single most useful thing to check before you plan a day. Paris museum opening hours follow a split rhythm: the city-run museums and most of the Left Bank institutions close on Monday, the Louvre and a handful of others close on Tuesday.

Closed on Monday

Musée d’Orsay, Musée Picasso, Musée de Cluny, Musée du quai Branly, Musée Rodin, Musée Marmottan Monet, Grand Palais, Jeu de Paume, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, the Catacombs, the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace and the Sewer Museum.

Add to that the entire Paris Musées municipal network: Carnavalet, Petit Palais, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Maison de Victor Hugo, Cernuschi, Bourdelle, Zadkine, Cognacq-Jay, Maison de Balzac, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Musée de la Libération de Paris and Palais Galliera.

Closed on Tuesday

The Louvre, the Musée de l’Orangerie, the Musée Guimet, the Musée Gustave Moreau, the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, the Fondation Louis Vuitton and the Bourse de Commerce.

Closed on both Monday and Tuesday

The Maison Européenne de la Photographie is the one to watch: it opens Wednesday to Sunday only.

Open seven days a week

Musée de l’Armée at Les Invalides, Musée Jacquemart-André, Musée de Montmartre, Sainte-Chapelle, Conciergerie, Panthéon, Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré-Cœur and its dome, the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes and the Atelier des Lumières.

One special case: the Musée de la Magie opens to individual visitors on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday only, from 2pm to 7pm, outside French school holidays when it opens more widely.

See also our dedicated guide to museums open on Monday in Paris.

Free museums in Paris

Paris has one of the best free-museum offers of any capital city, thanks to the municipal network. Eleven city museums let you into their permanent collections for nothing, all year round, for everyone, whatever your nationality or age:

• Musée Carnavalet (history of Paris, 3rd)
• Petit Palais (8th)
• Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (16th)
• Maison de Victor Hugo (4th)
• Musée Cernuschi (Asian art, 8th)
• Musée Bourdelle (15th)
• Musée Zadkine (6th)
• Musée Cognacq-Jay (3rd)
• Maison de Balzac (16th)
• Musée de la Vie Romantique (9th)
• Musée de la Libération de Paris (14th)

Important caveat: only the permanent collections are free. Temporary exhibitions in these same buildings are ticketed, usually between €9 and €15.

Paris museums free on the first Sunday of the month

• Musée d’Orsay – free, booking compulsory
• Musée de l’Orangerie – free, booking compulsory
• Musée Picasso – free, no booking needed
• Musée du quai Branly – free with a compulsory timed ticket
• Musée Gustave Moreau – free
• Musée Guimet – free
• Musée Rodin – free on first Sundays only from 1 October to 31 March
• Conciergerie – free on the first Sundays of January, February, March and November only

Read those last two lines carefully: at the Musée Rodin and the Conciergerie, the first-Sunday scheme does not apply in summer. If you turn up on the first Sunday of July expecting free entry, you will pay full price.

The Louvre no longer runs the first-Sunday free scheme. It has replaced it with a free evening on the first Friday of the month, roughly 6pm to 9pm, excluding July and August. This one is worth confirming on the Louvre’s own website before you build a plan around it, as the format has changed several times.

More detail in our guide to free museums in Paris on Sunday, and other things to do in Paris.

Under-26 free entry: the rule that catches out non-EU travellers

In the national museums and the monuments run by the Centre des monuments nationaux, admission is free for:

• Under-18s of any nationality, worldwide
• 18 to 25-year-olds who are EU or EEA residents (proof required)

That means a 20-year-old American, British, Canadian or Australian traveller pays the full adult price everywhere, while their European peers walk in free. It is the single biggest financial disadvantage for young non-European visitors to Paris museums, and it is worth budgeting for: five or six major sites at €15 to €22 each adds up quickly.

Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it?

The Paris Museum Pass gives unlimited access to around 50 museums and monuments in Paris and the surrounding region. The 2026 prices are:

• 2 consecutive days – €90
• 4 consecutive days – €109
• 6 consecutive days – €139

Let us do the maths honestly, using the gate prices in the table above.

The 2-day pass (€90) needs a genuinely intense pace. A realistic two-day run of Louvre (€22) + Musée d’Orsay (€16) + Orangerie (€12.50) + Musée Rodin (€14) + Musée de l’Armée (€17) + Conciergerie (€13) comes to €94.50. You save €4.50, and you have to visit six sites in 48 hours. For most people, the 2-day pass is not worth it on price alone.

