My Favorite Parisian Museums

My Favorite Parisian Museums
📍 Musée Rodin, Paris

The following content may contain affiliate links. 
When you click and shop the links, I may receive a small commission.

Sweater || Shirt || Pants || Sneakers || Similar Handbag

Whenever I travel, visiting museums is always at the top of my list. I love everything from major art museums to historic homes and the slightly more off-beat collections that help you understand a city beyond the usual sightseeing checklist. Museums are often where I feel like I really start to get to know a place, whether that’s through its art, fashion, architecture or the everyday objects people left behind. And, of course, Paris has no shortage of them. You could spend weeks hopping from one museum to the next and still barely scratch the surface. Each time I visit, I inevitably return to a few old favorites while trying to make room for somewhere new, and I love that even the museums I’ve visited before never seem to feel exactly the same twice. Some are worth planning an entire morning around, while others are perfect for popping into between lunch and an afternoon spent wandering the neighborhood. If you’re planning a Paris trip of your own, these are a few of the museums I find myself recommending again and again.

Musée Carnavalet

If you love Paris as much as I do, Musée Carnavalet should be high on your list. Located in the heart of the Marais, the museum is dedicated entirely to the history of Paris, taking you through centuries of the city’s art, culture, politics, architecture and everyday life. The collection is housed across two beautiful historic mansions, which makes wandering through the museum feel like an experience in itself.

What I particularly love about Carnavalet is how much context it gives to the Paris you’re exploring outside its doors. You’ll find paintings, furniture, signs, decorative objects and beautifully reconstructed period rooms that make different eras of the city feel incredibly tangible. It’s also a great museum to pair with a day spent wandering around the Marais, especially if you want something beyond the major Paris museums everyone already knows.

Musée d’Orsay

Musée d’Orsay is one of those museums I could return to again and again. Housed inside the former Gare d’Orsay railway station, the building itself is nearly as spectacular as the collection. The enormous clock, soaring ceilings and Beaux-Arts architecture give the museum such a distinct sense of place before you’ve even started looking at the art.

The collection focuses primarily on art from the mid-19th through early 20th centuries and is especially known for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works. You’ll find Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh and so many more familiar names. Even if you don’t consider yourself a major art person, this is one Paris museum I wouldn’t skip. Give yourself enough time to wander rather than trying to see absolutely everything, and definitely make your way toward the famous clock for one of my favorite views in Paris.

Louvre Museum

Obviously, we have to talk about the Louvre. It’s enormous, iconic and admittedly a little overwhelming, but I still think it deserves a place on your Paris itinerary. Beyond the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, the collection spans thousands of years and includes everything from ancient civilizations and European paintings to decorative arts and sculpture.

My biggest advice is not to approach the Louvre with the goal of seeing everything. You simply won’t, and trying to do so takes some of the magic out of it. Instead, choose a few galleries or works you’re particularly interested in and let yourself wander from there. The building itself is also part of the experience. Between the grand galleries, courtyards and incredible interiors, you’re surrounded by French history before you even stop to look at what’s hanging on the walls.

Musée Rodin

For something a little quieter, Musée Rodin is one of my favorite places to spend a slower morning or afternoon in Paris. The museum is housed in the beautiful Hôtel Biron, where Auguste Rodin once worked, and the combination of the historic mansion, sculptures and surrounding gardens makes it feel completely different from the city’s larger museums.

Inside, you’ll find an extensive collection of Rodin’s work, while some of his most recognizable sculptures, including The Thinker, are displayed throughout the gardens. I especially love this one when the weather is nice because you can take your time wandering outside rather than spending another few hours entirely indoors. It feels peaceful, romantic and very Parisian, which is exactly what I want from an afternoon in Paris.

Palais Galliera

Fashion lovers, this one is for you. Palais Galliera is Paris’s fashion museum, housed in an absolutely beautiful 19th-century building not far from the Eiffel Tower. Its collection explores the history of fashion through clothing, accessories, photography and archival pieces, making it such a fun departure from a traditional art museum.

One thing to know before visiting is that Palais Galliera’s exhibitions rotate, so I always recommend checking what’s currently on view before adding it to your itinerary. That also means it’s the kind of museum you can revisit on future trips and have a completely different experience. For anyone who loves French style, fashion history or simply beautiful clothes, it’s absolutely worth keeping on your Paris radar.

Musée Picasso

Another Marais favorite, Musée Picasso is housed inside the gorgeous Hôtel Salé, a 17th-century mansion that makes a beautiful backdrop for the collection. The museum follows Picasso’s career through paintings, drawings, sculptures and other works, giving you a much broader look at his evolution as an artist than you might get from seeing one or two pieces elsewhere.

I especially like Musée Picasso because of its scale. It feels much more manageable than somewhere like the Louvre, so you can actually take your time rather than feeling like you’re racing through endless galleries. It’s another museum that fits beautifully into a day in the Marais. Visit the museum, wander the neighborhood afterward, stop for lunch or a glass of wine and you’ve basically planned my ideal Paris afternoon.

Sweater || Shirt || Pants || Sneakers || Similar Handbag

One of my favorite things about Paris is knowing that I’ll never really be finished with it. No matter how many times I visit, there will always be another exhibition I haven’t seen, another little museum tucked behind a beautiful doorway and another reason to return to a place I’ve already fallen in love with. I’m already daydreaming about our next trip and thinking about which favorites deserve another visit and which museums I can finally cross off my ever-growing list. And maybe that’s the best way to approach museums in Paris in the first place. Don’t try to see every masterpiece, race through every gallery or check every famous museum off your list in a single trip. Pick a few that genuinely interest you, give yourself time to wander, stop for a café crème afterward and save plenty for next time. After all, having another museum to visit is as good an excuse as any to start planning your return to Paris.

Love from Paris,
Katie

Thanks for stopping by! To keep up with all things about my travels and style, be sure to visit throughout the week! Be sure to check out my exclusive adventures in NYC and New England.