Visitor guide · Unofficial website: Paris

Paris and More
EN
Menu
Home
What to see
Tickets & passes
Itineraries
Practical info
Visitor guide
The Musée d'Orsay on the left bank of the Seine, with a barge on the water and its reflection in the river on a clear morning.

Paris · Left Bank · Impressionists in a railway station

Musée d'Orsay: tickets, opening hours and tours

Monet, Renoir, Degas and Van Gogh under the great glass roof of a former railway station on the Seine. Book your ticket and choose how to visit.

Book tickets and tours →

Today

Opening hours for every month are on the Opening hours page.

    Checked against the official website on 30 October 2026 · Official source

    In short

    • The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 6pm, with last entry at 5pm. It is closed on Mondays, 1 May and 25 December.
    • Everyone goes through a security check at the entrance, so allow some time. Large bags and backpacks have to be left at the free cloakroom.
    • The standard ticket gives you the permanent collection and, depending on availability, the temporary exhibitions. If you want help making sense of the paintings, choose a guided tour.
    • Look for Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne and Van Gogh. The building itself is part of the show: the great hall and its clocks come from the old station.

    A railway station turned into a museum

    One of the great glass clocks of the Musée d'Orsay, set in an ornate gilded frame against the glass roof of the former station.

    Before you see a single painting, look up. The Gare d'Orsay was built between 1898 and 1900, in time for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, as the Paris terminus of the Paris-Orléans railway. The architects were Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard and Victor Laloux, and the great hall was made out of the old tracks, under a long barrel-shaped glass roof. The big clock is still there.

    In 1970 the building was given permission to be demolished and replaced by a hotel, but the Minister of Culture, Jacques Duhamel, said no. It was listed as a historic monument in 1978. President Giscard d'Estaing wanted a museum of the 19th century, and the architect Gae Aulenti designed the interior. The museum opened in December 1986.

    The Impressionists and Post-Impressionists

    This is why most people come. Manet's Olympia and Luncheon on the Grass, Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette, Degas's L'Absinthe, Cézanne's Card Players and Seurat's Circus are all here. The museum holds 86 paintings by Monet, among them the haystacks, and three famous Van Goghs: the Starry Night over the Rhône, the church at Auvers and a self-portrait.

    Rooms change, and paintings are sometimes lent to other museums, so ask at the desk if you are looking for one work in particular. If you have little time, start with the Impressionists and leave the rest for the end.

    Courbet, Millet, Gauguin and the sculpture

    The stone facade of the Musée d'Orsay seen from the river bank, with its long arched front along the Seine.

    Earlier painting is here too. Courbet's A Burial at Ornans and The Painter's Studio show how realism shocked Paris, and Millet's Gleaners and Whistler's Mother are on display too. Gauguin's sculpture Oviri and Rodin's Gates of Hell are here as well.

    Walk down the middle of the nave: the sculptures stand along the old track line, and from the end of the hall you see the full length of the roof.

    Exhibitions and works

    Temporary exhibitions change through the year. Until 31 January 2027 you can see Auguste Bartholdi: Liberty Enlightening the World, and Mary Cassatt: Being Independent. The museum is also redesigning its reception areas until summer 2028, and it stays open with all its collections on view.

    Visitor guide

    More attractions in Paris

    Book tickets and tours →
    Book tickets and tours