The 4-day pass (€109) is the sweet spot. Add the Panthéon (€16), the Arc de Triomphe (€16) and the Musée Picasso (€16) to the list above and you are at €142.50 of gate prices for €109. That is a clear €33 saved, at a pace of two or three sites a day, which is comfortable.

The 6-day pass (€139) only makes sense for a long, museum-heavy trip, or if you plan to add Versailles, the Château de Vincennes or the Basilica of Saint-Denis, all of which are covered.

Two things the pass does not cover: the Eiffel Tower, and the free municipal museums (which you do not need it for anyway). It also does not exempt you from booking a time slot at the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, which is where a lot of pass-holders get caught out.

>> Buy the Paris Museum Pass

Which Paris museums require booking in advance?

Booking is compulsory

• The towers of Notre-Dame – timed slots only, and they go fast
• The Musée des Arts Forains – guided visits only, no walk-ins
• The Fondation Louis Vuitton
• Musée d’Orsay, Musée de l’Orangerie and Musée du quai Branly on free first Sundays

Strongly recommended

• Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie – the security queue on the Île de la Cité is the bottleneck
• Catacombs of Paris – only 200 people are allowed underground at once
• Musée Picasso, Musée Jacquemart-André, Bourse de Commerce, Atelier des Lumières

No booking needed

• Musée Rodin and the Musée de l’Armée – you can simply turn up
• The permanent collections of the free municipal museums – walk in
• The dome of the Sacré-Cœur – tickets are sold on site only, there is no online option

More on this in our guide to online tickets for Paris museums.

Best museums in Paris

If you only have a few days, these are the ones worth building a trip around. Prices below match the table and were checked for 2026.

The Louvre

The most famous museum in Paris and one of the most iconic in the world. The Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading the People, the Venus de Milo and The Raft of the Medusa are all here, and the Egyptian department is among the finest anywhere.

• Closed on Tuesday
• Open 9am to 6pm Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; late opening until 10pm on Wednesday and Friday
• Price: €22 (EU/EEA residents) or €32 (non-EEA visitors), plus a booking fee online
• Louvre Museum, 75001 Paris – metro Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre (lines 1 and 7)

Our advice: book a timed slot online, whatever the season. Turning up without one can mean a two-hour wait. Find out more about the Louvre: collections, prices, opening times and exhibitions.

Musée d’Orsay

Housed in a former railway station on the Left Bank, the Musée d’Orsay holds the greatest concentration of Impressionist painting in the world: Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Renoir, Manet, Degas. For many visitors it is more enjoyable than the Louvre, simply because it is a building you can cross in an afternoon.

• Closed on Monday
• Open 9.30am to 6pm, late opening until 9.45pm on Thursday
• Price: €16, the same for all nationalities; audio guide €5 extra
• 1 rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris – metro Solférino / RER Musée d’Orsay

>> Book your Musée d’Orsay ticket · Learn more about the Orsay Museum

Musée Rodin

Created in 1916 at Rodin’s own initiative in the Hôtel Biron, this is a Parisian favourite as much for its garden as for its sculptures. The Thinker and The Kiss are both here, and on a fine day the garden alone justifies the ticket.

• Closed on Monday
• Price: €14
• 77 rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris – metro Varenne
• Free on the first Sunday of the month, but only from 1 October to 31 March

>> Book your Musée Rodin ticket

Musée Carnavalet

The museum of the history of Paris, from Gallo-Roman Lutetia through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Revolution to the present. It sits in two Marais mansions, it was fully renovated in 2021, and the permanent collection is free.

• Closed on Monday
• Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm
• Price: free (temporary exhibitions ticketed)
• 23 rue de Sévigné, 75003 Paris – metro Saint-Paul / Chemin Vert

More on the official Carnavalet Museum site.

Institut du Monde Arabe

Jean Nouvel’s building alone is worth the trip, with its light-sensitive mashrabiya facade and a rooftop terrace that gives one of the best free views over the Seine and Notre-Dame. The collection covers the Arab and Muslim worlds and there is nothing quite like it in Europe.

