The most interesting, unique, beautiful museums, galleries and gardens in Paris that are free!
If you’re looking for free museums in Paris, you’ve probably heard of First Sundays. When dozens of the city’s major museums drop the admission fees. But hold on—what if you’re not visiting Paris on the first Sunday of the month?
There are excellent free Paris museum experiences almost any day of the week, it just takes a bit more legwork.
So in this post I’ll show you what Paris museums to visit, day-by-day, so you can plan a great (and affordable) time whenever you are visiting. This isn’t just a list of every museum in the city, it’s personal, curated recommendations of the most interesting, unique places, for curious people like me.
Confession: on my first trip to Paris, I went to 10 museums in three days so I may be more obsessed than most visitors! But if you share my interest in viewing the most famous artworks in history that can only be seen in Paris, supporting modern creatives, and exploring the city through its paintings, photography, sculpture and installations, this post is for you.
Also, in the current climate of overtourism, where Paris is one of the busiest cities in the world, these museums will get you off the beaten path of the most visited spots in Paris and seeing some new things.
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Who can get in free to museums in Paris?
There’s good news for some visitors to Paris. Almost all museums with paid admission waive that fee for certain people, all the time.
- Young people (under 26, 18 or 16, depending on the museum)
- People with disabilities plus their companion
- Artists, Educators, Journalists, Historians (again, depending on the museum)
- Active or Retired Military
- Kids under age 10
- Asylum Seekers and Job-seekers (this one is really for people living within France)
If that sounds like you, you can check under fees or “tarifs” in French on the museum’s website to see if you qualify and what proof you need to bring.
What about everyone else?
But seriously, what about Free Paris Museums on Sundays?
If you’re lucky to be in Paris on the first Sunday of the month, you can take advantage of free museum days to save admission on some of Paris’s most famous museums, like the D’Orsay, the Pompidou, the Cluny and more. (Note: not the Louvre.)
Here’s why I don’t: it’s as crowded as it can get. Second, you now need to reserve a ticket in advance on-line. Because they are free, they get snapped up super-fast as soon as they are released a month in advance (by users who may or may not even show up). The free admission generally applies only to the Permanent collections – not temporary exhibits. And, the most popular museums only participate in the off seasons. For me personally, the effort-to-value ratio doesn’t add up. I prefer to make savings elsewhere and pay to visit these museums at my preferred time.
Tip: Many museums in Paris are free on July 14 for Bastille Day, and in September on European Heritage Days.
Here’s my list of the best free museums in Paris to visit for any day of the week!
Carnavalet-History of Paris Museum
Gardens and Stables at Versailles
Paris on Monday – Closed!
Sorry, but almost all cultural institutions and major galleries are closed on Mondays. Check out my recommendations for things to do at night as a solo traveller, best cemeteries to visit, or cool things to do in the Left Bank, which all include free or budget options.
Free Museums in Paris on Tuesday – History and Decor
Carnavalet-History of Paris Museum is the oldest museum in the city and one of the most popular museums that is free every day. It houses 4,000 works tracing the history of Paris going back to 9000 B.C. and is a great place to get familiar with the extraordinary city you’re in. Located in two 18th century mansions in the Marais that have been recently renovated, it’s one of those European museums that are more like a house, with furnished rooms you move through in sequence. Some outstanding pieces you can see here include personal objects of famous Parisians like Napoleon I, Voltaire, and Marcel Proust. Open daily 10am to 6pm. Closed on Mondays.
A few blocks away in pretty Places de Voges is Maison Victor Hugo, the former private residence of the author, filled with more than 50,000 (!) artifacts from Victor Hugo’s life and the furniture and decorative arts that he collected. The bed in the bedroom is the one he died in, where his body lay in state before his funeral. The style overall is very oppulent and recommended for my Goth friends. Free admission to the permanent collection daily 10am to 6pm. Closed Monday. Temporary exhibitions cost extra.
Paris on Wednesday – Petit Palais and MAM
Near the famed The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, where you certainly can spend a lot of money, are two world-class collections that are free to visit. This part of the city is heavily touristed so I like to visit on Wednesday when things are a bit quieter.
Petit Palais is one of the very best free museums in Paris. And it’s not so small a palace, at least to this North American. The grandiose building built for the 1900 World’s Fair is filled with Renaissance paintings, furniture, books and other art objects from big names like Rembrandt, Cezanne, Monet, Delacroix and and Degas. Free access to the permanent collection daily from 10am to 6pm, or 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Monday. Temporary exhibitions (additional cost) on fashion and jewelry coming in 2025!
