At a glance. The Musée d’Orsay is the museum to visit if you love the Impressionists. It sits in a former railway station on the left bank of the Seine, and the building is part of the show. Come for Monet, Renoir, Degas and Van Gogh, allow a few hours, and remember that it is closed on Mondays and open late on Thursdays.
Why visit the Musée d’Orsay?
Walk in and you understand at once. A long hall runs under a high curved roof, with sculptures standing where the train tracks used to be and a huge clock at one end. This was the Gare d’Orsay, built between 1898 and 1900 so that visitors to the Universal Exposition of 1900 could arrive in the centre of Paris. It still feels like a cathedral for trains.
The station did not last as a station. In 1970 permission was given to pull it down and build a hotel, but the plan was dropped, and in 1978 the building was listed as a historic monument. It opened as a museum of nineteenth-century art in December 1986.
What are the highlights?
The Impressionists. Here you find Renoir’s Bal du moulin de la Galette, Degas’s L’Absinthe and Cézanne’s The Card Players. The museum owns 86 paintings by Monet, among them his haystacks. Seurat’s The Circus hangs here too.
Manet. Two of his best-known paintings are in the museum: Olympia and Luncheon on the Grass.
Van Gogh. Look for The Starry Night over the Rhône, The Church at Auvers and a self-portrait.
Courbet and Millet. Courbet’s A Burial at Ornans and The Painter’s Studio show a very different France from the Impressionist one. Millet’s The Gleaners and Whistler’s portrait of his mother are also on display.
Sculpture. Rodin’s Gates of Hell is also here. Gauguin’s sculpture Oviri is here as well.
The clock and the building. Do not walk past the big clock in the main hall, designed by the architect Victor Laloux. The vaulted nave, the clock and the old station architecture are the reason many people remember the Orsay as much as the paintings.
Temporary exhibitions. At the moment the museum is showing Auguste Bartholdi: Liberty Enlightening the World and Mary Cassatt: Being Independent, both until 31 January 2027, and Jenny Holzer: J’ai Vu until 21 February 2027. Exhibitions change, so check what is on for your date.
When is the Musée d’Orsay open?
The museum is closed on Mondays, on 1 May and on 25 December. On the other days it opens at about 9:30 in the morning and closes at about 6 in the evening. On Thursdays it stays open until about 9:45 in the evening. Hours can change on particular dates, so check the day you plan to go.
How do you get there?
The museum is on the left bank, across from the Tuileries Garden. The easiest way is the RER C, which stops at Musée d’Orsay. You can also take metro line 12 to Solférino, or bus 73 to the Musée d’Orsay stop. From the Louvre you can walk across the river. For more, see our guide to getting around Paris.
Practical tips
- Use the free cloakroom. Backpacks and large bags are left there. Keep your phone, camera, wallet and anything fragile with you.
- Travel light. There is a security check at the entrance.
- Photos are fine. Turn off the flash and do not block the way for others.
- Take a break. The museum has lifts, free Wi-Fi, folding seats and loan wheelchairs.
- Add the river. A Seine cruise passes right in front of the museum. Our Seine cruise guide shows you which one to choose.
Which ticket should you choose?
The entry ticket with a dedicated entrance gives you the permanent collection and the temporary exhibitions, depending on availability. It does not include priority at the security check or at the exhibitions, so you still go through the usual checks.
If you want the story behind the paintings, a guided visit is worth it. One option is a two-hour group tour on Manet, Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh. Another is a small-group tour of up to six people with a live guide in English. There is also a ticket that adds a 50-minute virtual reality experience about the Statue of Liberty.
Short of time? Take the entry ticket and go straight to the Impressionists. Want to understand what you see? Choose a guided tour. You can see all the options on the Musée d’Orsay tickets page, from about €13.
