Museums in Paris with Free Admission

Exploring the treasures of the museums in Paris can become quite an expensive adventure. However, there are a lot of good opportunities for those travelling on a low budget.

The 23 National Museums in Paris (with the exception of the Grand Palais) allow free admission to their permanent exhibitions on the first Sunday of each month. This policy begun in January 2000 and became so successful that early queueing is advised on these Sundays. Among the museums with this policy are such outstanding museums like the Louvre, Orsay, Versailles, and the Quai-Branly.

On top of that, the numerous museums and galleries maintained by the city of Paris have been free to all visitors on all opening days since 2001. This applies to the permanent (but not temporary) exhibitions of interesting museums like the Musée Carnavalet, the Musée Zadkine, the Petit Palais, Maison de Balzac, Maison de Victor Hugo and many others.

For an overview map and a detailed list with address, public transport, opening hours and official websites see our Map of museums with free admission.