Musée d'Orsay Tours FAQs
The questions travellers actually ask before booking — hours, entry rules, who gets in free, what a guided tour adds, and what is really inside.
If your question is about timing or entry, the answer is usually on our visiting guide. If it is about what to see, Musée d'Orsay highlights walks the building in order. And to compare the tours themselves, start at Musée d'Orsay Tours.
Do I need to book Musée d'Orsay tickets in advance?
Yes, in practice. Entry is by timed slot, and the popular mid-morning slots go first in spring and summer. A Musée d'Orsay reservation also fixes your arrival hour, which is the single biggest thing that shortens a queue.
What are the Musée d'Orsay opening hours?
The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 6pm, and stays open until 9:45pm on Thursdays. It closes every Monday, and on 1 May and 25 December.
What time is last admission?
Last admission is 5pm on a standard day. Entry to the temporary exhibitions closes at 5:15pm, and the galleries begin clearing from 5:30pm. On the Thursday late night the last admission is 9pm and the galleries close at 9:15pm.
Is the Musée d'Orsay closed on Mondays?
Yes. Monday is the weekly closing day, so plan the museum for any other day of the week. The Louvre closes on Tuesdays instead, which means the two pair neatly across a two-day stay.
How much does a Musée d'Orsay ticket cost?
The museum publishes a €12 evening ticket valid from 6pm on Thursdays, and a reduced family rate for up to two EU-resident adults with a young person under 18. Check the museum's ticketing site for the current full rate before you book.
Who gets in free?
Under-18s enter free regardless of nationality. Under-26s enter free if they are EU nationals or non-EU long-term residents staying more than three months. The first Sunday of each month is free for everyone, with a mandatory timed booking.
Is the first Sunday of the month really free?
Yes, for all visitors, but you must reserve a free timed slot online in advance. The slots are released ahead of time and are usually gone well before the day.
Are Musée d'Orsay guided tours worth it?
They earn their price if you want a route rather than a map. The collection is dense, and a guide picks perhaps twenty works and connects them. If you already know what you want to see, an entry ticket does the job for less.
What is the difference between a ticket and a guided tour?
A ticket gets you through the door at a set hour and leaves the visit to you. A guided tour includes entry and adds a led route of one to three hours. Entry tickets start well below the guided tours, and both are listed side by side.
How long should I spend at the Musée d'Orsay?
Allow two hours for the Impressionist floor and the sculpture nave, and three if you want the Art Nouveau rooms or a temporary exhibition as well. Below ninety minutes you are picking one floor rather than seeing the museum.
Can I skip the line at the Musée d'Orsay?
A timed ticket or a guided tour gets you past the ticket-buying queue, which is the long one. Everyone still passes through security screening at the door, so arrive around fifteen minutes before your slot.
Where is the Musée d'Orsay?
It stands on the Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in the 7th arrondissement, on the left bank of the Seine. The entrance faces the Esplanade rather than the quay, which is worth knowing if you are walking along the river.
Is the Musée d'Orsay wheelchair accessible?
Yes. Every floor is served by lifts or ramps, and all exhibition areas and services are accessible. A disabled visitor and one companion enter free through priority Entrance C on proof of eligibility, with no advance reservation needed.
Can I borrow a wheelchair at the museum?
Yes. Wheelchairs, folding seats and walking sticks are lent free of charge against an identity document at the cloakroom. You can request them when you book or when you arrive.
Are assistance dogs allowed?
Yes, assistance dogs are welcome throughout the museum. Dogs in training are admitted as well.
What is the Musée d'Orsay famous for?
It holds the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting in the world, in a building that was a working railway station. That combination is the reason most visitors come.
Which paintings should I not miss?
Manet's Olympia and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Van Gogh's self-portrait and his Starry Night Over the Rhône, Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette, and Degas's Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Our highlights page sets them in walking order.
Is Van Gogh's The Starry Night at the Musée d'Orsay?
No. The painting most people picture is at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Orsay holds Starry Night Over the Rhône, painted in Arles in 1888, which is a different and quieter picture.
What years does the collection cover?
The museum's remit runs from 1848 to 1914. That span is why it holds the Impressionists but not the Renaissance, which stays at the Louvre, and not the modern movements that follow, which sit at the Pompidou.
Why is the museum inside a railway station?
The Gare d'Orsay opened in 1900 as the world's first electrified urban terminal. Its platforms were too short for post-war mainline trains, it closed to those services in 1939, and it reopened as a museum in December 1986.
Can I see the famous clock?
Yes. The great glass clock faces are part of the building, and the upper level lets you look out through one of them across the Seine. It is the most photographed spot in the museum, so expect company.
Are temporary exhibitions included in the ticket?
Entry covers the permanent collections and the temporary exhibitions, subject to availability. Because availability is the catch, check what is on before you fix a date.
Can I take photographs inside?
Photography rules vary by room and by exhibition, and staff will tell you where cameras are not allowed. Assume temporary exhibitions are stricter than the permanent collection.
Is there a cloakroom?
Yes, and it is also where the loan wheelchairs and folding seats are issued against an identity document. Large bags go there rather than into the galleries.
Is there anywhere to eat inside?
Yes, the museum has a café and a restaurant, and both are reachable for visitors with reduced mobility. On a Thursday evening they are a good reason to break a long visit in half.
Can I combine the Musée d'Orsay with another museum?
Yes, and one listing pairs it with the Rodin Museum on a single combo ticket. The two sit close together on the left bank and suit one afternoon.
Do guided tours run in English?
Yes. The guided options listed here run in English, and several are small-group formats capped at six travellers, where you can actually ask questions.
Are the tours suitable for children?
Most are, and under-18s enter free, so a family often pays only for the adults on a ticket. Check each listing: one small-group tour states it is not suitable for travellers using a wheelchair or with walking difficulties.
Can I cancel a tour if my plans change?
Every tour and ticket compared here refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start time. That is unusually consistent, and it is stated on each card.
Is the museum busy?
The Impressionist floor is the busiest part of the building on any day. Thursday evenings and the first hour after opening are the two reliably calmer windows.
What is the best time of day to visit?
Arrive at opening and go straight up to the Impressionist level before the building fills, or come on a Thursday evening. Both beat the middle of the afternoon by a wide margin.
How do I get to the museum?
It stands on the Seine's left bank in the 7th arrondissement, opposite the Tuileries. Guided tours meet on the forecourt outside, so allow a few minutes to find your group before the start time on your booking.
Ready to choose a tour?
Compare guided tours and entry tickets side by side, with live ratings and free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.