Orsay Museum Tickets: Skip the Ticket-Desk Line in Paris (2026 Prices)

How much are Orsay Museum tickets in 2026?

Orsay Museum tickets booked online cost from €17 per person in 2026, with entry that skips the ticket-desk line. That's around €1 more than the on-site price, in exchange for securing your spot and saving the wait. EU under-18s and 18-to-25-year-olds resident in the European Economic Area enter free on presentation of ID.

Orsay Museum tickets: the home of Impressionism, no queue required

Your Orsay Museum ticket opens the door to the world's greatest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, housed in a spectacular Beaux-Arts railway station from 1900 on the banks of the Seine, directly across from the Louvre. It's one of the essential things to do in Paris and a firm favourite with anyone who loves painting.

Booking online lets you enter through the reservation access and skip the ticket-desk queue, which at peak times can run to half an hour. You receive the voucher on your phone with instant confirmation and simply show it at the door. Inside, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas, Cezanne and Gauguin are waiting, along with the famous great clock and its views over the rooftops of Paris.

What to see at the Orsay Museum

The Orsay is manageable in a morning, yet it's packed with masterpieces. These are the ones not to miss:

• The Impressionist gallery (5th floor): the heart of the museum, with Monet's landscapes, Renoir's dance scenes, Degas' dancers and the seascapes of the era. Start here before it fills up.
• Van Gogh: "Bedroom in Arles", "Starry Night over the Rhône" and several self-portraits that are among the most visited works in the museum.
• Manet: "Luncheon on the Grass" and "Olympia", two paintings that scandalised 19th-century Paris and marked the birth of modern art.
• The great clock: the clock of the former station, with its transparent face and views towards Montmartre and the Sacré-Cœur. The most photographed corner of the Orsay.
• Cezanne, Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec: "The Card Players", Gauguin's Tahitian scenes and the cabaret images that anticipate 20th-century art.

The former Orsay station

The building is a work of art in itself: opened as a station for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, it became obsolete for modern trains and was saved from demolition to reopen as a museum in 1986. Take in the great central nave, the glazed vault and the original clocks before you lose yourself among the paintings.

Our honest take

For many visitors the Orsay is the most enjoyable museum in Paris: more manageable than the Louvre, with a concentration of masterpieces that's hard to match. The catch is that its most famous rooms get busy, so skipping the ticket-desk line and arriving early really does make the difference.

Orsay Museum tickets: types and options

Depending on your plans in Paris, you can choose between several options:

• Skip-the-line ticket: access to the permanent collection while avoiding the purchase queue. From €17.
• Ticket with audio guide: the same entry plus an audio guide to explore the key works at your own pace.
• Guided tour: a guide leads you through the Impressionist highlights and puts the collection in context.
• Free entry: EU under-18s and EEA-resident 18-25-year-olds, on presentation of ID at the museum.

What's included? Entry to the Orsay Museum and its permanent collection while skipping the ticket-desk line. Temporary exhibitions may carry a supplement. The ticket is usually issued without a specific time slot.

How to book your Orsay Museum ticket

Booking your Orsay Museum ticket online is simple and takes just a couple of minutes. Follow these steps:

1. Choose the date: pick your visit day (remember the museum is closed on Mondays).
2. Select the option: skip-the-line ticket, with audio guide or guided tour.
3. Enter the number of people: with adult rates and free tickets where they apply.
4. Check the conditions: the ticket is usually without a time slot and, depending on the option, with free cancellation.
5. Instant confirmation: after payment you receive the voucher straight away by email and on your phone.

Once you're set, just hit book and complete the purchase of your Orsay ticket 100% securely.

How to get to the Orsay Museum

The museum sits on the Left Bank of the Seine, at 1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, directly opposite the Louvre. These are the best ways to reach it:

• RER C (easiest): get off at Musée d'Orsay station, practically at the museum door.
• Metro: the nearest stop is Solférino (line 12), about 3 minutes on foot; Assemblée Nationale also works.
• Bus: lines 63, 68, 69, 73, 83 and 87 stop nearby.
• Batobus: the river shuttle has a stop beside the museum, a lovely way to arrive along the Seine.
• On foot: from the Louvre it's about a 5-minute walk across the Léopold-Sédar-Senghor footbridge.

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: the jewel of the Orsay

The Orsay Museum covers artistic creation between 1848 and 1914, the period spanning Realism to the avant-gardes. Its great treasure is the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection, the most complete on the planet.

• Impressionism: Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley and Berthe Morisot, with those shifting-light landscapes that gave the movement its name.
• Post-Impressionism: Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat and Toulouse-Lautrec, who pushed colour and form a step further.
• Sculpture and decorative arts: works by Rodin and Carpeaux, and Art Nouveau furniture in the great central nave.
• Photography and architecture: holdings from the early days of photography and models of the Palais Garnier opera house.

Best time to visit and how to skip the queue

The Orsay welcomes millions of visitors a year and the Impressionist gallery gets crowded by mid-morning. These tips genuinely work:

• Enter right at opening (9:30): go straight up to the 5th floor before the groups arrive.
• Try the Thursday late night: it stays open until 21:45 and the rooms are far calmer at the end of the day.
• Avoid Tuesdays: with the Louvre closed that day, many visitors redirect to the Orsay.
• Remember it's closed on Mondays: don't plan your visit for that day.
• Book skip-the-line: you save the purchase wait, which is what eats the most time in high season.