Free Paris Museums

A List Of The Most Popular Museums In Paris Offering Free Entrance

Paris is filled with incredibly beautiful and interesting museums. For most people, Paris is synonymous with the Louvre, one of the most popular museums in the world. What most people travelling to Paris do not know is that if planned carefully, they can visit the Louvre for free!

But there is more than the Louvre museum that can be visited for free. There are several museums in Paris that can also be visited free of charge or at reduced prices. Some museums and monuments offer one day a month free entrance; others offer a free night opening once a week, free children’s entrance, reduced tariffs for the elderly and handicapped, etc. Inform yourself before you arrive in Paris so you can make the most of your Paris vacation in a budget.

The first Sunday of every month you can have free access to the following museums in Paris:

• Musée du Louvre.
• Musée d'Orsay
• Musée national Picasso
• Musée Rodin
• Musée national d'art moderne
• Musée de l'Assistance Publique
• Musée national des Arts asiatiques Guimet
• Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
• Musée national Eugène Delacroix
• Musée Gustave Moreau
• Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner
• Musée national du Moyen Âge
• Musée national de l'Orangerie
• Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine
• Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration
• Musée du Quai Branly
• Musée Rodin

If you are between 18 and 25 years of age, check in advance the Museum you want to visit as some Paris museums offer free admission for people 18 to 25 years old who are residents in the European Union, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein (on presentation of ID).

From October to March: access to the permanent collections is free for all visitors on the first Sunday of each month.

Please note that From April to September: no free admission on the first Sunday of each month.

Ordinarily you need to pay €14 for a full-day access to the Louvre Museum –the ticket also gives you access to the Musée Eugène Delacroix.

Visiting the Louvre the first Sunday of the month you can save yourself the entrance fee, rather a saving if you are planning a family trip with children over 12 years of age (children under 12 years of age have free entrance).

Other than the first Sunday of the month, the Louvre is free all the time for:

• Visitors under the age of 18
• Visitors between 18-25 year-old residents of the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein)
• Disabled visitors and their guest or helper

To make the most of your free visit to the Louvre Museum arrive early in the morning. On Sundays the museum is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

On top of offering free entrance for everyone on the first Sunday of every month, the Orsay Museum in Paris offers permanent free access to accompanied, disabled visitors holding a disability card or a "priority" card for the disabled

Centre Pompidou - The National Museum of Modern Art for free

The Pompidou centre offers free access to its museum and permanent exhibitions on the first Sunday of every month. Even if you are not a fan of modern art, the Centre Pompidou is worth a visit just to admire its unique architecture designed as an "evolving spatial diagram" by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. And, if you are a fan of modern art, this is a "must place to see". The Centre Pompidou houses more than 60,000 works of art, the largest collection in Europe of modern and contemporary art. It covers the XX and XXI centuries through artists which artworks had major influence in recent years.

The full price to visit the Centre Pompidou is the 13 euros but there is free entrance to European residents between 18 and 25 years of age.
If you are less than 18 years old, you can benefit of free access to the Centre Pompidou temporary exhibitions.

Disable visitors and their companions also have free access to the Centre.

The Centre Pompidou is open every day, except Tuesdays and 1 May, from 11.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m.

If you wish to benefit from the free entrance to the Centre Pompidou you must ask for your FREE ticket at the cash-point the day of your visit.

One of the most well known Parisian landmarks, the Notre Dame Cathedral is open every day of the year from 8:00 am to 6:45 pm. Access to the cathedral is open and free of charge every day of the year, during the opening hours.

What you pay for is for The Notre-Dame's tower visit; a trip through all of the upper parts of the western façade, dating from the 13^th century. The entrance for the visit of the tower is located outside of the cathedral and it is open 7 days a week. The normal entrance fee to visit the Notre Dame Tower is €8.50 for adults and free for the under 18s. However, during the months of November to March you can visit the Notre Dame for free the first Sunday of the month. That is; the first Sunday of November, December, January, February and March. During these months those under 26 years old residents in the European Community can also visit the Notre Dame for free.

One of the most famous landmarks in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe is another Paris monument that you can visit for free the first Sunday of the month from November to March. This is the perfect viewpoint during the Christmas season to appreciate the illuminations of the Champs Elysees and the other 12 avenues that converge here.

The rest of the year, access to the Arc de Triomphe remains free for the disabled and their assistants, job seekers, children under 18 years of age and those under 26 years old and resident in the European Union.

The museum Carnavalet is another historic jewel that you can visit free of charge. It houses a fascinating permanent collection for those interested in learning about Paris' complex history from its foundings to the present day.
Even the outside of the museum is fascinating as it is housed within two stunning Renaissance-era buildings, the Hotel Carnavalet and the Hotel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau.
The Carnavalet Museum, closed on Modays, is located in Paris' 3th arrondissement, in the heart of the Marais on 23, rue de Sévigné. The nearest metro stations are Saint-Paul (Line 1) and Chemin Vert (line 8)

Paris is not only known for its history but also for its tradition in Perfume making. Almost everyone who comes to Paris goes back home with a bottle of perfume as a souvenir of the city of love, so why not include in your Paris tour a visit to a museum of perfume?

Fragonart Parfumeur invites you for a free visit to their museum and private mansion from the 19th century, displaying one of the richest collections of perfumery objects in the world, going back 3000 years of history and skills. Here you will discover unusually-shaped perfume bottles, perfume vaporizers, perfume fountains demonstrating the skills of the artisans of this trade today, glass-blowers, glass-designers and craftsmen will remind you that the bottles are an essential component in creating perfume. At the end of your visit, Fragonard perfumer sells perfume products dating back to 1926 at Grasse, the 'perfume village'.

The museum is open from Monday to Saturday: 9 am to 6 pm. Sunday and public holidays: 9 am to 5 pm. This museum is free of charge for everyone.

Free Ice Skating

If you are coming to Paris, it is worth searching for free seasonal attractions. During winter, there are several huge free ice rinks in the city. For children and adults, families, friends and lovers, these temporary ice rinks are hugely popular and have become an essential part of the festive period. The ice rinks are open late, until 10 pm. and are equipped with a new-generation synthetic carpet, giving a better appreciation of the risks and falling and easier learning. For those who have never tried ice skating there is the possibility of free lessons from qualified instructors (familiarization, demonstrations, ice hockey, etc.) Lessons on Saturday and Sunday morning from 10 am to 12-noon, by age group. Places limited.

The Paris town hall also offers several free merry-go-rounds in the city. You will need to check in the Paris Tourist site for the exact addresses.