• Closed on Monday
• Open Tuesday to Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 7pm
• Price: €10
• 1 rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard, 75005 Paris – metro Jussieu

>> Book your Institut du Monde Arabe ticket

Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris

With the Centre Pompidou closed, this is now the place to see modern art in Paris, and it is free. It occupies one wing of a superb Art Deco building on avenue du Président Wilson, with the Palais de Tokyo in the other. Highlights include Raoul Dufy’s enormous La Fée Électricité, Matisse’s La Danse and several Robert Delaunay canvases.

• Closed on Monday
• Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm, late until 9.30pm on Thursday
• Price: free (temporary exhibitions ticketed)
• 11 avenue du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris – metro Iéna / Alma-Marceau

See also our guide to contemporary art in Paris.

Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

Opened in 2006 at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, the quai Branly is devoted to the arts and civilisations of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The green wall and the garden are as much of a draw as the collection.

• Closed on Monday
• Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 11am to 7pm; Thursday to Saturday 11am to 9pm
• Price: €14
• 37 quai Branly, 75007 Paris – metro Alma-Marceau / Bir-Hakeim

>> Book your quai Branly ticket

Musée Picasso

Set in the Hôtel Salé, a 17th-century mansion in the Marais, the Musée Picasso holds close to 400 works, plus the artist’s personal collection of Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir and Modigliani.

• Closed on Monday
• Open Tuesday to Friday 10.30am to 6pm, weekends from 9.30am
• Price: €16, reduced €11
• 5 rue de Thorigny, 75003 Paris
• Free on the first Sunday of every month, no booking required

>> Book your Musée Picasso ticket

Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge

Reopened after a long renovation, Cluny is built on Roman baths in the Latin Quarter and holds the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, one of the great treasures of medieval Europe.

• Closed on Monday
• Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9.30am to 6.15pm
• Price: €14
• 28 rue Du Sommerard, 75005 Paris – metro Cluny-La Sorbonne

Musée Marmottan Monet

The Marmottan holds the largest collection of Claude Monet paintings in the world, including Impression, Soleil Levant, the canvas that gave Impressionism its name. It sits in a quiet mansion near the Bois de Boulogne, well away from the crowds of the central museums, which is part of its charm.

• Closed on Monday
• Price: €14 – not included in the Paris Museum Pass
• 2 rue Louis-Boilly, 75016 Paris – metro La Muette

>> Book your Marmottan Monet ticket

Museums in Paris for children

Note that the Palais de la Découverte, long the go-to science museum for families, is closed for renovation until March 2027. These four work well with kids instead.

Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie

The biggest science museum in Europe, in the Parc de la Villette. The Cité des Enfants area is designed for 2-7 and 5-12 year-olds in separate zones, with timed sessions that need booking. Allow half a day, and combine it with the park and the Géode.

• Closed on Monday · 30 avenue Corentin-Cariou, 75019 Paris – metro Porte de la Villette
• Price: €15

>> Book your Cité des Sciences ticket

Grande Galerie de l’Évolution

The natural history museum’s showpiece: a soaring 19th-century hall with a procession of taxidermied African animals marching down the middle. Small children tend to be transfixed.

• Closed on Tuesday · Jardin des Plantes, 75005 Paris
• Price: €13

>> Book your Grande Galerie de l’Évolution ticket

Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes

One of the oldest zoos in the world, founded in 1794 and still on its original site in the Jardin des Plantes. It is small, which is exactly why it suits young children: you can see it all without anyone melting down. Open every day, €13.

Musée de la Magie

A magic museum in vaulted 16th-century cellars in the Marais, with automata, optical illusions and a live magic show included in the ticket. Check the opening days carefully: Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday only, 2pm to 7pm, outside French school holidays. 11 rue Saint-Paul, 75004 Paris, €17.

Photography museums in Paris

Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP)

The reference address for contemporary photography in Paris, in a Marais mansion on rue de Fourcy. Three or four exhibitions run at once, and at €8 it is one of the best-value tickets in the city. Note that it is closed on both Monday and Tuesday.

Jeu de Paume

In a pavilion at the corner of the Tuileries, the Jeu de Paume programmes ambitious photography and moving-image shows. There is no permanent collection, so check what is on before you go. €14, closed on Monday.

Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson

Since 2018 the foundation has occupied a small, beautifully lit space on rue des Archives in the 3rd. It shows Cartier-Bresson’s own work alongside contemporary documentary photography, and at €10 for a one-hour visit it is an easy addition to a Marais afternoon. Closed on Monday.

