10 Paris Museums You Should Visit for the Love of Art

Paris isn’t called the City of Art for nothing. If you fancy going on an art immersion, it’s the place to be. With countless Paris museums featuring a wide range of visual art, like classic, contemporary, architecture, and fashion (you name it, Paris has a museum for it), you’ll be spoiled for days!

Grab your beret, sketchpad, and camera—here is a list of our top 10 museums in Paris you should visit while in the City of Lights.

Before we dive deep on which Paris museums you should visit, we’ve got a foolproof way for you to save time and money: by booking the Paris Museum Pass! This pass gives you access, not just to over 50 museums, but also to Paris tourist spots like the Château de Fontainebleau and Sainte-Chapelle!

You have the option to go for the two-, four-, or six-day pass, which gives you enough time to go sightseeing anywhere and anytime you wanna. Did you know that the Paris Museum Pass also gives you skip-the-line privileges? This means you have more time to be in awe over the Mona Lisa!

Of course, the first thing on our agenda is the largest museum on the planet: Musée du Louvre! Housing over 380,000 works of art, including the Mona Lisa, aka the world’s most famous smile, the Louvre is without a doubt Paris’s top museum. Aside from its world-renowned art collection, the Louvre’s magnificent baroque-style architecture is also something to go gaga over. 

Klook fun fact: Louis XIV used to live in the Louvre before he moved to Versailles!

If you're feeling a bit intimidated by the Louvre's crowd, you might wanna consider visiting Musée d'Orsay first. Dubbed the Louvre's older sibling, the Orsay Museum is home to art pieces and sculptures that date from the Art Nouveau era up to the early 20th century. If you're on the hunt for works of van Gogh, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec, this is the Paris museum to be in.

When it comes to decorative arts, Musée des Arts décoratifs holds one of the world's significant collections of preserved French furniture, tableware, carpets, and glass pieces. Located at the north-western wing of the Louvre Palace, this museum is the second oldest in the city. Today's collection involves different works in the Art Nouveau and Art Déco styles and modern pieces by Eileen Gray and Charlotte Perriand, Camille Fauré, and other renowned designers.

Don't get fooled—Musée des Arts et Métiers may sound like an arts and crafts museum, but it’s actually Europe's oldest science museum! Established in 1794 to contribute to France's manufacturing industry, this Paris museum currently holds an attractive display of preserved inventions and scientific discoveries. Here, you can find the first mechanical calculator by Blaise Pascal, the original version of the Foucault pendulum, and the original model of the Statue of Liberty.

Is seeing Claude Monet's Water Lilies on your art bucket list? Then, a visit to the ​​Musée national de l'Orangerie is a must! The Orangerie's oval rooms are the permanent home of eight Nymphéas' paintings since the 1920s. In fact, Monet himself assisted in designing these rooms and required skylights so that the artworks would be seen in natural light. Aside from the Water Lilies, the Orangerie is also home to works by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and more.

If you're interested in the works of famed French sculptor Auguste Rodin, Musée Rodin in Hôtel Biron is a must-visit! Rodin used Hôtel Biron as his workshop, and it is said that the surrounding gardens there inspired some of his work. This museum's permanent displays include his most famous bronze sculptures, like The Thinker and The Gates of Hell, and Rodin's personal collection of photographs. Musée Rodin has a second location in Meudon called La Villa des Brillants.

Musée Nissim de Camondo is another Paris museum to see if you want to see more French decorative art pieces. Built during the 1910s by Count Moïse de Camondo, the museum is dedicated and named after his son Nissim and is wonderfully preserved today. Visitors can explore three floors: the lower ground floor, which contains the kitchens; the upper ground floor, where the formal rooms are; and the first floor for the private apartments. Every nook and corner is a glimpse into 18th-century France—with furniture from the Royal Furniture Repository, silver and porcelain table settings made in the 1700s, and Savonnerie carpets woven in 1678.

Another prestigious Paris museum you should check out is Musée Picasso in the heart of the historic Marais. Find the most extensive collection of Picasso's masterpieces, like paintings hanging in bright exhibit rooms and sculptures and ceramics on display here. Aside from his works, you can also find Picasso's personal repository inside the art gallery, like his archive of photos, manuscripts, and correspondence.

With three galleries and six rooms to explore, Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération is the best place to visit if you want to learn more about the French military and the French heroes during World War II. Find yourself surrounded by display cases of uniforms, naval flags, weapons, transmitters, and military relics that tell the story of the Free French Forces, led by General Charles de Gaulle. 

Musée du quai Branly is a breath of fresh air on the left bank of the Seine. It’s one of the select Paris museums that features indigenous art and culture of non-Western civilization. This is also home to treasures like Aztec statues, tribal and ritual masks from Asia, and Maori sculptures from New Zealand. Musée du quai Branly is known for its "living walls" or its luxurious vertical garden wall!

Ready to be immersed in art? Book the Paris Museum Pass now for your next trip to the City of Art!