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Free museums

Free museums in Paris, and when

Official sources checked Oct 4, 2026

Two systems run side by side. City of Paris museums (Petit Palais, Carnavalet, Art Moderne, Bourdelle, Cognacq-Jay, Vie Romantique, Libération) have free permanent collections every open day, Tuesday to Sunday, with no booking; only their temporary exhibitions cost money. National museums charge, then open free on set dates: first Sunday of the month at Orsay, the Orangerie and Picasso, first Sunday from October to March at Rodin, first Friday evening at the Louvre. Under-18s, and under-26s from the EU or EEA, get in free year-round.

At a glance

Museum	Free when	For whom	Booking
Louvre, free for under-18s and under-26s from the EEA	Mon, Thu, Sat, Sun 9:00–18:00; Wed and Fri 9:00–21:00. Closed Tuesdays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.	Under-18s of any nationality with ID. Under-26s who are citizens of an EEA country, or who live in one with a residence permit, with photo ID. Other visitors aged 18 to 25 pay full price.	A time slot is recommended even with free entry; choose the free ticket on the Louvre's own ticketing site.
Musée de l'Orangerie, first Sunday	First Sunday of the month, 9:00–18:00, last entry 17:15	Everyone. Under-18s and 18 to 25 year olds who are EU nationals or long-term EU residents are free on any open day.	Mandatory: reserve a free time slot on the museum's ticketing site.
Musée Picasso, first Sunday	First Sunday of the month, 9:30–18:00, last entry 17:15	Everyone. Under-18s and EU residents under 26 are free on any open day.	Free tickets cannot be booked. Turn up and queue.
Musée Rodin, first Sunday in winter	First Sunday of the month from October to March only, 10:00–18:30, last entry 17:45	Everyone	Not needed on free Sundays
Louvre, first Friday evening	First Friday of the month, 18:00–21:00, last entry 20:00. Not in July or August. Also free all day on 14 July.	Everyone	The Louvre recommends booking a free time slot on its ticketing site. Slots for the free evening go fast.
Musée d'Orsay, first Sunday	First Sunday of the month, 9:30–18:00, last entry 17:00	Everyone. Under-18s and under-26s from the EEA are free on any open day.	Mandatory: reserve a free time slot on the museum's ticketing site. No slot, no entry.
Petit Palais	Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry to the permanent collection 17:15. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 14 July, 11 Nov, 25 Dec.	Everyone, permanent collection and garden. Temporary exhibitions are paid.	Not needed for the permanent collection
Musée Carnavalet	Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:15. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.	Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.	Not needed for the permanent collection
Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris	Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, ticket desk closes 17:15. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.	Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.	Not needed for the permanent collection. Some rooms can be closed.
Musée Bourdelle	Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:15. Closed Mondays, 25 Dec, 1 Jan.	Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.	Not needed
Musée de la Libération de Paris	Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:30. Closed Mondays.	Everyone, permanent collection. The underground command post needs a separate ticket; ask at the desk.	Not needed for the museum
Musée de la Vie Romantique	Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.	Everyone, museum collections. Temporary exhibitions are paid.	Not needed
Mémorial de la Shoah	Always · Sun–Fri 10:00–18:00, Thursdays until 22:00. Closed Saturdays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 14 July, 15 Aug, 25 Dec and some Jewish holidays.	Everyone	Not needed. Free guided tour in French on Sundays at 15:00, in English on the second Sunday of the month.
Musée Cognacq-Jay	Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00. Closed Mondays.	Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.	Not needed

Museums with a free day or free hours6

Louvre, free for under-18s and under-26s from the EEA

Louvre

Free on certain daysBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids

On any open day the Louvre is free for everyone under 18 and for 18 to 25 year olds from the European Economic Area. Orsay, the Orangerie and the other national museums apply the same rule.

Free when: Mon, Thu, Sat, Sun 9:00–18:00; Wed and Fri 9:00–21:00. Closed Tuesdays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.
Free for whom: Under-18s of any nationality with ID. Under-26s who are citizens of an EEA country, or who live in one with a residence permit, with photo ID. Other visitors aged 18 to 25 pay full price.
Reservation: A time slot is recommended even with free entry; choose the free ticket on the Louvre's own ticketing site.
Time needed: 3h
How to get there: Metro 1 or 7 to Palais Royal Musée du Louvre

Worth it? Yes.If you qualify, this is the single biggest saving in Paris. Use the Wednesday or Friday late opening, when the galleries thin out after 18:00.

Source: Musée du Louvre · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée de l'Orangerie, first Sunday

Tuileries / Concorde

Free on certain daysBooking requiredIndoorGood with kids

Two oval rooms built for Monet's eight Water Lilies panels, with a compact collection of Cézanne, Renoir, Modigliani and Soutine downstairs.

