What are the Best Museums to Visit in Paris?

What are the Best Museums to Visit in Paris?‍To enjoy a rich and worthwhile Parisian Museum experience in 2025, you need to hunt down the best museums in Paris. The one that immediately comes to mind as the best museum in Paris is (of course) the world-famous Louvre Museum.‍Expect large crowds when visiting any given museum in Paris, particularly in world-famous heritage sites like the Louvre “musée” (museum in French). ‍Also consider booking tickets ahead of schedule as well as getting tours in advance to skip those long lines. Regardless, here's a breakdown of some of the best museums in Paris, categorized by their focus.‍Parisian Art Museums‍A Paris museum that’s an art museum means it’s an institution dedicated to the study, display, and preservation of art. These museums often feature both temporary exhibitions and permanent collections from the likes of Monet and other famous artists.‍In Paris, these museums play a crucial role in educating the public about French art's history and cultural significance. ‍Louvre Museum‍The Louvre Museum or the Louvre is part of Parisian iconography. Before there was the Eiffel Tower, there was the Louvre. It stands alongside the Notre Dame Cathedral as a key landmark of Paris. The musée houses world-famous works like the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. ‍It’s arguably the best museum in the world, or at least the most visited museum in Paris. The Louvre has a vast collection that spans cultures and periods. It arguably preserves art history and cultural history in its aged walls that are themselves historical in their own right.‍Best Times to Visit: The best times to visit the Louvre are weekdays, early mornings (around 9:00 AM), or later in the afternoon (after 3:00 PM), particularly every Monday and Thursday. Free Entry Days: The Musée du Louvre offers free admission on the first Friday of every month, except every July and August. It's also free to enter on Bastille Day (July 14).Discount Options: Certain groups can avail of free admission on specific days, like the under-18 crowd and any under-26 person living in the European Economic Area. Proof of eligibility is required.Booking Tickets: You can purchase tickets online through the official Louvre website or through ticketlouvre.fr. Just select your preferred date and time slot and you’re good to go.‍Musée d'Orsay‍Located in a former railway station on the Left Bank of the Seine, the Musée d'Orsay houses a stunning collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including works by Monet, Renoir, and Degas. Some of the best Claude Monet paintings that capture the emotion of the seasons can be seen here.‍To be more specific, Orsay is the museum to go to for fans of Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Gauguin, Sisley, Seurat, Cézanne, and so forth.‍Indeed, the Musée d’Orsay or Orsay Museum features some of the most fabulous impressionist paintings in a spectacularly well-converted Victorian style rail station. ‍Best Times to Visit: You can visit the museum on weekdays, particularly Wednesdays and Fridays every early morning or late afternoon. During Thursday evenings, the museum is open until 9:45 PM.Free Entry Days: On the first Sunday of every month, the museum offers free admission to the visiting public. Discount Options: E.U. citizens aged 18 to 25 and under-18 visitors can qualify for free admission privileges. The museum also offers discounts to people with disabilities, job seekers, and teachers.Booking Tickets: To book tickets, visit the museum’s official ticketing page or explore third-party options such as Booking.com, Tiqets, or GetYourGuide. These entities don’t only offer tickets but also specific tours.‍Musée des Arts Décoratifs‍As for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts), it’s a museum dedicated to (obviously) decorative and contemporary art exhibitions, with its focus on furniture, ceramics, and textiles found right in the city’s 1st arrondissement.‍The jaw-dropping museum is one of the best museums in Paris because it’s the largest museum of its kind (one dedicated to decorative arts) in all of continental Europe.‍It occupies the Palais du Louvre’s north-western wing, also known as Pavillon de Marsan. It’s most famous for its approximately one million objects in its art collection. It’s also one of three museums operated by MAD—a nonprofit arts association founded in 1882.‍Best Times to Visit: The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM except Thursdays, when It closes every 9:00 PM instead. It’s also closed on Mondays and Christmas Day as well as every first of January and May.Free Entry Days: You can enter the museum for free every first Sunday of each month from October 1st to March 31st. Furthermore, visitors under 26 years of age can also enter the museum for free.Discount Options: Disabled patrons and their caretakers, students of the École, benefactors of the Arts Décoratifs, Friends of the Arts Décoratifs, and museum shareholders can all avail of discounted tickets.Booking Tickets: Musée des Arts Décoratifs entrance tickets are available on the official MAD Billetterie website. Here, you can choose your desired date and time of attendance as well as ticket type.‍Grand Palais‍The Grand Palais in Paris is both a historic site and a major venue for art exhibitions and events. It was originally built for the Universal Exposition of 1900 as a dedication to French art. The same exposition also produced Pont Alexandre III and the adjacent Petit Palais.‍It's also known for its Beaux-Arts architecture, large glass dome, and being the host of a variety of proceedings, including art exhibitions, fashion shows, the Olympics, and even equestrian events.‍The Grand Palais was renovated significantly while it was temporarily closed to the public in March 2021, then it was reopened just in time for the Paris Olympics in 2024.‍Best Times to Visit: The best time to visit Grand Palais is Mondays from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM. It’s because it’s the only time it’s publicly open. It’s closed during the rest of the week.Free Entry Days: The free entry day for Grand Palais is the first Sunday of every month wherein you can enter the Grand Palais permanent collections area for free. The exception to this is the Porte Dorée Tropical Aquarium in Paris.Discount Options: There are discounts available for job seekers, students, and large families as well as free admission for certain professionals, disabled people with their caretakers, and those under 6 years old (paying adult accompaniment required).Booking Tickets: You can purchase tickets online on the Grand Palais website or reserve a timeslot to go there.