Museums in Paris You Must Visit

When thinking about Paris, many people think about love, light, food, fashion, and haute couture. Nevertheless, for many people, Paris also symbolises art and culture! Every corner is so charming and beautiful that it could be out of a postcard! The whole city feels like a museum with its lovely culture and history. There are around 130 museums in Paris. Unfortunately, I haven’t visited all of them yet. Still, I always try to visit museums in Paris whenever I’m in the city. Of all the museums I saw, you must visit my favourite museums in Paris! Hence, if you want to enjoy art and culture, Paris is definitely the right place for you.

MUSÉE D’ORSAY

Let’s start with my favourite one! Musée d’Orsay, formerly a train station, is now one of the most famous museums in Paris. Once a railway station is now a glass-ceiling museum house. Musée d’Orsay has a large collection of impressionsm paintings such from Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and Monet. In fact, my favourite Van Gogh painting, “Starry Night over the Rhône” and my favourite Monet “The artist’s garden at Giverny”, are both hanging in Musée d’Orsay.

The museum itself is unique due to the train station architecture. Hence, don’t miss the famous clock on the upper level of the museum and the view of Paris through the clock’s windows, which is also in my top 15 things to do in Paris recommendation.

MUSÉE DE L’ORANGERIE

The secod museum you need to visit is Musée de l’orangerie! It is both with Musée d’Orsay, my favourite museum in Paris. Located on the west corner of Jardin de Tuileries is the former orangery. Musée de l’Orangerie was a house for orange trees in the middle of Tuileries garden. Nowadays, the iconic infinity rooms of Claude Monet’s water lilies are home at this unique museum. The oval-formed rooms are dedicated to Monet’s water lilies, where natural light pours in from the glass room, highlighting how genuinely striking Monet’s paintings are. Sometimes Musée de l’Orangerie also holds a concert in the infinity water lilies room.

MUSÉE MARMOTTAN MONET

You have probably already guessed it by now, but I am a vast Claude Monet fan. I love his paintings; they make me happy when admiring his artwork. In fact, I’ve always been trying to see Monet’s paintings wherever I am. Due to all these reasons, it was obvious that I really like Musée Marmottan Monet. This museum is dedicated to Claude Monet and, therefore, has the most extensive art collection of his paintings. The exhibition features many impressionists and post-impressionist paintings from Monet, including the famous “Impression, Sunrise” painting. If you are a Monet lover like me, this museum is a must-visit of the museums in Paris for you!

FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON

Opened its doors in 2014 to promote contemporary and historical art, the Fondation Louis Vuitton is a French art museum and cultural centre sponsored by the LVMH group. The building was designed by Frank Gehry and is a piece of art by itself. I’m not the most prominent contemporary art fan, so I rarely visit Fondation Louis Vuitton. However, they recently held an exhibition of Claude Monet and Joan Mitchell, which I really enjoyed! It was an exhibition in the form of a dialogue between these two artists! However, if you enjoy contemporary art, this is your museum to go to in Paris.

DIOR LA GALERIE

Fashion and luxury lovers, this museum is going to be perfect for you! After two years of renovating the Maison’s Montaigne flagship store, Christian Dior re-opened in Spring 2022. However, 30 Avenue Montaigne was not only re-opened as a shopping boutique but has been reinvented to combine all possible ventures with an exceptional setting. The Dior flagship features a majestic boutique, a restaurant, a garden of Eden, and a gallery. All in the nature and dreams of Dior’s Art de Vivre.

The gallery itself is a true dream. A dream of Dior’s history and gorgeous haute couture fashion dedicated to its founder Christian and his successors from Yves Saint Laurent to Maria Grazia Chiuri, the current Creative Art Director of Christan Dior Couture. The Dior La Galerie exhibition is more of an immersive experience through Dior’s history and fashion. Definitely, one of the museums in Paris you must visit if you love style and luxury.

For everyone visiting Paris not only for art and culture but also for fashion and shopping, check out our Paris shopping guide for where to shop in Paris.

MUSÉE DU LOUVRE

When it comes to museums in Paris, the most famous will forever be the Louvre museum. Moreover, the Louvre museum is actually also the most visited in the world. Home to art from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance, the Louvre is definitely most well known for Leonardo Davinci’s “Mona Lisa”. Nevertheless, my favourite exhibition is the beautiful Cour Marly Court with French sculptures. Moreover, a hall that’s often overseen but so beautiful is the Napoleon chambers. Therefore, make sure to check these rooms out as well when visiting the Louvre museum.

Outside of Musée du Louvre in the courtyard, you will find the lovely restaurant Le Café Marly, which I really recommend. You can enjoy your Brunch or Lunch with a beautiful view of the glass pyramid of the Louvre museum. For more information about the café, head to the restaurants you can not miss in Paris article!

If you prefer a visual guide of the museums in Paris you need to visit, feel free to check out my TikTok. There you will find a visual guide about all the museums mentioned above and a visualisation of the dreamy Dior La Galerie exhibition. Talking about dreams, another place where dreams come true is definitely Disneyland Paris. How about a day trip to Disneyland? You can find tips and everything you should know before visiting Disneyland in our ultimate guide to Disneyland Paris.