Free when: First Sunday of the month, 9:00–18:00, last entry 17:15
Free for whom: Everyone. Under-18s and 18 to 25 year olds who are EU nationals or long-term EU residents are free on any open day.
Reservation: Mandatory: reserve a free time slot on the museum's ticketing site.
Time needed: 1h
How to get there: Metro 1, 8 or 12 to Concorde

Worth it? Yes.Small enough that a timed free slot works well. The first room is the busy one, so walk through to the second and sit there.

Source: Musée de l'Orangerie · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée Picasso, first Sunday

Le Marais

Free on certain daysIndoorGood with kids

The largest public collection of Picasso's work, the pieces he kept for himself, hung in a seventeenth-century Marais mansion.

Free when: First Sunday of the month, 9:30–18:00, last entry 17:15
Free for whom: Everyone. Under-18s and EU residents under 26 are free on any open day.
Reservation: Free tickets cannot be booked. Turn up and queue.
Time needed: 1h30
How to get there: Metro 1 to Saint-Paul, or Metro 8 to Saint-Sébastien Froissart or Chemin Vert

Worth it? Yes.No booking means a line down Rue de Thorigny by late morning. Be there at 9:15 or come after 15:30.

Source: Musée national Picasso-Paris · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée Rodin, first Sunday in winter

Invalides

Free on certain daysIndoorGood with kids

Rodin's sculptures in the mansion where he worked, with The Thinker and The Gates of Hell outdoors in a large garden.

Free when: First Sunday of the month from October to March only, 10:00–18:30, last entry 17:45
Free for whom: Everyone
Reservation: Not needed on free Sundays
Time needed: 1h30
How to get there: Metro 13 to Varenne

Worth it? Yes.From April to September the first Sunday is a normal paid day, which catches people out. On a cold free Sunday the garden is nearly empty and the bronzes look better for it.

Source: Musée Rodin · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Louvre, first Friday evening

Louvre

Free on certain daysBooking recommendedIndoor

The Louvre no longer does free first Sundays. Its free slot for all visitors is the first Friday of the month from 18:00 until closing at 21:00.

Free when: First Friday of the month, 18:00–21:00, last entry 20:00. Not in July or August. Also free all day on 14 July.
Free for whom: Everyone
Reservation: The Louvre recommends booking a free time slot on its ticketing site. Slots for the free evening go fast.
Time needed: 2h to 3h
How to get there: Metro 1 or 7 to Palais Royal Musée du Louvre

Worth it? Depends.Three hours is enough for one wing, and the Mona Lisa room is a scrum. Choose Richelieu for the Napoleon III apartments and the sculpture courts, and it becomes a good evening.

Source: Musée du Louvre · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée d'Orsay, first Sunday

Saint-Germain / Seine left bank

Free on certain daysBooking requiredIndoorGood with kids

The Impressionist collection in the old Orsay railway station: Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh's self-portrait. Free for all on the first Sunday of every month.

Free when: First Sunday of the month, 9:30–18:00, last entry 17:00
Free for whom: Everyone. Under-18s and under-26s from the EEA are free on any open day.
Reservation: Mandatory: reserve a free time slot on the museum's ticketing site. No slot, no entry.
Time needed: 2h to 3h
How to get there: RER C to Musée d'Orsay or Metro 12 to Solférino

Worth it? Depends.The fifth floor is shoulder to shoulder on free Sundays. Take the earliest slot you can get and go straight up to the Impressionists before doing anything else.

Source: Musée d'Orsay · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Museums that are always free8

Petit Palais

Champs-Élysées

Always freeIndoorGood with kids

The city's fine arts museum, in a 1900 exhibition palace with painted ceilings and a courtyard garden. Monet, Courbet, Rembrandt and a full Guimard dining room, with no ticket.

Free when: Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry to the permanent collection 17:15. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 14 July, 11 Nov, 25 Dec.
Free for whom: Everyone, permanent collection and garden. Temporary exhibitions are paid.
Reservation: Not needed for the permanent collection
Time needed: 1h30
How to get there: Metro 1 or 13 to Champs-Élysées Clemenceau

Worth it? Yes.The best free museum in Paris, and the building alone justifies the stop. Friday and Saturday late openings cover the paid exhibitions only, so come in the daytime.

Source: Petit Palais · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée Carnavalet

Le Marais

Always freeIndoorGood with kids

The museum of the history of Paris, spread through two Marais mansions. Old shop signs, Revolution relics, Proust's bedroom and an entire Art Nouveau jewellery shop rebuilt inside.

Free when: Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:15. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.
Free for whom: Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.
Reservation: Not needed for the permanent collection
Time needed: 2h
How to get there: Metro 1 to Saint-Paul or Metro 8 to Chemin Vert

Worth it? Yes.It is big, so pick a period instead of trying to walk it all. The shop sign gallery on the ground floor and the Revolution rooms upstairs are the two to keep.

