Guide to the
Musee d'Orsay

From Van Gogh to Monet –
the Orsay Museum is an Impressionist gem

Built as a train station in the Belle Époque, Musee d'Orsay (the Orsay Museum), was transformed into a museum to house France's collection of 19th-century paintings when the Louvre Art Museum literally ran out of space.

The Orsay Museum is certainly the place to get your fix of Impressionist painters: Manet, Monet, Cézanne, Degas, Renoir, Sisley and a stunning collection of Van Goghs.

If you want to go directly to the amazing Impressionist collection, zip up to the fifth floor, where natural light illuminates room after room of these masterpieces.

Because the Musee d'Orsay is smaller than the Louvre you can cover a lot of art in a morning and still have time for lunch in the restored Belle Époque restaurant, which was once the dining room of the Orsay train station hotel.

Ticket Lines at Musee d'Orsay

Museée d'Orsay is very popular.

On most days you can expect to wait in line for an hour to buy tickets.

But, with the Paris Museum Pass you'll feel like royalty as you cruise past the ticket line and enter through the right-hand door for those who have passes or tickets. It's absolutely the best way to visit Paris museums.

We recommmend that you buy the Museum Pass as part of a combination Paris City Pass and that you get yours before you leave home.

• Our Complete Guide to Paris City Passes »

Guided Tours Of The Orsay Museum

Line up at the d'Orsay

Another great way to skip the lines at Musée d'Orsay is by booking a 2-hour guided tour of the famous Impressionist museum.

Your guide whisks you past the lines, takes you to the best the museum has to offer, and gives you insights into the Impressionists and other 19th Century artists. It may be the best money you spend in Paris!

• Book Your Skip-the-Lines Musée d'Orsay Tour »
• Read More About d'Orsay Skip-the-Line Tours »

Musee D'Orsay Facts

Van Gogh at Musee d'Orsay

• Gare d'Orsay was completed for the 1900 Exposition Universelle held in Paris.
• In World War II the station was used to sort parcels going to prisoners of war.
• The station was almost torn down in 1970, but was saved by the Cultural Minister.
• Planning to use the Gare d'Orsay as a museum began in 1974.
• Musee d'Orsay was opened in December 1986.
• Orson Welle's film of Franz Kafka's The Trial was shot at d'Orsay.
• Paris' famous fictional detective, Inspector Maigret, meets a suspect at Hotel Gare d'Orsay, located in the building, and eats in the dining room, which is still used as a restaurant today.

Musee d'Orsay Must-See list

1. Edouard Manet, Le Déjeuner Sur l'Herbe
2. Edouard Manet, Olympia
3. Edouard Manet, La Blonde Aux Seins Nus
4. Claude Monet, Le Déjeuner Sur l'Herbe
5. Claude Monet, Londres, Le Parlement
6. Claude Monet, Coquelicots
7. Claude Monet, Camille Sur Son Lit De Mort
8. Auguste Renoir, Etude. Torse, Effet de Soleil
9. Auguste Renoir, Danse à la Ville
10. Vincent Van Gogh, La Nuit Étoilée



11. Vincent Van Gogh, Portrait de l'Artiste, 1889
12. Vincent Van Gogh, L'Église d'Auvers-sur-Oise
13. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, La Source
14. Mary Cassatt, Jeune Fille au Jardin
15. Eugène Delacroix, Passage d'un Gué au Maroc
16. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, La Danse
17. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Ugolin
18. Gustave Moreau, Orphée



19. Edgar Degas, Danseuses
20. Edgar Degas, Répétition d'un Ballet Sur la Scène
21. Edgar Degas, La Classe de Danse
22. Gustave Courbet, L'Origine du Monde
23. Alfred Sisly, La Neige à Louveciennes
24. Alfred Sisley, Allée Se Peupliers aux Environs de Moret-Sur-Loing
25. Camille Pissarro, La Bergère
26. Camille Pissarro, Femme au fichu vert
27. Berthe Morisot, Sur un Banc a Bois de Boulogne
28. Paul Gauguin, Et l'Or de Leur Corps

Orsay Museum Information

• Open from 9:30 am to 6 pm
• Late Night: Thursday until 9:45 pm
• Closed Mondays, December 25, January 1 and May 1
• Metro: Tuileries (walk across the park and the pedestrian bridge)
• Metro: Solférino
• RER: Musée d'Orsay (right in front of the museum)
• Museum Website »
• Free admission to the Musee d'Orsay is included with the Paris Museum Pass

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