Musée d'Orsay ticket: collections and exhibitions

What to expect

With nearly three million visitors a year, the Musée d'Orsay is one of the most visited places in Paris. Housed in the former Orsay railway station, built for the 1900 World's Fair and listed as a historic monument in 1978, the museum opened its doors in 1986. A superb Beaux-Arts building, it is dedicated to 19th-century artists, led by the pre-Impressionists and Impressionists. Here you can delight in rediscovering Pissarro, Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Millet and Degas. Don't forget to admire the superb original clock that still adorns the great nave today.

Current exhibitions at the Musée d'Orsay

Practical information

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9:30 AM to 6 PM, late opening on Thursdays until 9:45 PM. Last entry 5 PM (9 PM on Thursdays), galleries cleared from 5:30 PM (9:15 PM on Thursdays)
• Closures: every Monday, May 1 and December 25
• Entrance with our ticket: entrance 2, Parvis. Entrance 1, on the quay side, is reserved for timed tickets bought on the official website
• Ticket: dated e-ticket, valid all day on the chosen date, with no time slot: enter whenever suits you
• Getting there: RER C (Musée d'Orsay), metro line 12 (Solférino), bus 73 (Musée d'Orsay), buses 24, 68, 69 and 70 (Pont Royal – Quai Voltaire)
• Parking: Bac Montalembert, 9 rue Montalembert, 75007 Paris
• Works: the museum is redesigning its reception areas until summer 2028, but it remains open and all the collections remain on view
• Audio guides: available in French, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese and Russian
• Services: free Wi-Fi, cloakroom, elevators, baby changing area, water fountains. Wheelchairs, folding seats and strollers lent at the cloakroom
• Exhibitions: temporary exhibitions are included in the ticket. Also discover the other current exhibitions in Paris

Free admission

Admission is free, with proof, for:

• under-18s;
• under-26s who are nationals or long-term residents of the European Economic Area;
• teachers in French primary and secondary schools holding a valid Pass éducation;
• visitors with disabilities and their companion;
• jobseekers;
• Carte blanche holders and members of the Société des Amis du musée d'Orsay;
• all visitors on the first Sunday of every month.

The Musée d'Orsay collections

On level 0: around the sculpture aisle (Carpeaux, Cordier…), you will find, on the Seine side, the Barbizon School (Millet…), Courbet's masterpieces and the early works of Manet and Monet. On the rue de Lille side, you will find the academic movement of the 1850s and 1860s (Ingres, Delacroix…), Degas before 1870, the Symbolist gallery (Moreau, Puvis de Chavannes…) and the Toulouse-Lautrec room.

On level 2: on the Seine side, Naturalism, foreign schools, decorative arts under the Third Republic and French, Belgian and Italian Art Nouveau. On the rue de Lille side, Neo- and Post-Impressionist painting (Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat…) and the Nabis around 1900. A footbridge leads to the pavillon Amont, which presents the large decorative schemes and modern decorative arts from 1905 to 1914, then, on level 3, Art Nouveau from Central Europe, Northern Europe and Scandinavia, and on level 4, Austrian, British and American Art Nouveau.

On level 5: opening with Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe", the Impressionist gallery takes you through the movement's masterpieces, from the late 1860s to 1900.

A bit of history

Built at the end of the 19th century, the Orsay station was intended to welcome visitors to the 1900 World's Fair, of which it became one of the most admired pavilions. Located opposite the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden, a stone's throw from the Grand Palais, another jewel of the Fair, and above all on the banks of the Seine, the backbone of Paris, the Orsay station played its role wonderfully until 1939. In 1945, it served as a reception center for prisoners of war returning from Germany. In 1958, General de Gaulle held a memorable press conference there, marking his return to public life.

Yet this magnificent building very nearly disappeared: in the late 1960s, it was even threatened with demolition. It was saved by a theater company, which set up its big top under its vaults for six years. In 1978, the building was listed as a historic monument and President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing decided to turn it into a museum of the 19th century. After eight years of work, the Musée d'Orsay was inaugurated on December 1, 1986 by François Mitterrand. To this day, the station turned museum proudly embraces its dual heritage.

Map

Open map

Address

1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur
75007 Paris

Parking lot

Bac Montalembert, 9 Rue Montalembert - 75007 Paris

Public transportation

Solférino

Musée d'Orsay

Musée D'orsay

Pont Royal - Quai Voltaire

Customers also bought

Self-guided visit of the Adrien Dubouché National Museum, Limoges

Self-guided visit of the Adrien Dubouché National Museum, Limoges

€7

Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac Museum

Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac Museum

from €14

Chocolate Museum - Choco Story Paris

Chocolate Museum - Choco Story Paris

€18

Musée de la Monnaie de Paris

Musée de la Monnaie de Paris

€12

Visit to the Arab World Institute

Visit to the Arab World Institute

€10

Marmottan Monet Museum

Marmottan Monet Museum

€14

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie Paris

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie Paris

€15

Tickets for the visit of the Army Museum - Les Invalides

Tickets for the visit of the Army Museum - Les Invalides

€17