Paris has some of the finest and most celebrated art galleries and museums in the world.
Just three alone will make massive inroads into your vacation time in this timeless city.
The Louvre, of course, is renowned for Western art from the Middle Ages to 1850 while the Musée d’Orsay is devoted to all the arts between 1850 and the First World War.
And then there is the amazing bit of plumbing that is the Centre Pompidou is the only museum in the world to offer an overall view of 20th- and 21st-century art.
A list of Paris art galleries and museums
Centre Pompidou Musee National d’Art Moderne
Housed under one roof, the centre houses one of the most important museums in the world. It embraces the leading collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe including a massive reference library, educational activity areas, bookshop, restaurant and café.
Places Georges Pompidou
Tel: 01 44 78 12 33
www.centrepompidou.fr
Open: daily except Tuesday (and 1 May) 1100-2100
Musee d’Orsay
Right in the centre of Paris on the banks of the Seine, the Musée d’Orsay occupies the sight of the former Orsay railway station. The museum displays collections of art from the mid-19th century to the start of the First World War.
A chance to admire the works of Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin and Rodin.
1 rue de la Légion d’Honneur
Tel: 01 40 49 48 14
www.musee-orsay.fr
Open: Tuesday-Sunday 0930-1800 (Thursday 2145).
Musee du Louvre
This former residence of kings is one of the largest palaces in the world, and certainly one of the most illustrious. Today The Louvre houses not kings but an outstanding collection of ancient and Western art.
It is arguably the world’s best-known and most-visited museum, and an enduring symbol of French excellence. If you’re on vacation in Paris you simply must visit the Louvre.
The museum houses over 35,000 pieces of artwork dating from antiquity to early modern times.
Rue de Rivoli
Tel: 01 04 20 50 50
www.louvre.fr
Open: Monday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday 0900-1800; Wednesday and Friday 0900-2145
Closed: Tuesday, 1 Jan, 1 May, 15 Aug and 25 Dec.
Musee Rodin
Featuring, of course, the work of Rodin, this museum houses a superb collection of sculpture, drawings, prints, paintings, ceramics and photographs.
Housed in a splendid building set amid a peaceful garden.
79 rue de Varennes
Tel: 01 44 18 61 10
www.musee-rodin.fr
Open: daily except Monday 1000-1745.
More Paris museums and art galleries
All the art galleries and museums listed below are available through the Paris Pass
Abbaye Royale De Chaalis
City of Science & Industry
Conde Museum – Château de Chantilly
Dali Museum
Gourmet Chocolate Museum
Grevin Wax Museum
Gustave Moreau Museum
Maurice Denis Museum
Museum of 3D Relief Maps
Museum of Air and Space
Museum of the Arts and Invention
Museum of the Asian Arts
Museum of the Cinema
Museum of Decorative Arts
Museum of Fashion and Textiles
Museum of French Monuments
Musée de l’Institut du Monde arabe
Musée du Quai Branly
Museum of Music
Museum of Publicity
Museum of the Sewers of Paris
Musée Nissim De Camondo
National Museum of Eugéne Delacroix
National Museum of the Middle Ages
National Museum of the Renaissance
National Navy Museum
National Archaeology Museum of Saint-Germain-En-Laye
Orangerie Museum
The Paris Story
Paris Science Museum
Postal Museum