Source: Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris

Trocadéro / Alma

Always freeIndoor

The city's modern art collection in the east wing of the Palais de Tokyo building. Two versions of Matisse's La Danse and Dufy's room-sized mural on electricity are the reasons to come.

Free when: Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, ticket desk closes 17:15. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.
Free for whom: Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.
Reservation: Not needed for the permanent collection. Some rooms can be closed.
Time needed: 1h
How to get there: Metro 9 to Iéna or Alma-Marceau

Worth it? Yes.With the Centre Pompidou shut for renovation, this is where to see twentieth-century art in Paris for free. Walk out onto the terrace afterwards for a side view of the Eiffel Tower.

Source: Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée Bourdelle

Montparnasse

Always freeIndoorGood with kids

The studios and gardens where sculptor Antoine Bourdelle worked, left much as they were, with monumental bronzes standing among the trees. Rodin's assistant, a fraction of Rodin's crowds.

Free when: Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:15. Closed Mondays, 25 Dec, 1 Jan.
Free for whom: Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.
Reservation: Not needed
Time needed: 1h
How to get there: Metro 4, 6, 12 or 13 to Montparnasse-Bienvenüe, or Metro 12 to Falguière

Worth it? Yes.Go if the Rodin museum's ticket price puts you off. The old wooden studio at the back, with its stove and plaster dust, is the room to find.

Source: Musée Bourdelle · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée de la Libération de Paris

Denfert-Rochereau

Always freeIndoor

The Occupation and the August 1944 uprising, told through General Leclerc and Jean Moulin, in a pavilion across the square from the Catacombs entrance. Twenty metres below sits the bunker that served as the Resistance command post.

Free when: Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:30. Closed Mondays.
Free for whom: Everyone, permanent collection. The underground command post needs a separate ticket; ask at the desk.
Reservation: Not needed for the museum
Time needed: 1h30
How to get there: Metro 4 or 6, or RER B, to Denfert-Rochereau

Worth it? Yes.A serious, well-made museum that most people walk past on the way to the Catacombs queue. The command post is reached by about a hundred steps and no lift.

Source: Musée de la Libération de Paris, musée du général Leclerc, musée Jean Moulin · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée de la Vie Romantique

Pigalle / Nouvelle Athènes

Always freeIndoor

A green-shuttered 1830s house at the end of a cobbled lane, once painter Ary Scheffer's home, where Chopin and George Sand came on Fridays. It reopened in February 2026 after a full restoration.

Free when: Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00. Closed Mondays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.
Free for whom: Everyone, museum collections. Temporary exhibitions are paid.
Reservation: Not needed
Time needed: 45 min
How to get there: Metro 2 to Blanche or Metro 12 to Saint-Georges, then 16 Rue Chaptal

Worth it? Yes.Small and quick, so pair it with Montmartre. The garden tea room is the draw on a dry afternoon, though the tea is not free.

Source: Musée de la Vie Romantique · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Mémorial de la Shoah

Le Marais

Always freeIndoor

France's Holocaust museum and archive. The Wall of Names in the forecourt lists the 76,000 Jews deported from France, and the permanent exhibition below follows what happened to them.

Free when: Always · Sun–Fri 10:00–18:00, Thursdays until 22:00. Closed Saturdays, 1 Jan, 1 May, 14 July, 15 Aug, 25 Dec and some Jewish holidays.
Free for whom: Everyone
Reservation: Not needed. Free guided tour in French on Sundays at 15:00, in English on the second Sunday of the month.
Time needed: 1h30
How to get there: Metro 1 to Saint-Paul or Metro 7 to Pont Marie

Worth it? Yes.Heavy and worth the time. It is one of the few museums open on Monday, and there is an airport-style security check at the door.

Source: Mémorial de la Shoah · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

Musée Cognacq-Jay

Le Marais

Always freeIndoor

The eighteenth-century art collection of the founders of La Samaritaine, hung in a Marais townhouse: Fragonard, Boucher, Canaletto, snuffboxes and panelled salons.

Free when: Always · Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00. Closed Mondays.
Free for whom: Everyone, permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are paid.
Reservation: Not needed
Time needed: 45 min
How to get there: Metro 1 to Saint-Paul or Metro 8 to Chemin Vert, then 8 Rue Elzévir

Worth it? Depends.Lovely if you like Rococo, skippable if you do not. It is three minutes from Carnavalet, so look in only if you still have energy. No lift, stairs throughout.

Source: Musée Cognacq-Jay · checked Oct 4, 2026Open in Maps

PAID · ONE PER CITY

If you spend on one thing in Paris, make it this.

Eiffel Tower, stairs to the second floor

The free viewpoints all look at the tower, and none of them puts you inside the ironwork. Climbing the stairs is the cheapest ticket and the best way to see how the thing is built, with the city dropping away between the girders. Go near dusk and stay for the lights on the hour.

Everything above is free. This is the only paid pick on the page, chosen because no free option replaces it.

See tickets and prices