The Musée d’Orsay is my favorite among all the famous museums of Paris, places like the Louvre Museum and the Centre Pompidou. Why? Because unlike the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay is an easy museum to digest. You can see the whole thing in two to three hours. And unlike the Centre Pompidou, I connect much more with the art on display here (especially the pre-impressionist works).
Now that I’ve explained why I love this museum so much, let me tell you its story, and of course, give you all the practical information you’ll need for your visit.
A train used to run through here, or the history of the Musée d’Orsay
In the late 19th century, once it was decided that Paris would host the World’s Fair in 1900, massive infrastructure work began so the City of Light could welcome millions of visitors. People today don’t always realize how important these World’s Fairs, held in a different European capital each time, were to the French. I’ll just say that thanks to those fairs, Paris got some of its biggest icons, from the bateaux-mouches (created for the 1867 fair) to the Eiffel Tower (built for the 1889 fair).
So what did the French do to make the 1900 fair even more impressive than the ones before it? They invested in infrastructure. And that’s how we got the Paris metro (line 1 was created specifically for this fair), the Pont Alexandre III, and two museums, the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. But even that wasn’t enough, and it was decided to build another train station to take some of the pressure off the other stations, which were expected to handle millions of visitors. This station was built on the Left Bank, right across from the Tuileries Garden.
The train station was called Gare d’Orsay (it was built by the Paris-Orléans railway company), and its architecture is a full-on tribute to the golden age of trains: grand waiting rooms, a restaurant decorated in Belle Époque style, a luxury hotel, a giant clock to make sure you never missed your train, and of course statues on the building’s facade (similar to those at Gare du Nord). It opened on the symbolic date of July 14, 1900 (Bastille Day), and it was so beautiful that the painter Édouard Detaille suggested right then and there that it be turned into a gallery or museum. Édouard was ahead of his time: it took more than 80 years for his vision to become reality.
Until the end of the 1930s, the train station continued to serve travelers coming from the Loire Valley, but once Gare Montparnasse started handling that traffic, it was converted into a suburban train station. Later on, the noise of the trains fell silent entirely, and the place stopped functioning as a station altogether. At first it was used as a movie set (Kafka’s “The Trial” was filmed here). Later, it became home to the theater company of Jean-Louis Barrault, after he was expelled from the Théâtre de l’Odéon for supporting the student uprising.
During the 1970s the building was at risk of demolition, but luckily, the government decided to list it as a historic monument and turn it into a museum. The reason was that the French Ministry of Culture felt that the 19th century didn’t really have an art home in Paris: the Louvre covered art up through the early 19th century, while the Pompidou covered 20th century art. Once it was decided that the new museum would focus on art created between 1848 and 1914, three architects (Pierre Colboc, Renaud Bardon and Jean-Paul Philippon) were chosen, and they set to work turning the train station into a five-story museum.
The museum opened to the public in 1986 and immediately became a success story: in the three years following its opening, about 11.5 million people visited it. Since then, Musée d’Orsay has continued to draw millions of visitors from around the world, and in my opinion, deservedly so. Let’s get into why in the next section.
What shouldn’t you miss, in my opinion?
The Musée d’Orsay is made up, as I mentioned, of five floors that together tell the story of the 19th century. True, chronologically you’ll also find artwork created up until 1914, but I don’t think that’s inaccurate, since the spirit of the 19th century really only ended with the outbreak of World War I. Naturally, you’ll find no shortage of artwork in the museum, and since it’s hard to give each piece the attention it deserves, you need to decide ahead of time what to focus on. The museum is arranged so that each floor covers a different period, with the ground floor covering the earlier works and the upper floors covering the later ones.
Of course, it would be presumptuous of me to tell you what to see and what to skip, since taste is a very personal thing. But if you’d like to know which artworks are my favorites, feel free to keep reading.
Ground floor
On this floor you’ll find artwork created between 1848 and 1870, and personally, this is my favorite floor of them all. On the right side you’ll find paintings by one of my favorite painters, Ingres, alongside Delacroix. But to me, the most moving works are actually on the left side of the hall. There you’ll find Gustave Courbet, the unforgiving realist, whose painting “The Painter’s Studio” (1855) I love.