‍Parisian History Museums‍As for history museums, they’re “musée de Paris” characterised by how they offer a chronological perspective on human history and culture by collecting, preserving, and displaying objects relating to the past. There’s a wide range of such museums to choose from.‍When searching for a history museum in Paris to visit, keep in mind that they can cover broad historical periods as well as cater to specialised interests on local, national, or specific historical topics such as museums that focus on aviation or sports.‍Musée Carnavalet‍The Musée Carnavalet focuses more on Parisian history to offer insights on the evolution of the city. It also gives a sneak peek into the daily life of Ancient Paris. The building itself is a historic monument, built back in the 16th Century.‍It contains a large collection of paintings depicting Paris life, historic objects, and furnished room displays showcasing the different periods of the history of Paris. The museum also features the works of artists like Hippolyte Lecomte, Joos Van Cleve, François Gérard, Jacques-Louis David, and so forth.‍Best Times to Visit: Fair warning. You should visit the Musée Carnavalet during weekday mornings. It tends to be quite busy during the holidays and weekends.Free Entry Days: This particular museum offers free entry days daily if you’re visiting its permanent collections. You can also go there free every first Sunday of every month. Discount Options: Youths under 26 can get reduced prices from Musée Carnavalet. It’s the same deal with retirement home residents, hospital patients, the disabled, students, and so forth.Booking Tickets: Again, the permanent collections are free to visit. It’s the temporary exhibits that you need to pay for. To purchase such tickets, visit the Paris Tickets website for Carnavalet.‍Musée de Cluny‍The Musée de Cluny (Musée de Cluny-Musée National du Moyen Âge or the Cluny National Museum of the Middle Ages) is a medieval museum housing a former hotel. It features a wide collection of medieval artifacts and art.‍To be more specific, it consists of 23,000 items and displays 2,300 of them in exhibits. The rest are stored and catalogued for posterity and preservation.‍This Parisian museum is located in Paris’s 5th arrondissement, with its perimeters surrounded by Saint-Germain boulevard to the north, Saint-Jacques rue to the east, Saint-Michel boulevard to the west, and Samuel-Paty square to the south.‍Best Times to Visit: It’s best to visit Musée de Cluny on weekdays, particularly during the morning or early afternoon. It’s because it tends to be less crowded compared to peak hours or every weekend.Free Entry Days: Actually, it’s a free entry day, which is the first Sunday of every month. Take note that the museum is closed every Christmas, Labor Day, and New Year’s Day. Discount Options: Visitors who have travel vouchers are exempted from paying the entrance fee. As for youths under 18 years of age, E.U. citizens under 26 years of age, and teachers for primary and secondary school, get discounted fees instead.Booking Tickets: You can buy tickets for Musée de Cluny online through its official website or by paying the entrance fee at the door. No timed entry required.‍The Paris Catacombs‍The Catacombs of Paris collectively form an underground ossuary that houses the remains of six million Parisians, thus giving the visitors a unique and somber experience. It was constructed for the consolidation of the city’s ancient stone quarries. ‍They extend to the south from Barrière d'Enfer ("Gate of Hell"), which is formerly the Paris City gate. A museum of the deceased, it was originally built in an effort to solve Paris’s problem with overpopulated cemeteries.‍Best Times to Visit: The best time to visit the Catacombs is around 10:00 AM in the morning on weekdays like Tuesday to Thursday. Going there early is your best bet in avoiding the crowds. You can also go there at 5:00 PM in the afternoon, also on weekdays.Free Entry Days: The Catacombs of Paris offer free entry on the first Sunday of each month from November 1st to March 31st, and also for those under 26 and teachers. Discount Options: You can avail of reduced rates for the Catacombs if you’re a holder of the “Paris Pass Famille”, you’re a student aged 5-26, or you’re a member of a specific cultural organization. The disabled, certain job seekers, and Paris City employees can go in for free.Booking Tickets: Purchase tickets in advance through the official website or by  the Billetterie website.‍Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle‍The Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle is a natural history museum with a wide array of exhibits. Here, you can look forward to a vast collection of natural history specimens, including meteorites, insects, minerals, human skulls, reptiles, and prehistoric object‍The particular museum is worth a Paris museum pass because it’s known as “The Louvre of Natural Sciences”. The Grand Gallery of Evolution is a must-visit area because it’s the museum’s largest and most famous gallery. It’s located at the end of the central alley.‍Best Times to Visit: The best times to visit are during Spring and Fall. Avoid January 1, May 1, and December 25 because they’re closed days. Additionally, summer evenings are pleasant at the Jardin des Plantes.Free Entry Days: The museum’s permanent collection offers free entry at any time. As for the temporary exhibitions, they’re usually available for free entry during late nights every Thursday from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.Discount Options: You can get 20 percent off through the Annual Muséum Pass or through group rate discounts for 20 people or more. Booking Tickets: You can book tickets to the museum through its official website. Once there, select the exhibition or activity you prefer along with your specific time slot and date of your visit.‍How to Prepare When Going to Parisian Museums‍Here's what you need to do when going to any Paris museum in 2025. You should book tickets in advance because many of these tourist attractions require timed tickets. Booking online and ahead of time is recommended to secure your entry and avoid long queues. ‍When going to a Parisian museum, it’s recommended you wear comfortable shoes, download a museum map, get a Paris museum pass, and familiarize yourself with the museum's layout and collections. ‍You can also let the museum tour guide do most of the work for you, but being proactive and doing your part can enhance your sense of fulfillment.‍

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