Musée d'Orsay
A Belle Époque railway station turned temple of Impressionism, with masterpieces by Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, and Cézanne. The view of Paris through the giant clock on the fifth floor is a classic photo spot.
The Musée d'Orsay was converted from the Gare d'Orsay railway station, built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle. It opened in 1986 and houses Western art from 1848 to 1914, making it the world's most important collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. The 137-meter glass-vaulted main hall is itself a work of industrial-age art. The highlights are concentrated in the fifth-floor Impressionist gallery: Monet's *Luncheon on the Grass*, the *Rouen Cathedral* series, and *Poppy Field*; Renoir's *Ball at the Moulin de la Galette*; Degas's ballet dancers and the sculpture *Little Dancer*; Manet's *Olympia* and *Luncheon on the Grass*; Van Gogh's *Self-Portrait*, *Church at Auvers*, *The Siesta*, and *Starry Night over the Rhône*; Cézanne's *The Card Players*; Gauguin's Tahitian series; the pointillist works of Seurat and Signac; and realist masterpieces such as Courbet's *The Origin of the World* and Millet's *The Gleaners*. Don't miss the ground-floor central nave of sculpture, with works by Carpeaux and Rodin, or the Art Nouveau furniture on the second floor. The two giant station clocks on the fifth floor are must-photograph spots. Through the clock faces you can see the Tuileries Garden and Montmartre. Admission is €16. Booking a time slot on the official website skips the queue, which on site often exceeds an hour. Visitors under 18 and everyone on the first Sunday of each month enter free. A combined ticket with the Musée de l'Orangerie is available. Tip: arrive at 9:30 a.m. when it opens and head straight for the fifth floor. The visit takes about 2.5–3 hours. The official app offers a Chinese guide. Getting there: take Metro Line 12 to Solférino station or RER C to Musée d'Orsay station. The museum faces the Louvre across the river, about a 10-minute walk over the Pont Royal. Note: the museum is closed on Mondays. Photography without flash is allowed inside. The Café Campana on the top floor, behind the big clock, is a nice place to sit.
Opening hours
9:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (until 9:45 p.m. Thursdays; closed Mondays)
Nearby sights
- Louvre Museum
- Tuileries Garden & Place de la Concorde
- Palais Garnier
- Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection
- Galeries Lafayette Haussmann
- Printemps Haussmann
- Musée de l'Orangerie
- Sainte-Chapelle