Unusual museums in Paris

Beyond the famous names, Paris hides a set of genuinely strange museums. These five are the ones worth your time.

Musée des Égouts – the Paris Sewer Museum

A genuine working sewer, entered from the quai d’Orsay near the Pont de l’Alma. Renovated in 2021, it now tells the story of the Paris water supply properly, and yes, it still smells. Kids love it. €9, closed on Monday.

>> Book your Sewer Museum ticket

Musée des Arts Forains

A private collection of 19th-century fairground rides and carousels in the old wine warehouses of Bercy, and one of the most magical hours you can spend in Paris. Guided visits only, booking compulsory, €19.

Musée de la Magie

Vaulted Marais cellars, automata and a live magic show. Open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons only. €17.

Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature

Far stranger than its name suggests: a hunting museum staged like a cabinet of curiosities, mixing taxidermy, old master paintings and contemporary art installations across two Marais mansions. €8, closed on Monday.

Catacombes de Paris

Two kilometres of ossuary tunnels holding the remains of around six million Parisians, 20 metres below Denfert-Rochereau. Only 200 visitors are allowed down at a time, so booking is essential. At €31 it is now one of the most expensive tickets in Paris, and it is not covered by the Museum Pass. Closed on Monday.

If you like your Paris museums after dark, see our guide to Paris museums by night.

Frequently asked questions about Paris museums

How much does it cost to visit museums in Paris?

Most major Paris museums charge between €12 and €17 at the gate. The Louvre is the most expensive of the big names at €22, or €32 for non-EEA visitors. Budget roughly €45 to €55 a day if you plan three ticketed sites, or nothing at all if you stick to the eleven free municipal museums.

Which Paris museums are free?

Eleven city-run museums have permanently free collections: Carnavalet, Petit Palais, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Maison de Victor Hugo, Cernuschi, Bourdelle, Zadkine, Cognacq-Jay, Maison de Balzac, Musée de la Vie Romantique and Musée de la Libération de Paris. Their temporary exhibitions are ticketed separately.

Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it?

The 4-day pass at €109 is the one that pays for itself most easily: nine typical sites come to around €142 at gate prices. The 2-day pass at €90 only breaks even if you visit six sites in 48 hours, which is a punishing pace. If you plan two museums a day or fewer, buy individual tickets.

Are Paris museums free on the first Sunday of the month?

Some are, but far fewer than people expect. Orsay, the Orangerie, Picasso, quai Branly, Gustave Moreau and Guimet take part all year. The Musée Rodin only from October to March, and the Conciergerie only in January, February, March and November. The Louvre no longer participates.

Which museums are open on Monday in Paris?

The Louvre, the Musée de l’Armée, the Panthéon, the Conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Arc de Triomphe, Jacquemart-André, the Musée de Montmartre, the Atelier des Lumières, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Bourse de Commerce and the Palais Garnier all open on Monday. Use the “Open Monday” filter in the table above for the full list.

Do I need to book Paris museums in advance?

Booking is compulsory for the Notre-Dame towers, the Musée des Arts Forains and the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and strongly advised for the Louvre, the Catacombs, the Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie. The free municipal museums, the Musée Rodin and Les Invalides accept walk-ins without difficulty.

How many museums can you visit in one day in Paris?

Two large museums a day is a comfortable maximum, and three if one of them is small. The Louvre alone deserves three hours minimum. Pairing one heavyweight in the morning with a small free museum in the afternoon is the pattern that works best for most visitors.

Do non-EU visitors pay more in Paris museums?

Only at two sites: the Louvre (€32 instead of €22) and the Sainte-Chapelle (€22 instead of €16). Everywhere else the gate price is the same for everyone. The bigger difference is that free entry for 18 to 25-year-olds is reserved for EU and EEA residents.

Which Paris museum is best for a first visit?

The Musée d’Orsay. It is world-class, it can be seen properly in three hours, and it does not leave you exhausted the way the Louvre can. If you have two days, do Orsay first and the Louvre second, with a clear idea of which wings you want to see.

Is the Centre Pompidou open?

No. It closed for a complete renovation and is not expected to reopen before 2030. For modern and contemporary art in the meantime, head to the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, which is free, or the Bourse de Commerce.

Planning the rest of your trip? See our guide to visiting Paris neighbourhood by neighbourhood.