11 Best Museums in Paris

With over 750,000 sq ft of gallery space, The Louvre is one of the largest art museums in the world. Housed in a 13th-century palace by the Seine River, in the heart of Paris, it’s also the most visited museum in France.

Such an over-the-top venue can only store extraordinary items. From Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to the Winged Victory of Samothrace to Michelangelo's Dying Slave and many more, The Louvre takes you for a ride through the history of human arts.

Housed in a former railway station built at the end of the 19th century, Orsay Museum holds one of the largest collections of Impressionist paintings in the world. Masterpieces by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Renoir and Cézanne, just to name a few, can be seen among over 2,500 paintings and sculptures on display.

The building is a piece of art by itself, and you should stop by and have a drink in the café near the vintage train station’s clock to fully take in the timeless feel of the place.

The Orangerie museum is not a big museum by size but it’s significant for the major Impressionist paintings it houses. Famed for its 2 rooms dedicated to Claude Monet's Water Lilies, the museum hosts both permanent and temporary exhibitions. Most of them are dedicated to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists.

Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Rousseau are just a few of the prominent artists who have paintings permanently on display at the Orangerie Museum.

At the Rodin Museum, you can learn everything about Rodin and discover some of his most famous artworks in this 18th-century hotel (Hotel Biron) located right next to the Army Museum in the center of Paris. From The Thinker to the Gates of Hell, and many other sculptures, drawings, and ceramics, Rodin left an impressive artistic heritage for you to see in what used to be his workshop.

It’s best to visit the museum on a sunny day as many statues are outside, in a lovely garden. The audio guide gives you plenty of information about this brilliant French artist.

It’s almost fair to say that the Center George Pompidou is more famous for its avant-garde architecture than for the pieces it houses in the National Museum of Modern Art. Besides the museum, the complex also hosts a library, a music center, and a posh rooftop bar and restaurant.

Permanent and temporary exhibitions of celebrity artists and designers such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Philippe Starck make this museum a lively place to visit.

Named ‘les Invalides’ in French after the complex of buildings it’s hosted in, the Army Museum houses collections of weapons and uniforms used by the French Army throughout history. A significant part of the complex, the Dôme des Invalides, holds The Tomb of Napoleon I. 

This huge museum takes you for a walk through the art of war. The French military has a long and proud history and this museum details many important military events in the history of France.

Discover the rich French architectural heritage at the Museum of Architecture and Heritage, housed in the Palais de Chaillot. It’s located on the Place du Trocadéro, right opposite the Eiffel Tower.

Showcasing monumental reconstructions of architectural elements and scale reconstitutions of entire edifices, the museum invites you on a journey through French design and construction from the 12th century to the present day. One of the highlights of this museum is the walk through the full scale reconstitution of Gothic-style cathedral crypts.

Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Museum is dedicated to the indigenous art and cultures of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas. Named after its location and the former French president who ordered its construction, it showcases, at any given time, 3,500 objects from a collection of over 400,000 items.

Here, you’ll discover primal art from all around the world in modern settings with interactive displays.

Enter the surreal world of Salvador Dali by visiting this small private museum a short stroll away from Place du Tertre, on the flank of Montmartre Hill. Dalí Paris shows the many facets of this eccentric and highly imaginative artist, including about 300 original artworks.

Painting, sculpture, engraving and photography – here you’ll come across the different forms of art which this quirky man got into.

The National Museum of Natural History in Paris has been an important center of scientific research since 1793. It has several sites across France, with its main site in the verdant Jardin des Plantes. Here, you can visit 8 galleries, several greenhouses, cafes, shops, botanical gardens, and a small zoo.

The museum combines the ancient with the cutting-edge, mixing exhibits like a rhinoceros skeleton that once belonged to Louis XV with modern touchscreen panels and virtual reality headsets. The buildings reflect this fusion of old and new, with the imposing 19th-century structure given a soaring contemporary glass roof. The museum also owns arboretums, zoological reserves, and marine research facilities around France that contribute to its vital research work.

Louis Vuitton Foundation is an iconic contemporary art museum in Paris’ sprawling Bois de Boulogne Park. The ultramodern edifice is a work of art in itself. Designed by esteemed architect Frank Gehry, its innovative sail-shaped design comprises 3,600 glass and 19,000 white ductal panels.

Inside, you’ll find thought-provoking works from modern maestros like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Egon Schiele. A helpful mobile app leads you through the museum while providing insightful background info. Alternately, private guided tours run every 30 minutes during peak periods. The museum is accessible via the Station Les Sablons (Line 1) metro and the La Garenne-Colombes-Charlebourg (Line 73) bus stop.