Hotels near Musée d'Orsay

Housed inside a converted 1900 railway station, the Musee d'Orsay holds the world's finest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting. The top-floor galleries contain works that changed the course of art history: Monet's cathedral series, Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette, Degas' ballet dancers, Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhone, and Cezanne's still lifes. The building itself competes for attention - the enormous station clock on the fifth floor frames views across the Seine toward Montmartre.

Admission is EUR 16 for adults, free for under-26 EU residents. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 09:30 to 18:00, with late opening until 21:45 on Thursdays. It is closed on Mondays. Timed-entry tickets should be purchased in advance online. Two to three hours is enough to see the highlights, though the ground-floor sculpture collection and the Art Nouveau decorative arts rooms deserve unhurried exploration.

Pro Tip: Visit on Thursday evening after 18:00 when the museum stays open late and most tour groups have left. Start on the top floor with the Impressionists while the light through the glass roof is still strong, then work your way down.