Paris Museums Closed on Monday or Tuesday: 2026 Cheat Sheet

In short. Most Paris museums close one day a week, and it's almost always Monday or Tuesday. The two big ones split the week: the Louvre is closed on Tuesday, the Musée d'Orsay is closed on Monday. Closed on Monday: Orsay, Rodin, Picasso, quai Branly, Marmottan Monet, the Palace of Versailles and all City of Paris museums (Petit Palais, Carnavalet, Musée d'Art Moderne, Catacombs and others). Closed on Tuesday: the Louvre, the Orangerie, Guimet, the Musée de l'Homme, the Fondation Louis Vuitton and the Bourse de Commerce. Open every day: the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sainte-Chapelle, Conciergerie, Panthéon, Notre-Dame and the Musée Jacquemart-André. The Centre Pompidou is closed for renovation until 2030. The simple rule: put the Louvre on Monday and Orsay on Tuesday, and check late openings for the evenings.

Every year, thousands of visitors walk across the Tuileries on a Tuesday morning, cross the Seine and find the Orsay open, then walk back to the Louvre in the afternoon and find it closed. Or they plan "Versailles on Monday, it'll be quieter" and discover why it's quieter. It's not complicated, but nobody tells you until you're in front of a locked gate.

Here is the cheat sheet, checked against official museum websites and the Paris tourist office in autumn 2026. Hours change for exhibitions, holidays and strikes, so always confirm on the museum's own site the day before.

Which Paris museums are closed on Monday?

Monday is the most common closing day in Paris. Closed every Monday:

• Musée d'Orsay (Impressionists, Van Gogh, the station clock)

• Musée Rodin and its garden

• Musée national Picasso-Paris

• Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

• Musée Marmottan Monet

• Palace of Versailles (the palace itself; the gardens and park have their own hours)

• Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Institut du Monde Arabe

• Musée des Arts et Métiers

• All City of Paris museums ("Paris Musées"): Petit Palais, Musée Carnavalet (history of Paris), Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Maison de Victor Hugo, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Musée Cernuschi, Musée Cognacq-Jay, Musée Bourdelle, Musée Zadkine, Palais Galliera, and the Catacombs

Many City of Paris museums are free for their permanent collections, which makes them perfect for a Tuesday or a weekend, never for a Monday.

Which Paris museums are closed on Tuesday?

Tuesday is the day of the national museums linked to the Louvre, plus a few others. Closed every Tuesday:

• Musée du Louvre

• Musée de l'Orangerie (Monet's Water Lilies)

• Musée national Eugène-Delacroix

• Musée Guimet (Asian arts)

• Musée de l'Homme and the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution at the Jardin des Plantes

• Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine

• Fondation Louis Vuitton

• Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection

Which Paris museums and monuments are open every day?

If you have one day in Paris and it happens to be a Monday or a Tuesday, these are your safe bets. Open seven days a week (except some public holidays):

• Eiffel Tower

• Arc de Triomphe

• Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie

• Panthéon

• Notre-Dame de Paris (the cathedral is free to enter)

• Musée Jacquemart-André

• Musée de Montmartre

And the Musée du Luxembourg is not only open on Mondays, it even stays open late on Monday evenings.

Is the Centre Pompidou open?

No. The Centre Pompidou closed in autumn 2025 for a full renovation, and reopening is planned for 2030. You can still walk around the outside and the square, and the Stravinsky Fountain next door, but the museum and the famous escalator tube are closed. If you were planning a modern-art afternoon, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (closed Monday) and the Bourse de Commerce (closed Tuesday) are the obvious alternatives.

Which Paris museums are open late in the evening?

Late openings ("nocturnes") are the best-kept secret of Paris museums: fewer groups, softer light, and your daytime stays free for walking. The regular ones in 2026:

Remember that last entry is usually 45 minutes to an hour before closing. At the Louvre, last entry is one hour before closing and rooms start closing 30 minutes before.

How much does the Louvre cost in 2026, and when is it free?

