Musée de l’Orangerie & the Paris Museum Pass 2026

Last updated: February 2026 · Prices and details verified

Is the Musée de l’Orangerie included in the Paris Museum Pass?

Yes — the Paris Museum Pass covers full entry to the Musée de l’Orangerie, saving you €12.50 per person. Booking a timed-entry slot online is strongly recommended — pass holders who book get priority access within 30 minutes of their reserved time.

Is Musée de l’Orangerie Included in the Paris Museum Pass?

The pass covers both the Monet Water Lilies oval rooms on the ground floor and the Walter-Guillaume collection downstairs — Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, and others.

No reservation required. Timed-entry reservation is not strictly mandatory for pass holders but is strongly recommended — booking a slot online guarantees priority access within 30 minutes of your time. Walk-ins are accommodated subject to capacity. During peak season (June–August) and school holidays, booking 1–2 weeks ahead is advisable. Book at billetterie.musee-orangerie.fr.

Note: Friday late nights during exhibition periods: open until 9pm. The museum is small and intimate — visits typically take 1–1.5 hours. The two oval Water Lilies rooms are designed to receive natural light through skylights; the quality of the experience varies significantly with weather and time of day.

What to See — Collection Highlights

The Orangerie was a royal greenhouse built in 1852 to protect the Tuileries orange trees. In 1927 it was transformed to house Monet’s final gift to France — eight enormous Water Lilies panels, installed in two oval rooms that Monet himself helped design.

Highlight 1
The Water Lilies rooms — eight monumental panels totalling 91 metres of painted canvas, arranged in two oval rooms to envelope the viewer in a continuous panorama of Monet’s Giverny pond

Highlight 2
The Walter-Guillaume collection upstairs — small-scale masterpieces by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, and Soutine collected by dealer Paul Guillaume in the 1920s

Highlight 3
The building itself — the southern facade is almost entirely glass, flooding the Water Lilies rooms with natural light that changes with the weather and time of day, exactly as Monet intended

Suggested Itinerary — 1–1.5 Hours

The Orangerie is a short, focused visit by design. Allow time in each Water Lilies room to absorb the panorama — this is not a museum to rush through.

9:00am

Water Lilies Room 1 — The Clouds and Green Reflections

The first oval room contains two of the eight panels: The Clouds and Green Reflections. Enter slowly — the scale of the paintings only becomes apparent once you’re inside. The natural light from the skylight changes with the weather. Allow 20 minutes.

9:25am

Water Lilies Room 2 — Morning, Setting Sun, Weeping Willows

The second room contains six panels arranged around the walls. Sit on the central bench and turn slowly to take in the full panorama. Setting Sun is the most dramatic — best in afternoon light. Allow 20 minutes.

9:50am

Lower floor — Walter-Guillaume collection

Descend to the lower floor for the Walter-Guillaume collection — intimate-scale paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, and Soutine. A different mood entirely from the Water Lilies upstairs. Allow 30 minutes.

Practical Tips

Tip 1

Visit on an overcast or lightly cloudy day — the natural light through the oval skylight is softer and more even, which is actually better for the Water Lilies than bright direct sunlight, which creates harsh contrasts.

Tip 2

The Orangerie is 12 minutes walk from the Louvre through the Tuileries Garden — a natural afternoon pairing after a morning at the Louvre. Both are pass-covered; neither requires you to cross a road.

Tip 3

The museum is small enough to feel personal in a way the Louvre and Orsay cannot. Go slowly — sit in the Water Lilies rooms and allow your eyes to adjust to the scale. Most visitors rush through in 20 minutes and miss the point entirely.

Getting There

Musée de l’Orangerie — Fast Facts

Address	Jardin des Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, 75001 Paris
Nearest Metro	Concorde (Metro 1, 8, 12) — 5 min walk through Tuileries (Metro 1, 8, 12)
RER	RER C — Musée d’Orsay — 15 min walk along the Seine
Bus lines	24, 42, 72, 73
Opening hours	Monday, Wednesday–Sunday 9am–6pm · Fridays until 9pm during exhibition periods · Closed Tuesday, 1 January, morning of 14 July, 25 December
Closed	Tuesdays, 1 January, morning of 14 July, 25 December
Individual ticket	€12.50 (2026)
With Museum Pass	Free — included
Timed slot required	Strongly recommended
Book at	billetterie.musee-orangerie.fr
Walking note	12 min walk from Louvre through Tuileries Garden; 20 min walk from Orsay across river

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Frequently Asked Questions

Reservation is not strictly mandatory for pass holders, but is strongly recommended. Booking a timed slot online at billetterie.musee-orangerie.fr guarantees priority access within 30 minutes of your chosen time. Walk-ins are accepted subject to capacity — during peak season (June–August) and school holidays, the museum can reach capacity and walk-ins may wait. During low season (November–March), walk-in is usually straightforward.

For the Water Lilies, overcast days actually produce the best viewing conditions — the diffuse light through the oval skylights is more even and flattering than harsh direct sunlight. Morning visits (9–10am) are less crowded. Friday evenings during exhibition periods (open until 9pm) are an excellent option — quieter, atmospheric, and the artificial evening light gives the Water Lilies a completely different character.

Between 1 and 1.5 hours for a full visit: 20 minutes in each Water Lilies room and 30–40 minutes for the Walter-Guillaume collection downstairs. The museum is deliberately small and intimate — it is not designed for long visits but for slow, contemplative ones. Rushing through in 30 minutes is a mistake.

Art dealer Paul Guillaume and his wife Domenica assembled a remarkable private collection in the 1920s — small-format paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso (including an early self-portrait), Modigliani, Soutine, and Rousseau. After Paul Guillaume’s death, the collection passed to the French state. It is displayed on the lower floor of the Orangerie and is often overshadowed by the Water Lilies upstairs — worth more attention than most visitors give it.

Yes — the Orangerie sits at the western end of the Tuileries Garden, 12 minutes on foot from the Louvre Pyramid. Walking through the Tuileries Garden between them is one of the classic Parisian routes — flat, pleasant, and free. Both are pass-covered; they make a natural full-day pairing, Louvre in the morning and Orangerie in the afternoon.

Both are on the Left Bank near the Seine and both are pass-covered. The Orsay is a vast museum — 35,000 square metres — with the world’s largest Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection. The Orangerie is intimate — just two floors — and focuses specifically on Monet’s Water Lilies and the Walter-Guillaume collection. Most visitors prefer to visit both: the Orsay for breadth, the Orangerie for depth and a uniquely meditative experience.