Music Museum · 19th Arrondissement · Parc de la Villette
Musée de la Musique & the Paris Museum Pass
8,000 instruments tracing 400 years of Western music — Chopin’s piano, Stradivarius violins, Brassens’s guitar — at the Philharmonie de Paris in Parc de la Villette.
Individual ticket
€10
With Museum Pass
Included
Timed slot
Not required
Open
Tue–Sun
Hours
Tue–Fri 12pm–6pm · Sat–Sun 10am–6pm
Last updated: February 2026 · Prices and details verified
Is the Musée de la Musique included in the Paris Museum Pass?
Yes — the Paris Museum Pass covers full entry to the Musée de la Musique, saving you €10 per person. No reservation required. Note the unusual hours — the museum opens at noon Tuesday to Friday, and 10am at weekends.
Musée de la Musique — Fast Facts
Address
221 Avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris
Nearest Metro
Porte de Pantin (Metro 5) — 3 min walk (Metro 5)
Bus
75, 139, 150, 152, 249
Opening hours
Tuesday–Friday 12pm–6pm · Saturday–Sunday 10am–6pm · Closed Monday, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December
Closed
Mondays, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December
Individual ticket
€10 (2026)
With Museum Pass
Free — included
What to Know Before You Visit
The Musée de la Musique is housed in the Cité de la Musique — a Christian de Portzamparc building from 1995 in the Parc de la Villette, at the northeastern edge of Paris. The museum holds over 8,000 instruments and musical objects, with around 1,000 on permanent display. Free audio guides (included with entry) play recordings of each instrument so you can hear how they sound — an approach that transforms the collection from visual to genuinely musical.
No reservation required. No reservation required. Walk in at the Cité de la Musique entrance on Avenue Jean Jaurès. Note the hours: Tuesday to Friday the museum opens at noon (not 10am). At weekends it opens at 10am.
Note: The Musée de la Musique is in the Cité de la Musique building, not the newer Philharmonie de Paris (the Jean Nouvel building, also in the complex). Free audio guides in French, English, and Spanish are included with Museum Pass entry — the guides play recordings of each instrument, making the visit genuinely musical rather than purely visual. The Kandinsky exhibition (co-produced with Centre Pompidou, 2025–2026) explores music in Kandinsky’s art — check philharmoniedeparis.fr for current temporary exhibitions.
Collection Highlights
The collection spans from Renaissance lutes to electric guitars — but the personal instruments of famous musicians are the emotional core.
Highlight 1
Chopin’s Pleyel piano
one of Chopin’s own grand pianos, on which he performed and composed during his Paris years, displayed alongside his personal effects
Highlight 2
Stradivarius instruments
several violins and a cello by Antonio Stradivari, considered the finest instrument maker in history, including pieces from his early and late periods
Highlight 3
Georges Brassens’s guitar
the simple Favino guitar on which the beloved French singer-songwriter composed his most famous songs, one of the most emotionally affecting objects in the collection
Visitor tip: Use the free audio guide throughout — it plays recordings of each instrument as it would have been played in its period context. Without the audio guide, the collection is interesting; with it, the collection is extraordinary. The guide is included with your Museum Pass entry at no extra charge.
Getting There
Metro 5 to Porte de Pantin — exit towards Avenue Jean Jaurès; the Cité de la Musique entrance is 3 minutes walk on the left. The museum is in the 1995 Cité de la Musique building, not the newer Philharmonie. The Cité des Sciences is a 10-minute walk through Parc de la Villette.
Ready to Visit Musée de la Musique?
€10 entry included with the Museum Pass. Plus 50+ more venues across Paris.
Tuesday to Friday: noon to 6pm (note — the museum opens at noon, not 10am, on weekdays). Saturday and Sunday: 10am to 6pm. Closed Monday. If you’re planning a weekday visit, don’t arrive before noon.
The Musée de la Musique is in the Cité de la Musique building (designed by Christian de Portzamparc, 1995) — not the newer Philharmonie de Paris (the Jean Nouvel building, opened 2015). Both are in the same Parc de la Villette complex a few metres apart. The Cité de la Musique is the lower building on Avenue Jean Jaurès; the Philharmonie is the dramatic angular structure with aluminium birds on the exterior. The Museum Pass covers the Musée de la Musique only — not Philharmonie concerts.
90 minutes to 2 hours with the audio guide. The collection is organised chronologically and is very well curated — not overwhelming. The combination of seeing and hearing (via the audio guide) makes it a complete experience. The Parc de la Villette surrounding the complex is large and pleasant for a walk before or after.
