Paris Museum Pass: Opening Hours & Closure Days

The main pass venues closed Mondays: Musée d’Orsay, Musée Rodin, Musée Picasso, Musée du Quai Branly, Musée de la Marine, Cité des Sciences, Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, Cité de l’Architecture, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Musée Jean-Jacques Henner, Musée de la Musique, Musée de l’Immigration, Château de Vincennes, Château de Malmaison, and Musée d’Archéologie Nationale. The Louvre, Versailles, Sainte-Chapelle and Arc de Triomphe are all open Mondays — so a Monday can still be a full, productive museum day if planned around these.

The main pass venues closed Tuesdays: the Louvre (the most significant), Musée de Cluny, Musée de l’Orangerie, Musée de l’Armée & Invalides, Musée Guimet, Musée Gustave Moreau, Musée des Arts et Métiers, Musée Nissim de Camondo, Cinémathèque Française, Château de Fontainebleau, Château de Compiègne, Musée National de la Renaissance (Écouen), Château de Maisons, Château de Champs-sur-Marne, Château de Pierrefonds, Villa Savoye, Musée Franco-Américain (Blérancourt), and Port-Royal des Champs. When the Louvre is on your plan, schedule it for any day except Tuesday.

Yes — several. The Palace of Versailles, Sainte-Chapelle, Arc de Triomphe, La Conciergerie, The Panthéon, Notre-Dame Towers circuit, Hôtel de la Marine, Château de Chantilly, Basilique de Saint-Denis, Crypte Archéologique, Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération, and Institut du Monde Arabe are all open daily (subject to public holidays). These make excellent anchors for flexible itinerary planning — you can build your days around the day-specific closures of the Louvre, Orsay and others.

The three days when virtually all national museums close are 1 January (New Year’s Day), 1 May (Labour Day), and 25 December (Christmas Day). These are non-negotiable — even the Louvre and Orsay shut. Other public holidays (Easter Monday, 8 May, Bastille Day, Assumption, All Saints, Armistice Day) see most major museums open, though with possible reduced hours. Always verify before travelling to smaller or out-of-Paris venues on public holidays. Bastille Day (14 July) is notable: national museums are free and open, but very busy — book timed entry well ahead.

Yes — the pass runs on consecutive calendar days from the moment of first activation, regardless of whether museums are open or closed on any given day. If you activate on a Monday, a 2-day pass expires at the close of business Tuesday — even if the Orsay was closed Monday and the Louvre was closed Tuesday. This is why activation timing matters: activate on the first day you plan to visit multiple museums, not the day before. See how the pass works → for full details on consecutive day rules.

Wednesday is often the strongest single day for pass holders — the Louvre, Orsay, Rodin, Picasso, Quai Branly, Cluny and Orangerie are all open. Wednesday also avoids the weekend crowds that build on Saturday and Sunday at major venues. For a 4-day pass, a Wednesday activation lets you build through to Saturday, covering the best of both the Tuesday-closed and Monday-closed groups. See our 4-day itinerary → for the fully optimised sequence.

Several — and they’re worth building into your plan. The Louvre stays open until 9:45pm on Fridays; the Orsay until 9:45pm on Thursdays; the Arc de Triomphe until 11pm every night; the Hôtel de la Marine until 9:30pm on Mondays and Fridays; Quai Branly until 10pm on Thursdays; and the Cité de l’Architecture until 9pm on Thursdays. Evening visits are typically less crowded than daytime — particularly the Louvre on Friday evenings, where the galleries thin considerably after 6pm.