Musée d’Art Moderne houses more than 13,000 works of modern and contemporary art, one of the biggest collections in all of France, from Picasso and Matisse to Cahun and Bourgeois. One beautiful piece to seek out is La Fée Electricité by Raoul Dufy, a huge fresco in kaleidoscopic colour. Free admission to the permanent collection daily from 10am to 6pm. Closed Monday.
Paris on Thursday – Science!
Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. You can learn more about Marie Curie and all things radium and radioactive at the Musee Curie in the 5th arrondisment. Her former laboratory where she performed research into radioactivity is now open to visitors. (Don’t worry it’s been professionally decontaminated!) See vintage scientific apparatus, personal effects. Open Wednesday to Saturday from 1pm to 5pm. Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and certain Jewish holidays.
Bonus free Paris museum tip: College and University students only can get in free to the Foundation Louis Vuitton on Thursdays with ID. This is one of the coolest museums in all of Paris, designed by Frank Gehry and filled with modern and contemporary visual and sound art from the personal collections of the billionaire owners of LVHM – stuff like Basquiat, Warhol, Koons, etc.
Paris on Friday – Modern Art
Do you like supporting living artists? Take a break from the great dead masters and dizzyingly large museums and visit some Paris galleries exhibiting contemporary works, from emerging talents to world-famous street artists.
Itinerrance is a modern gallery in the 13th arrondissement of Paris that has exhibited huge names in urban art like Shepard Fairey and Seth and is an excellent space to pop into while exploring the nearby murals of the Street Art 13 project. Free admission daily, 11am to 7pm. Closed Sunday/Monday.
59 Rivoli is a former artist squat in the Marais that is now filled with legal studios. Every two weeks there’s a new exhibition in the large lobby, and the outside of the building itself is often covered in colourful, timely installations. Free admission daily, 1pm to 8pm. Closed Monday.
Bonus tip: The Louvre is free on the first Friday of the month after 6pm, except July and August. It’s the only time you can get into the Louvre for free.
Saturday – Outdoor gardens
When the museums are at their busiest, I like to go for a wander outside because Paris is filled with public art you can see for free.
Right along the Seine, between the Pont de Sully and the Pont d’Austerlitz in the 5th, is a walking or biking path dotted with contemporary artworks called Musée de la Sculpture en Plein Air – Outdoor Sculpture Museum. There are more than 50 pieces and it’s very abstract 1970s vibes. Many Parisians don’t really know this as “museum” per se so if you’re looking for directions ask for Jardin Tino Rossi. Open 24/7.
The gardens at Versailles are extraordinary and surprisingly free! Worth the day trip from Paris even if you don’t pay to go into the palace. Wander through 2,000 acres of perfectly landscaped flowers and plants, pose in front of the glorious fountains and Mirror Pool and more than 200 classical marble sculptures. It’s overwhelmingly gorgeous and completely free! Open daily from 8am to 6pm. Exception: during the Musical Fountains show there is a charge to enter.
If that’s not enough, the Versailles Gallery of Coaches is also free. Horse lovers can see the Great Stables, and a majestic collection of carriages. The Gallery of Coaches is open every Saturday and Sunday from 12:30pm to 5:30pm.
Sunday – Shoah Memorial
One of the most impactful exhibitions I’ve seen anywhere in the world is the Shoah Memorial, which commemorates the tragic history of the Jews of France during the Holocaust. It’s one free museum in Paris I think every visitor should spend the time to see.
The Holocaust museum is located in the Marais, which was home to a large Jewish population at the beginning of World War II. Inside are hundreds of photographs, documents and other audio-visual mementos documenting what happened to the Jewish people of France, including a Children’s Memorial with almost 5,000 photographs of deported Jewish children. In many places, you’ll find lists of names, like the approximately 76,000 French Jews who were deported and murdered by the Nazis. A solemn crypt contains the ashes of victims from the different death camps and the Warsaw Ghetto, buried in dirt from Israel. A door from the Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp in France faces the tomb.
It’s incredibly moving, but also overwhelming. Take your time. I recommend doing this visit early in the day, especially in winter, so that you are emerging into the light.
The Shoah Memorial is free anytime for everyone. Guided tours in French are free and offered Sunday afternoons at 3pm. Open Daily from 10am to 6pm.
I hope this list of free museums in Paris helps make your adventure a beautiful, interesting, and affordable one!
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