Musée d'Orsay Map and What to See Inside

A Musée d’Orsay map is easier to use once you know the building was a railway station. The galleries sit under a long vaulted hall, with a central nave down the middle, and everything is arranged around it. This page gives a Musée d’Orsay map of the museum and its surroundings, the route I would take through it, and what to look for at each stop. If you are still choosing a pass, my comparison of tickets for the Musée d’Orsay lists the guided tours with entry included.

Musée d’Orsay Map: Entrances, Stations and Sights Nearby

The map below shows the museum with the stations and landmarks around it, from Google Maps data.

The museum is on the Left Bank, on Esplanade Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in the 7th arrondissement. The nearest station is the Musée d’Orsay RER stop on line C, about 2 minutes away, and Solférino on metro line 12 is about 5 minutes away. Rue du Bac is about 8 minutes and Tuileries, across the river, about 9. The walking times are my estimates, from straight-line distance multiplied by 1.3 at 4.8 km per hour. Check the RATP site for current lines.

Entrances depend on your ticket, so treat this Musée d’Orsay map as a starting point. One listing I compared sends you to Entrance 2 on the forecourt. A guided tour meets in front of Entrance B, and several others meet opposite the main door, next to the Legion of Honour museum. Read your voucher before you queue.

The Official Musée d’Orsay Map

The museum publishes its own plan-guide. Its Dans le musée page says you can download it, and a printed copy is free at the information desk. The current seasonal file at the time of writing is the official map (PDF, spring 2026). I link it and do not copy it, because the museum re-issues the plan and rooms change.

My tools could not open the museum’s own pages, so I describe the floors from France.fr and Wikipedia and say so where a detail is not confirmed. Where my route and the official Musée d’Orsay map differ, trust the official one on the day.

The Route I Would Take Inside the Museum

This is the order I would follow if I had a half day, and it works as a reading order for any Musée d’Orsay map. It is also the simplest answer to what to see inside the Musée d’Orsay, because the biggest names are upstairs and the architecture is below. I leave out the times on the diagram because no source gives a time for each stop.

1. 1Entrance and securityTimed tickets and the queue
2. 2The central naveGround floor, galleries on both sides
3. 3The Laloux clockStation hall souvenir
4. 4Opéra modelUnder a glass floor
5. 5Rodin sculpturesTwenty works by Rodin
6. 6Van Gogh roomsSelf-portraits among 24 works
7. 7Impressionist GalleryFifth floor, about a dozen rooms
8. 8Café CampanaAt the exit of the gallery

Entrance and the Security Queue

You start at the door. A guided tour with entry included saves you the ticket step, and the Memories France tour has a dedicated entrance, per its listing. Whatever your ticket, expect a bag check before the galleries. I could not read the museum’s current bag rules, so check its site for what you may carry, and note that the Paris Tours listing includes a cloakroom.

The Central Nave and the Ground Floor

The ground floor is where the station shows. France.fr describes galleries either side of the central nave, and Wikipedia says the stone structures of the former platforms divide the sculpture and gallery space. Take the nave first, find it on the Musée d’Orsay map, and look up: the vault is the original station roof. The galleries on either side are where I would start for paintings that came before the Impressionists, though I could not confirm exactly which rooms hold which works today, so use the official plan to find them.

The Laloux Clock

The huge golden station clock dominates the hall, according to France.fr, and Wikipedia credits it to Victor Laloux, one of the architects of the station. It is worth two minutes for a photograph, and many tours stop under it while the guide explains how a station became a museum. The building was finished for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, and the museum opened in December 1986, per Wikipedia.

The Opéra Model Under the Glass Floor

Wikipedia describes a 1:100 scale model by Richard Peduzzi of the Paris Opéra and the streets around it, seen from above. Visitors walk over it, because it lies beneath a glass floor. I think of it as a ten-minute stop, and it is a good place to slow down between two busy rooms. The interior of the museum was designed by Gae Aulenti, chosen in 1981, per the same source.

Rodin and the Sculpture

France.fr says the Rodin area gathers twenty sculptures, including the Gates of Hell and the bronze bust known as The Man with the Broken Nose. Wikipedia says the museum has more than 2,200 sculptures, so the nave and the galleries have more to see than most visitors expect. A guide helps here because the sculptures are spread along the central alley, and one of the listings I compared, the Masterpieces tour, is built around the best-known pieces.

