Military Models Museum · Les Invalides · 7th Arrondissement
Musée des Plans-Reliefs & the Paris Museum Pass
Giant secret scale models of fortified French cities — commissioned by Louis XIV, classified military secrets until 1929, and now displayed in the historic attic of Les Invalides.
Last updated: February 2026 · Prices and details verified
Is the Musée des Plans-Reliefs included in the Paris Museum Pass?
Yes — the Paris Museum Pass covers the Musée des Plans-Reliefs as part of the Invalides complex. It is included in the same ticket as the Musée de l’Armée, Napoleon’s Tomb, and the Ordre de la Libération. No separate ticket or reservation required — simply enter the Invalides complex with your pass.
Musée des Plans-Reliefs — Fast Facts
Address
129 Rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris
Nearest Metro
La Tour-Maubourg or Varenne (Metro 8 / 13) — 5 min walk (Metro 8, 13)
Bus
63, 69, 82, 87
Opening hours
Daily 10am–6pm (1 April–30 September) · 11am–6pm (1 October–31 March) · First Friday of month until 10pm · Closed first Monday of each month (except July–September) · 1 January, 1 May, 25 December
Closed
First Monday of each month (except July, August, September) · 1 January, 1 May, 25 December
Individual ticket
€0 (included in Musée de l’Armée ticket · €17) (2026)
With Museum Pass
Free — included
What to Know Before You Visit
The Musée des Plans-Reliefs is one of Paris’s best-kept secrets — and one of the strangest museums in the world. Housed in the attic of Les Invalides, it holds a collection of enormous scale models of fortified French cities, commissioned from the reign of Louis XIV to Napoleon III. Each model was built at the scale of 1:600, accurate enough to plan military campaigns and sieges. They were classified as military state secrets and kept hidden from public view until 1929 — a full 250 years after the earliest models were made.
No reservation required. No separate ticket or reservation required. Enter the Invalides complex at the Esplanade des Invalides entrance with your Museum Pass — the Plans-Reliefs is included in the same ticket as the Musée de l’Armée and Napoleon’s Tomb. Note the seasonal hours: the complex opens at 10am April–September, 11am October–March. Closed the first Monday of each month (except July, August, September).
Note: The Musée des Plans-Reliefs is in the 4th floor attic of Les Invalides and is easy to miss — most visitors to the Invalides never find it. Ask for directions at the entrance or follow signs to ‘Musée des Plans-Reliefs’ from the main courtyard. The first Friday of each month the museum stays open until 10pm. Your Museum Pass covers the full Invalides complex: Musée de l’Armée, Napoleon’s Tomb, the Dôme church, Plans-Reliefs, and Ordre de la Libération — all in one visit.
Collection Highlights
The largest models measure several metres across and took years to build — an extraordinary meeting of military strategy, craft, and obsessive precision.
Highlight 1
Strasbourg (1727)
one of the largest and most detailed models, depicting the full fortified city and its surroundings at 1:600 scale, with every street, building, and defensive work reproduced in painted wood and paper
Highlight 2
Bayonne
a complete Atlantic port city with its Vauban fortifications, showing how Louis XIV’s chief military engineer Sébastien Vauban designed the interlocking defensive systems that protected France’s borders
Highlight 3
The collection overview
28 models of French cities surviving from a total of over 100 originally made, representing towns from Perpignan to Dunkirk and showing how France’s borders and fortifications evolved across three centuries
Visitor tip: Ask for the free guide map at the entrance to the Invalides complex — it shows how to reach the Plans-Reliefs attic from the main courtyard. Most visitors to Les Invalides spend their time at Napoleon’s Tomb and the Musée de l’Armée without ever going upstairs. Combine both on the same visit — the full Invalides complex is one of the most extraordinary pass-covered experiences in Paris.
Getting There
The museum is on the 4th floor attic of Les Invalides — use the Esplanade des Invalides entrance (south side, Place Vauban open from 2pm). Metro 8 to La Tour-Maubourg or Metro 13 to Varenne, both under 5 minutes walk. Most Invalides visitors never find the Plans-Reliefs — ask for directions at the welcome desk or follow the internal 4th floor signage.
Ready to Visit Musée des Plans-Reliefs?
€0 (included in Musée de l’Armée ticket · €17) entry included with the Museum Pass. Plus 50+ more venues across Paris.
No — the Plans-Reliefs is included in the same Invalides ticket that covers the Musée de l’Armée, Napoleon’s Tomb, the Dôme church, and the Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération. Your Museum Pass covers all of these in a single visit. If you’ve already used your pass to visit the Musée de l’Armée in a previous session, you would need to pay again separately for the Plans-Reliefs — but most visitors combine everything in one day.
The models were commissioned from the reign of Louis XIV as strategic military tools — they showed the exact layout of France’s fortified border towns in enough detail to plan sieges and defences. Sharing them with an enemy could compromise national security. They were officially classified as military state secrets and stored in restricted access until 1929, when the government finally declassified and opened them to the public. Some models had been in existence for over 250 years before they were ever seen by ordinary visitors.
The full Invalides complex — Musée de l’Armée, Napoleon’s Tomb, the Dôme, Plans-Reliefs, and Ordre de la Libération — takes 3 to 4 hours for a thorough visit. Most visitors spend 1.5 to 2 hours on the Musée de l’Armée and Napoleon’s Tomb, then miss the Plans-Reliefs entirely. Allow at least 45 minutes for the Plans-Reliefs attic alone — the models reward slow, careful looking.