Add to that the moving “The Angelus” by Millet, with its precise depiction of the sun setting over a field.
Then let’s go back to Gustave Courbet’s “The Origin of the World” to click our tongues and chuckle a little.
And since we’re talking about Courbet’s “The Origin of the World,” we can’t skip the painting that symbolizes the end that awaits all of us. I’m talking, of course, about the moving, realistic painting “A Burial at Ornans.”
And finally, we can’t skip the painting “Luncheon on the Grass” by Édouard Manet, which caused an enormous scandal when it was shown to the public in 1863.
And all these are just a handful of pieces among hundreds of wonderful works hiding on this floor. We haven’t even talked about the sculptures you’ll also find there. Here’s one of my favorites.
And hold on, we’re only on the ground floor. Time to head upstairs.
The second floor (or the middle floor)
This floor is devoted more to 19th century interior design (with an emphasis on Art Nouveau) along with various symbolist painters, including some non-French ones like Klimt and Munch. Here’s an example of a Klimt painting I loved.
The upper floors
Here you’ll find the museum’s most famous works, along with the crowds of tourists that come with them. To be honest, I’m happy to say these are actually the works that interest me the least, so other than a brief courtesy visit, I usually don’t go up there. That doesn’t mean you should skip these floors though: you’ll find plenty of works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, van Gogh, and many other impressionist painters.
In the opinion of my friend Yoel Thamanlis, this is the most important floor of the museum, and you shouldn’t miss it. If you don’t agree with that claim, feel free to read his article Musée d’Orsay: The Fifth Floor, the Floor of Dreams, and chances are you’ll be convinced to start your museum visit right on that floor 🙂
The Musée d’Orsay restaurant
It may be a “practical” stop, but whatever you do, don’t miss the restaurant: it’s simply a masterpiece from the Belle Époque. Among other things, you’ll find paintings there that form an allegory of different eras, and of course, a wonderful view of the Seine.
Tickets for the Musée d’Orsay
As with any popular museum, I highly recommend buying tickets for the Musée d’Orsay in advance, to save yourself a long wait in line at the box office.
How much does a ticket to the Musée d’Orsay cost?
As of 2026, a full-price ticket costs 16 euros online and 14 euros at the museum. Visitors under 18 and EU residents aged 18–25 get in free.
Where’s the best place to buy tickets?
Here are a few options for buying tickets in advance:
- Skip-the-line ticket to the Musée d’Orsay
- Guided tour of the Musée d’Orsay
- Combined ticket for the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie
- Combined ticket for the Musée d’Orsay and Musée Rodin
- Combined ticket for the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre Museum
How do you get there?
The easiest way is on the RER C, which stops at the Musée d’Orsay station. Another good option is line 12, which stops at Solférino, not far at all from the museum.
Opening hours
- Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 09:30-18:00
- Thursday: 09:30-21:30 (I recommend coming in the evening, since there are fewer visitors then).
- Monday: Closed
One last thing: don’t miss the “secret” museum right across the street
Not many people know this, but right across from the Musée d’Orsay there’s another small, charming museum: the Musée de la Légion d’Honneur. Very few of the people who visit the Orsay also stop by, which is a shame. Beyond the fact that it’s a free museum, it has a unique and fascinating story that you can read about in the article The French Légion d’Honneur Museum in Paris: The Stories You Never Knew.
Want to stay close to the Musée d’Orsay?
The Musée d’Orsay sits in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in the City of Light. Travelers often overlook this neighborhood in favor of the Latin Quarter or the Marais, which is a shame, because it has quite a few advantages. First, if you stay close to the Musée d’Orsay, you’ll also be very close to the Seine, which is wonderful, since you can simply walk from the Left Bank to the Right Bank. On top of that, the 7th arrondissement is also the safest neighborhood in Paris, thanks to the number of government offices located there. And finally, if you’d like to walk to the Eiffel Tower, or even see it from your hotel window, you’ll be glad to know that’s absolutely possible in the 7th arrondissement.
So if you’ve decided to stay in this area, feel free to find recommended hotels and vacation rentals through these two links:
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