Since 14 January 2026, the Louvre has two prices: €22 for residents and citizens of the European Economic Area, €32 for everyone else. It's free for under-18s (with ID) and for EEA residents under 26. Everyone gets in free on the first Friday of the month after 6 PM (except in July and August) and on 14 July. Even when it's free, booking a time slot is strongly recommended, and in busy periods it can become mandatory.

Practical notes for the Louvre: it opens at 9 AM, the Wednesday and Friday evenings are usually calmer than the middle of the day, and it's closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.

What about public holidays?

French public holidays shuffle everything. Many museums close on 1 May (the most "closed" day of the year), 25 December and 1 January. The Louvre is closed on those three days and open on the other public holidays unless they fall on a Tuesday; Orsay closes on 1 May and 25 December. City of Paris museums close on several public holidays. If your trip includes a holiday, that's the one day to check every single address the night before.

How to plan a museum week in Paris around closing days

The trick is to treat closing days as part of the plan, not as an obstacle. A few combinations that work:

• Monday: Louvre in the morning (it's open, and Orsay-goers aren't there), Tuileries, then the Musée du Luxembourg in the evening. Or the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, both open daily.

• Tuesday: Orsay, then a 20-minute walk west to Rodin, or Orsay and Marmottan. City of Paris museums like the Petit Palais are open too, and often free.

• Wednesday or Friday: the Louvre by night.

• Thursday: Orsay or quai Branly by night, both along the Seine on the Left Bank.

• Versailles: never on Monday. Tuesday is the busiest day there, precisely because the Paris museums (Louvre, Orangerie) are closed and everyone has the same idea. Wednesday to Friday mornings are usually calmer.

And keep geography in mind. Orsay and Rodin are both in the 7th arrondissement; Louvre, Orangerie and Tuileries are a single walk; Petit Palais and the Grand Palais face each other. Pairing museums that are close together, on days when both are open, is how you turn a day of queues into a day of art.

How does Zeppelin Map help with museum closing days?

Zeppelin Map (the iOS transit navigation app for Paris, developed by Anaximae SASU) is built for exactly this kind of day: several stops, the right order, no wasted trips. You add your stops, and Bibomap™, the app's multi-stop planner, finds the order that makes the most sense across the city, with the metro, bus, RER, tram or walking legs in between.

If a museum or monument in your plan is usually closed at the time you'll get there, the app warns you, so you can swap the day before you're standing at the gate. You can also save a trip for a future date: plan "Tuesday: Orsay, Rodin, Invalides" on Sunday evening, and it's ready when Tuesday comes. Along the way, the app suggests museums and cultural spots near your route, so a free hour between two stops doesn't go to waste.

The hours in the app are curated by hand for museums and monuments, and like every source they can't predict strikes or a room closed for an exhibition change. For anything special (holidays, temporary exhibitions), the museum's own website stays the final word.

FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions about Paris museum closing days

Is the Louvre closed on Monday or Tuesday?

The Louvre is closed on Tuesday. It's open on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM to 6 PM, and on Wednesday and Friday from 9 AM to 9 PM. It's also closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.

Is the Musée d'Orsay closed on Monday?

Yes. The Musée d'Orsay is closed every Monday, as well as on 1 May and 25 December. It's open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 AM to 6 PM, and until 9:45 PM on Thursdays.

Which Paris museums are open on Monday?

The Louvre, the Musée du Luxembourg (with a late opening on Monday evening), the Musée Jacquemart-André and the Musée de Montmartre are open on Mondays, as are monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sainte-Chapelle, Conciergerie, Panthéon and Notre-Dame.

Which Paris museums are open on Tuesday?

Orsay, Rodin, Picasso, quai Branly, Marmottan Monet, the Palace of Versailles and the City of Paris museums (Petit Palais, Carnavalet, Musée d'Art Moderne and others) are open on Tuesday. The Louvre, Orangerie, Guimet, Fondation Louis Vuitton and Bourse de Commerce are closed.

Is the Centre Pompidou open in 2026?

No. The Centre Pompidou closed in autumn 2025 for a major renovation and is expected to reopen in 2030.

Is the Palace of Versailles open on Monday?

No. The Palace of Versailles is closed on Mondays. Tuesday tends to be its busiest day, because many Paris museums are closed then.