The Musée d’Orsay is open from 9:30 am to 6 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to Sunday, and until 9:45 pm on Thursday, per Google Maps. It is closed on Monday. This guide gives the Musée d’Orsay opening hours by day, the entrances, how to get there and what to know at the door. If you want to book, my comparison of every Musée d’Orsay ticket has the guided tours with entry included.
Musée d’Orsay Opening Hours
Today, Saturday 7 November 2026, the Musée d’Orsay opening hours per Google Maps are 9:30 am to 6 pm. The week looks like this:
Day
Hours per Google Maps
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
9:30 am to 6 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am to 6 pm
Thursday
9:30 am to 9:45 pm
Friday
9:30 am to 6 pm
Saturday
9:30 am to 6 pm
Sunday
9:30 am to 6 pm
I could not open the museum’s own hours page at musee-orsay.fr, because its server refused my request, so I cannot give you the official last-entry time or the holiday closures. Treat the Musée d’Orsay opening hours table above as a guide and the museum’s site as the answer, especially for a public holiday.
Musee d’Orsay Hours
The late evening is the feature of the Musée d’Orsay opening hours. Thursday runs three and three quarter hours longer than the other days, which gives a guided visit a calmer slot after work. Whether the late opening is quieter than the daytime, I cannot say from the data. No source I could read gives the crowd level by hour, so I would not promise it.
Musee d’Orsay Hours Paris
Visitors often ask whether the Musée d’Orsay opening hours change with the season. Google Maps shows one weekly pattern, and I found no seasonal change in the data I have. Heat waves and strikes can still close rooms or shorten a day, which is why I would check the museum’s site on the morning of your visit.
The museum stands at Esplanade Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, 75007 Paris, on the Left Bank, and Google Maps gives it 4.8 stars from 118,276 reviews.
Musee d’Orsay Hours of Operation
The Musée d’Orsay opening hours are not the same as the time you can spend in a gallery. Without an official last-entry time, I would plan to be inside well before 5 pm on a 6 pm day, and well before 9 pm on a Thursday. A guided tour of 1.5 to 2.5 hours, as in the listings I compared, fits easily if you start by mid-afternoon.
Here are the durations in the listings:
Shedlight: 1.5 hours
Uncle Sam Tours: 1.5 to 2 hours
Memories France: 1.5 to 2.5 hours
City Wonders, Exploring Tours, Walks In Europe: 2 hours
Paris Tours: 2.5 hours
Rosotravel: 2 to 4 hours
Musée d’Orsay Entrance Fee
The Musée d’Orsay entrance fee is set by the museum, separately from the Musée d’Orsay opening hours, and I could not confirm it, so I do not quote one. The listings show what you pay a reseller: from $45 for a French-language theatrical tour to $284 for a private tour, and $47 for the one plain entry ticket, which includes a Seine cruise. The comparison of every Musée d’Orsay ticket I compared lists all ten with the kind, price, duration and what each includes.
Which visitors enter free or pay less is a question for the museum’s site. None of the ten listings states a youth, student or free-entry rule, so I do not repeat one.
Musee d’Orsay Entrance
The Musée d’Orsay opening hours do not tell you where to go, and which door you use depends on the ticket, and the listings name three different starting points. Read your confirmation, because the tours do not all start inside the museum.
Entry ticket with the cruise (Global Tours and Tickets): you enter on your own, using Entrance 2 on the forecourt, at 1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur.
Most guided tours: the guide waits at the Musée de la Légion d’Honneur, opposite the Orsay, with a sign or badge. Memories France uses an orange lanyard, City Wonders a City Wonders sign, Walks In Europe a Walks in Europe sign and Exploring Tours a GetYourGuide sign. The Memories France listing says not to join the museum queue.
Visites Spectacles: in front of Entrance B on the Esplanade Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.
Paris Tours: the listing says the museum entrance is under construction, so the guide gives the exact meeting location on the morning.
Rosotravel private tour: the Thomas Jefferson statue on Rue de Solférino.
Best Time to Visit the Musée d’Orsay
For the best time within the Musée d’Orsay opening hours, I can support the timing only from reviews and the product data. Reviewers of the Walks In Europe tour describe the museum as crowded and noisy, and one took the last tour of the day and was tired. The Thursday late opening gives you an evening option, and the Global Tours and Tickets reviewer recommended pairing the visit with the Seine cruise around sunset. I could not find an official statement of the quietest hours, so treat this as a pattern from reviews, not a promise.
For the season, the Open-Meteo data below is for Paris in 2025 and shows what a month usually looks like. A museum visit does not depend on sunshine, but the winter months are the darkest.
Month
Sunset
Rainy days
Sunshine hours per day
January
17:22
17
2.7
April
20:42
7
11
July
21:49
15
12.1
October
19:00
10
6.5
November
17:10
13
4.3
December
16:54
8
3.7
Source: Open-Meteo historical weather, Paris, 2025. In November the sun sets before 5:15 pm, so a Thursday evening visit ends in the dark.