City Wonders Ltd.

Musée d'Orsay Masterpieces Guided Tour

• ★ 4.5 (525 reviews)
• 2 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: The tour around the headline works: $66, 2 hours, an English-speaking art historian, 4.5 stars from 525 reviews.

What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say

Included

• ✓ English-speaking art historian guide
• ✓ Entrance and reservation fees for the Musée d'Orsay
• ✓ Headset to hear the guide clearly (when necessary)

Not included / not suitable

• ✕ Tips
• ✕ Transportation

Meeting point: Meet your guide at the entrance of the Musée de la Légion d’Honneur (Rue de la Légion d’Honneur), situated next to the stairs ascending toward the Musée d’Orsay. The guide will be waiting with a City Wonders sign at the meeting point for easy recognition. The nearest public transport stop is on the RER (Line C) Musée d'Orsay Station. You can also take Metro Line 12 to Solferino. Leave via exit 2, signposted "Musee d'Orsay," and turn left. Walk up Rue de Bellechasse to the museum. If you are arriving by foot, the Musée d'Orsay overlooks the River Seine on Quai Anatole France. It's the large building with 2 clocks on the river-facing facade. The courtyard in front of the main entrance is between the Quai Anatole France and Rue de la Legion d'Honneur. 5 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 75007 Paris, France

Languages: English

Duration: 2 hours

Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund

“Knowledgeable, friendly, interesting and accommodating guide (Carolina). We were disappointed that many popular works were out on loan but we know that is the nature of the industry.” – GetYourGuide review

from

$66

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The Van Gogh Rooms

France.fr describes a Van Gogh space with 24 pieces, including some of the famous self-portraits. Wikipedia lists Van Gogh among the post-Impressionists the museum holds in depth, alongside Cézanne, Seurat and Gauguin. This is the room people ask about, so go before the day gets busy, and check the official Musée d’Orsay map for its current position, as I could not confirm the floor.

The Impressionist Gallery on the Fifth Floor

The Impressionist Gallery overlooks the Seine and has about a dozen rooms on the fifth floor, per France.fr. Wikipedia says the museum has the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Morisot, Degas, Sisley, Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin and van Gogh. If you have 90 minutes only, I would spend most of them here, and a guided tour that focuses on the Impressionists is the easiest way to be sure you see the key paintings. Works are sometimes on loan, so if one painting is the reason for your visit, check the museum’s site first.

Shedlight

Musée d'Orsay: Guided Tour of Impressionism with Ticket Included

• ★ 4.8 (166 reviews)
• 1.5 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: The Impressionism-focused tour with entry included: $70, 1.5 hours, 4.8 stars from 166 reviews.

What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say

Included

• ✓ Welcome by the live guide at the meeting point
• ✓ Admission ticket to the Musée d’Orsay
• ✓ 1.5-hour guided tour

Not included / not suitable

• ✕ Food and drinks
• ✕ Transportation to the museum

Meeting point: The guide will be waiting for visitors right in front of the Legion of Honor Museum, which is opposite the Musée d'Orsay. Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 75007 Paris, France

Languages: French, English

Duration: 1.5 hours

Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund

“Our guide of Musée d’Orsay was excellent. We had been to this museum several times before, but she was able to tell us things about the impressionist paintings that were completely new to us.” – GetYourGuide review

from

$70

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Café Campana at the Exit

The museum says Café Campana sits at the exit of the Impressionist Gallery on the fifth floor, according to its restaurants page. It is a convenient break before you go back down, and it is marked on the Musée d’Orsay map. I could not confirm current hours, so check the museum’s restaurants and cafés page on the day.

Getting Around Inside the Musée d’Orsay: Access and Rules

For access needs, a Musée d’Orsay map is only half the answer: the official site has an accessibility page for visitors with reduced mobility, which also links the plan-guide, according to the museum’s French pages. I did not read the lift details, so contact the museum or check its site before you plan a visit with a wheelchair or a pushchair. Photography rules and bag sizes are on the same official site.

For the hours, the day it is closed and getting there, read my Musée d’Orsay opening hours guide. If you want an expert in the rooms, I compare each Musée d’Orsay tour on its own page, and the story of the building is on my Musée d’Orsay history and facts page. Ready to book? See every Musée d’Orsay ticket side by side, or go back to the home page for other attractions.