How to Get to the Musée d’Orsay
The museum is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900, per Wikipedia, and it opened as a museum in 1986. The walking times below are my estimates from Google Maps coordinates, straight-line distance multiplied by 1.3 at 4.8 km/h.
Musée d’Orsay RER stop (line C): about 2 minutes. The GetYourGuide meeting-point notes name this stop.
Solférino (metro line 12): about 5 minutes, and the City Wonders listing says to leave via exit 2, signposted Musée d’Orsay, and turn left.
Rue du Bac: about 8 minutes.
Tuileries: about 9 minutes, across the river.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés: about 14 minutes.
The lines serving each station are on the RATP site. If you arrive on foot, the museum overlooks the Seine on Quai Anatole France, as the City Wonders listing puts it. The banks of the Seine here are part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, so a walk along the river is a fair way to arrive.
Musée d’Orsay Free Entry
I could not confirm who enters the museum free. None of the ten listings states a youth, student or free-entry rule, so I won’t repeat one from memory. A listing with a Seine cruise and entry at $47, is rated 4.6 from 1,406 reviews, and the guided tours run from $66 to $105. For any free day or concession, check the museum’s site and the Musée d’Orsay hours before you go.
What to Know Before You Go
Your confirmation is the document that sets your time inside the Musée d’Orsay opening hours and your meeting point. A few rules come from the listings:
Arrive before the start time. Walks In Europe reviewers describe waiting for a guide or failing to find one in crowds, and the Walks In Europe listing meets at the Musée de la Légion d’Honneur, not at the Orsay door.
Almost every tour cancels free up to 24 hours ahead. The Global Tours and Tickets entry ticket is non-refundable.
Tips are not included on the Memories France and City Wonders listings.
The Paris Tours listing includes a cloakroom, and a reviewer of Uncle Sam Tours suggested the guide show the group where the locker is.
Many popular works may be on loan: a City Wonders reviewer was disappointed that several popular works were out on loan. If one painting is the reason for your visit, check before you book.
I could not read the museum’s bag, security or dress-code rules, so I do not state them. Check the museum’s site before you go. Time to allow depends on the ticket: 1.5 hours for the shortest tour, up to 4 hours for the Rosotravel private visit with the Île de la Cité walk.
Memories France
Musée d'Orsay: Guided Tour with an Expert
★4.8 (1,257 reviews)
1.5 - 2.5 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: If I had to book one slot: 4.8 from 1,257 reviews, entry included, and you can stay in the museum after the guide leaves. $71.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ 1 hour 45 minutes guided tour of the Musée d’Orsay
✓ Fully accredited local guide
✓ Dedicated entrance and all entrance fees
✓ Headsets when appropriate so you can always hear your guide
✓ Stay as long as you like in the museum after your tour
Not included / not suitable
✕ Hotel pick-up/drop-off
✕ Gratuities (optional)
Meeting point: Meet your guide opposite the main entrance to the Musée d'Orsay, next to the entrance of the Legion d'Honneur Museum.
Your guide will be just by the entrance and will be wearing their guide badge on an orange lanyard.
Please do not get in the lines for the museum!
Nearest stations: RER Station Musée d’Orsay (Line C) or metro Solferino (line 12). 2 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 75007 Paris, France
Languages: English
Duration: 1.5 - 2.5 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“It was a wonderful excursion!Antonio was a perfect guide !Thank you !” – GetYourGuide review
Per Google Maps, the museum is open 9:30 am to 6 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to Sunday, and until 9:45 pm on Thursday. It is closed on Monday. I could not open the museum's own hours page, so check musee-orsay.fr on the morning you go.
What time does the Musée d'Orsay open?+
Google Maps lists 9:30 am on every day it is open. Many guided tours I compared meet at the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur opposite the entrance before the group goes in, so read your confirmation for the exact start time.
Which day is the Musée d'Orsay closed?+
Monday, according to Google Maps. I could not confirm holiday closures from the museum's own site, so check it before you plan a visit around 1 January, 1 May or 25 December.
How long do you need at the Musée d'Orsay?+
The guided tours I compared run from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours, and the Memories France listing lets you stay in the museum as long as you like after the guide leaves. I would allow a half day if you want to see more than the highlights.
Which entrance should I use for the Musée d'Orsay?+
It depends on your ticket. The Global Tours and Tickets entry ticket names Entrance 2 on the forecourt, and the Visites Spectacles tour meets in front of Entrance B on the Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The Paris Tours listing warns that the museum entrance is under construction, so its guide gives the exact location on the morning.
What is the nearest metro station to the Musée d'Orsay?+
Solférino on line 12 is the closest metro station, about 5 minutes on foot by my estimate, according to Google Maps coordinates. The Musée d'Orsay RER stop on line C is about 2 minutes away, per the meeting-point notes in the GetYourGuide listings.
